Octavian Nothing – M.T. Anderson
On Day Three of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, the discussion surrounding diversity in children and YA literature perseveres.
STUFF hit the fan after BookCon announced its completely white line-up of authors (and one cat who is white, too). #WeNeedDiverseBooks, a campaign slated to run for three days (May 1-3), called out the lack of diversity in children’s literature, went viral and saw people from all over the ‘net posting selfies and compelling reasons as to why we need diverse books. In the wake of this outcry BookCon changed, and is still in the process of changing, its lineup.
More coverage on BookCon: http://t.co/rQctRGJzEs #WeNeedDiverseBooks It appears the guest list has expanded somewhat: http://t.co/2tkvkYUqvT
— Rick Riordan (@camphalfblood) May 3, 2014
The squeakiest wheel gets the oil. Nevertheless, the best result of this campaign has been the discovery of books and authors by people who otherwise might have never heard of them. And the power of social media platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter has served as a gathering place of millions of like minds. Here are a few of my faves:
We NEED DIVERSE BOOKS because imagination is MAGIC. It can look like anyone, anywhere, any time #weneeddiversebooks pic.twitter.com/oSj5uK3R40 — Ife Oshun (@IfeOshun) May 3, 2014
We need diverse books because black girls can be immortal, too. 🙂 #weneeddiversebooks #ya #fantasy #books pic.twitter.com/9k3mchhkXM
— Ife Oshun (@IfeOshun) May 2, 2014
. @ifeoshun @GrubWriters #muse14 pic.twitter.com/nhYucmMsU0 — Eve Bridburg (@eve_grubstreet) May 2, 2014
#weneeddiversebooks because no little kid ever said, “I want a box of 64 white crayons!” pic.twitter.com/stGrjcZ6EF
— Jamie Ford (@JamieFord) May 1, 2014
Today is the third and final day of the campaign and the theme is #diversifyyourshelf. Take a picture of a book you’ve bought or read that can be classified as a diverse book and post it for the world to see on your favorite social media platform. Check out my Twitter feed to see what I’ve posted and say hello!
