The reality of our world

First, some random business.
-Our contest is still ongoing, so if you haven't commented for the chance to win books and cookies, you have until November 10th, so comment here!

-My company celebrated Halloween last Thursday in the office. To take a look at some of the great costumes (and to see who I dressed up as this year), check out my post over at bloomabilities here.

-The NYPL has posted the audio of last week's "Reflections on YA" panel. If you missed out on the discussion, hear what went on here.

And now on to our regularly scheduled program.

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There have been two blog posts that have lit up the internet (well, my internet, at least) for the past week that have both saddened and enraged me. One is this blog review of a Middle Grade novel, Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder. The blog's author, Noël De Vries, liked the book until she came to a depiction of a character who happily lives with her two mothers. De Vries finds some interviews online of the author's motivation for including these characters and writes:

As Snyder writes on her blog, "if more books represented diversity this way, simply, without it being a big issue all the time, more kids would understand that it isn‘t always a big issue. I’d like to think that children’s books are a wonderful way to begin the process of educating people about how varied human experience is, and about how all of it, all of it, is normal." (emphasis mine)

The only problem is, being a lesbian is not normal. It's not something that "just happens" to people, like being poor or brave. In fact, when you look through Biblical glasses, homosexuality is, well, an abomination.

Characters like Willa and Jenny, however, with their happy little family, show elementary-age readers that Christian beliefs are hateful and silly. Add these characters to the full-blown assault of politically-correct propaganda that is molding America's children.

The second blog post is a dating blogger named Maura for Marie Claire Magazine who wrote a post entitled "Should "Fatties" Get a Room (even on TV)?

She writes about the show Mike & Molly and answers this question that her editor asks her: "Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?" 

She writes:

My initial response was: Hmm, being overweight is one thing — those people are downright obese! And while I think our country's obsession with physical perfection is unhealthy, I also think it's at least equally crazy, albeit in the other direction, to be implicitly promoting obesity! Yes, anorexia is sick, but at least some slim models are simply naturally skinny. No one who is as fat as Mike and Molly can be healthy. And obesity is costing our country far more in terms of all the related health problems we are paying for, by way of our insurance, than any other health problem, even cancer.

So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.

Holy moly. Where do I start? First of all, I also read much of the comments on both blogs, and I have to say, the kidlit community is, for the most part, much more civil and reasonable, even when confronted with beliefs many found extremely offensive and disturbing. On the Marie Claire blog, on the other hand, a large chunk of people hoped that the blogger would die, and both sides resort to immature name calling.

What I'll say about both posts is that they are pretty clear examples of bigotry. And, mind you, I'm talking about what was written in the posts, not about the authors themselves. I'm also not suggesting that homosexuality and obesity are similar in terms of categorizing people, except in the sense that they are both demographic groups, and the groups under attack by these two blog posts.

Although there was much to object to in both posts, there was something that Ms. De Vries wrote in her own defense in the comments that particularly spoke to me. She said:

But my concern is the “writing in” of publicly visible “diverse” characters, when it is done, not because the characters are necessary to the story, but because an author likes “to think that children’s books are a wonderful way to begin the process of educating people….”

As a children's book editor, I can certainly understand how something in a work of fiction can feel forced or contrived so as to take you out of the story and affect your reading and enjoyment of it. That is something all authors strive NOT to do. Everything should feel very fluid and natural and realistic.

However, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for authors (and TV producers, and movie directors, etc. etc.) to put in diverse characters to reflect the reality of our world. And yes, that includes overweight people. I've said it a thousand times, and I'll say it again: as an Asian American growing up in a very white community, I hungered to see depictions of characters in books and TV and movies that reflected my reality, and sadly there was very little.

When I became an editor, it became one of my missions to publish books featuring underrepresented people. So, I guess I became what the first blogger would call part of the "politically-correct propaganda that is molding America's children." Oh boy. Hide your children from the books I edit!  For a series I was working on a long time ago, I made the suggestion of adding in another minority main character, and the author responded with something to the effect of, Well, we already have this character and that character and this character and wouldn't it be a little too obvious/overkill to add in yet another? At the time, I let it go, because that wasn't the author's reality and if she had forced it in, it would have felt that way: forced (although perhaps not to the child of that ethnic group reading the book...). But the sentiment of it has always bothered me, because the answer is no, it shouldn't be too obvious or overkill, because that exists in reality--in my reality, in other's realities. I've always hung out with a diverse group of friends. A former colleague of mine who was Mexican-American said that when he was in high school, his two best friends were an Asian guy and a black guy. And that was how it was. That was their reality, not a fake depiction of diversity in a book or TV show. And so, as an editor, I now try to find a diverse array of voices whose realities reflect our diverse world.

Author Jackie Dolamore stated it very succinctly in her comment:

My books reflect the world around me. I only have one book published so I can't say there is a HUGE amount of diversity there, but I know wonderful people who are gay, I know wonderful people who are devoutly religious. I know lots of different people in life, so when I write, if I didn't reflect that, it wouldn't feel real to me. I don't think all writers who include gay characters are trying to push a pet agenda, many of us are just reflecting the world we live in, just as if I write about a devoutly religious character I'm not pushing a religion because I don't belong to one, I am reflecting my world which includes many wonderful devoutly religious people.

