Diversity in Youth Literature: Opening Doors Through Reading

by Jamie Campbell Naidoo (Editor), Sarah Park (Editor)

Surveying the landscape of children's and YA literature, this contributed volume shows how books have grown to include the wide range of our increasingly diverse society. Identifying both exemplary and problematic titles, the contributors This thoughtful and timely book helps meet the informational, recreational, and cultural needs of today's youth and those who serve them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Library Science, Education, Adult

242 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Annalise Kraines · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, eye opening collection of essays and articles about diversity in youth literature that goes beyond the usual arguments. This book has encouraged me to write responsibly and create diverse collections of books!

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ALA publication intended for professional development. So much to think about I'm afraid my head may explode, but a subject that is vitally important--being inclusive in our library collections to ensure that all children find themselves in the books on our shelves as well as reading about children and their life experiences that may be dramatically different than their own. Empathy and a sincere effort to understand each other will change the world.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a good starting point for learning about the importance of diversity in children's/YA lit, though it is somewhat lacking in some areas. The first two chapters outline the state of youth literature over time, and some theoretical frameworks for evaluating cultural content in youth literature. These are very helpful. The rest of the book consists of a series of essays by numerous authors about various topics and assessments of youth literature's treatmemt of specific cultural groups. The book notably lacks a chapter focused on Native Americans in youth literature, though occasionally a specific book is mentioned. The essays are full of good information, and I found myself wanting more essays to fill in gaps or address cultuaral groups that the book didn't cover. The further rwading section at the end has really great resources to continue learnung about the ways youth literature features and interacts with multicultural content. An updated version would be nice, as this version is six years old at the time of this review.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars - Now-outdated, this book does still has some good ideas for things to consider, but feels haphazard in its construction. Not all of the writing pieces are equal, by any means, and the section on "cognitive disabilities" was particularly repugnant - suggesting that "roleplay" is an effective tool for teaching children about disability. The rest of the book still holds up, but this would not be my go-to recommendation

[Echo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and concise guidelines to have nearby while evaluating books for collection development and how to extrapolate considerations while examining a collection for reaching all diverse learners.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful with good recommendations of diverse literature for children & young adults.

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine for a course text. Easy to read, some useful points.

[Hilary Trimbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid text book

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a resource I'd highly recommend for teachers, librarians, or frankly even parents who want to ensure their children/students/patrons have a well-rounded exposure to a variety of diverse issues.

I really liked that this collection focused on invisible identities as well as visible. Too often, the homeless, for one example, are invisible in literature; and the chapter dealing with Roma literature was quite fascinating (and really changed my perspective on Roma culture and life). The chapter about Muslims was probably the one I was hoping would be most useful; it was one of the most disappointing, as it was disorganized and had an unclear thesis. But the essays are brief--the whole collection is short--and raises some great issues about a wide variety of peoples and backgrounds.

Another benefit to this collection is the list of references and suggested readings. That was quite helpful!

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE: Reviewed for BookMarks.

Uneven quality - sadly characteristic of a lot of ALA publications - but raised some useful questions for me. Unsure of its value to librarians / teachers already versed in diversity in libraries & literature, but possibly a solid introduction. Will be reviewing for BookMarks but in the meantime - questions & comments welcome.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found some good titles to seek out through this book and got a little more background on lit from some cultures that I hadn't really known much about such as Roma and Chamorro.

It's a nice intro text to diversity in kidlit.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay intro to the topic. Some chapters were better/more helpful than others. Disappointed in the one chapter on disabilities.

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brugt til speciale om Young Adult-litteratur (2017)

[Kim Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about diversity in YA literature...readable and interesting.