Sorry to be preachy, but to Noël and Maura, I will just say: we have all kinds of people in the world, and we need that to be reflected in our media. Please, just practice tolerance and acceptance. Or if not acceptance, then I'll settle for tolerance. If you don't want to watch, if you don't want to read, then just look away. But allow others who do want to read and do want to watch do so. And allow those of us who are lesbians or obese exist and be happy, even. Your reality is not my reality, but we have to live in the same world. As Roger Sutton stated so succinctly, "not everything is about you, dear."


Note: after writing this post, I came across author Laurel Snyder's excellent response to the review.

Ch- ch- changes!

Notice anything different? Our blog has a brand new outfit, thanks to the wonderful design and illustration work of Anna Alter. Some of the changes:

-A beautiful new logo: we thought it made sense to include a book, as we're all about books
-A new tagline: we wanted to make the purpose of the blog clearer
-A new background: blue roses, of course!
-New headers: we wanted to make it clear who was writing which post, so going forward we'll be using these new headers (if you click on them, they'll take you to our personal blogs or websites). Note: for our older posts, the author of the each post will be listed at the bottom.
-New photos: now you know exactly what we all look like!
-"Reactions" buttons at the end of each post. Don't want to post a full comment? Just click a button! We're hoping this will also help us with feedback regarding what kinds of posts you'd like to see more of.
-Buttons for posting on Facebook, Twitter, and more.

With the new redesign also comes some new features to the blog. Stay tuned for information about a contest--Grace will have the details on Wednesday. We'll also be introducing some guest bloggers, a "from the BRG archives" feature, and regular discussion posts, including video, audio, and print.

We're all incredibly proud that we've kept this blog going strong for over four years, and we love the  community we have here. But we want to make sure we keep growing and adapting, and that the conversation stays fresh and interesting. Any and all feedback is welcome. Thank you to both our new and veteran readers, thanks to everyone for reading and participating!

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Also, if you're in the New York area, I'll be speaking on a panel at the NYPL tomorrow evening starting at 6:30 pm at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, South Court Auditorium. The panel is titled "Reflections on YA". Here is the description:

As Teen Read Week comes around again, join The New York Public Library for a refreshing and in-depth conversation about the state of YA publishing today. Hear from dynamic and engaging people from the literary world as they discuss the triumphs of the genre, as well as the areas for improvement. From paranormal to economic challenges and from the increasingly diverse population of Ya readers to the dominance of paranormal, find out what's happening in the world of reading.

Featured panelists:

Amy Bowllan, Director of Diversity and Educational Technology at The Hewitt School in NYC

Alvina Ling, Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Cailtlyn Dlouhy, Executive Editor, Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Megan Honig, Teen Collections Specialist, The New York Public Library

Stacey Barney, Editor, Penguin Book Group

Info here. Come join in the discussion! It should be a lively one.

Speak Loudly

Over the weekend, the Twitterverse exploded with the news that an associate professor called books such as Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer immoral, demeaning, and basically "soft core pornography."

Read his rant here. His official, 29-page complaint to the school board can be read here. My response? Ugg. And maybe also "Eff you." Luckily, everyone else has responded much more intelligently and eloquently. The blogosphere and Twitterverse immediately lit up with protests (you can view everyone's posts by searching the #SpeakLoudly hashtag). Laurie Halse Anderson responded by saying:

My fear is that good-hearted people in Scroggins’ community will read his piece and believe what he says. And then they will complain to the school board. And then the book will be pulled and then all those kids who might have found truth and support in the book will be denied that. In addition, all the kids who have healthy emotional lives but who hate reading, will miss the chance to enjoy a book that might change their opinion.

Read her entire blog post here.

Sarah Ockler responded on her blog as well:

I’m not going to spend a lot of time defending my book other than to say what those who’ve read it already know — despite its lighthearted title, TBS is not about parties and sex. It’s about two girls struggling in the aftermath of a major tragedy, with grieving parents and unfamiliar situations and secrets that threaten to kill their friendship. It’s a scary world for them, and my job as a writer is to tell their story honestly, without judgment. And I know I’ve done my job because I hear from teens who’ve experienced devastating loss, and they tell me how much the book meant to them or how they could relate to the characters more than they can relate to their own friends somtimes. One email like that is all I needed to know that I did what I set out to do.

Her blog post is here.

There have also been some beautiful, supportive blog posts in response. One powerful, moving post is by C.J. Redwine who says:

But here's the truth. Rape happens to girls in high school and younger all the time. Ignoring it, silencing it, refusing to look at the terrible consequences doesn't make it go away. I'm a Christian and am passionate about my faith, and I cringe when I see things like this because there's a difference between being outspoken about SINS, like rape, and being outspoken against something that might help the victims.

And this is the part of this post that has me feeling like maybe throwing up would be preferable to typing, but I'm a big girl now and it's time to exercise my right to speak.

I'm a rape survivor.

Read her entire post here.

There are more amazing blog posts here, here, here, and here, the latter with additional links.

Fittingly enough, next week is Banned Books Week. Let's celebrate the freedom to read! Speak Loudly, everyone!

Fatal Distraction

In Meghan’s “no resolutions for me” post, she lists her best “thinking” spots and asks readers to tell about theirs. Her query led me off on a tangent—not about places and times when writing ideas bubble up to the surface of my consciousness, but about my actual process when I go about writing my blogs.

So here it is:
The Id, the Ego, Those Infernal Impulses, and the Elements of Style

I love children’s poetry. It would follow that I also love children’s poetry books. Because I love children’s poetry books—I buy children’s poetry books. I have lost count of how many I own—but you can believe me when I tell you that I have hundreds of them. The same holds true for picture books—and all other kinds of children’s books. I don’t have to run down to the public library or visit a school library to find children’s poetry books or picture books or any other kind of books to review. One might think that having so many books at hand would make writing for a children’s literature blog easy for me. Think again!

There are two things I find difficult to do each week: decide what to write a blog about for Friday—and then to write a blog about it. At the beginning of my brainstorming process, I always end up asking myself lots of “Should I?” questions.

Should I review a poetry book that is hot-off-the-press?
Should I write about a wonderful book that was published years ago that has not found the readership it deserves?
Should I write an in-depth review of just one poetry book?
Should I review two or three books?
Should I review picture books written in verse—or picture books with lyrical texts?
Should I go searching for another old moldering poem that’s stuffed inside one of dozens of folders?
Should I write something serious and thought-provoking?
Should I don my wise guy persona and write a funny post?
Should I write something personal about the way poetry has affected my life?
Should I write about a controversial subject in the hopes of getting a discussion going?

Should I? Should I? Should I?

Next, the figurative gears in my gray matter start turning. There are times when I get so many ideas they all buzz around in my brain like bees flitting from flower to flower in search of nectar in summertime. And then I think: “This is a good idea for a blog. No, wait…this is a better idea.” And as the ideas spark electrical impulses in my frontal lobes and my left hemisphere sends messages to my right hemisphere and my right hemisphere signals “Right back at ya, Lefty” via my corpus callosum, I start pulling books off shelves and putting them on the table: a pile of moon books here, a book of poetry for very young children there, a bunch of snow stories written in verse at one end, poetry books that are beautifully illustrated at the other end, and on and on and on… Soon I am overwhelmed with different kinds of books and can’t see the top of the table, can’t decide which book(s) to write about. Then I invariably ignore the books I have spread across the tabletop and write about something else that has captured my fancy just before I sit down to compose my post.

Sometimes, after I finally decide what to write my blog about, everything in the writing/reviewing process goes smoothly from start to finish. Other times, I will spend a day or two on a post and then decide that it stinks or that it didn’t say what I really wanted it to say or that it would be better to post it on some Friday in the future. Sometimes I’ll find that the piece I am working on takes me where it wants to go—not where I want to take it. Sometimes another idea—or several ideas—will pop into my head after I have nearly finished my blog for the week.

I really do envy people who live their blogging lives in a straight line. They get one idea at a time, sit down and write about it, and post the piece the same day. No questions reverberating inside their craniums. No second-guessing their topic choices. No little nerve impulse gremlins jumping synapses in their brains and steering their conscious thoughts away from the writing task at hand or tempting them with new ideas. No little monologue bubbles hovering above their heads like rain clouds in April, whispering to them, and distracting them. Me? I try to remain on track—but I usually end up a modest train wreck of a writer almost every time I sit down to compose a post. So I think: Maybe it would be a good idea for me to write a book about my affliction and call it “Fatal Distraction: The Saga of a Kidlit Blogger with an Attention Disorder.” (Do you think any human being on the planet would be interested in reading a book like that?)

I believe that the mental health community should begin training special therapists who would be qualified to give advice to bloggers like me. Yeh, I could really use a bloggochologist—or maybe a bloggochiatrist. You know…someone knowledgeable about the inner workings of the human brain and psyche and subconscious who is also wise in the ways of topic sentences and paragraphing, main ideas and the clever turn of phrase, the independent clause and the pregnant pause, the ellipsis and the syllepsis, the subjunctive mood and gerunds. Someone who can distinguish an oxymoron from a blogging moron. Someone who is familiar with the works of Dr. Freud and Dr. Seuss. Someone who can make sure I don’t split literary hairs…or infinitives. Someone who can help me learn how to remain focused while I am writing and who can also keep me from dangling my participles in public.

If you know of any such professionals who would be interested in helping an old lady with ADBD— Attention Distraction Blogging Disorder—and also in collaborating on a nonfiction book about the disorder, please leave their names in the comments section for me.

Thanks for listening to my writing process rant, fellow bloggers. May Freud, no Jung, no Freud be with you.