Thoughts on Diversity in Books
- Amagine
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Re: Thoughts on Diversity in Books
"I am grateful for all the books that sparked my imagination." -Unknown
- Shein30438
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It always helps to share - to encourage people of minority to read the books that youFangirlAhead wrote:Coming from the YA (young adult) book blogging community, I've noticed a lot of talk about how minorities are underrepresented in literature. Think about it: before reading We Are the Ants, when was the last time you read a book where the main character was a person of color or was LGBTQ+? And what do you think we as readers can do to encourage diversity? I don't have any clear answers myself, so I'm inviting everyone to contribute their thoughts!
have read! You could give the book to an young adult of color and ask them to read
it, if the main character is a person of color.
You could buy them book gift cards to encourage them to read a specific book.
You can conduct local community meetups of a specific minority to discuss that specific book.
You can create email lists to share reviews of books specific to that community so that they
get to see it and get motivated to read the book..
..and so on.
The key here is getting them involved in whatever way possible, and open the door
to possibilities, so that they can explore.
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- Naval Aulakh
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While researching a specific group can help an author avoid obvious mistakes, it still might not enable them to create a believable character.
In addition, there are some cases in which diversity is not necessarily desirable. Historical fiction is probably the best example of this; the author needs to consider the known demographics of the setting and time when deciding on their cast. I recently read a book called The Fox that was set in ancient Sparta. The cast was heavily male-dominated, and the narrator was bisexual. The ancient Spartans accepted homosexuality, at least between men.
I do like diverse characters -- but the author needs to be able to write them credibly and respectfully.
- Janathereader
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There has definitely been a rise in diverse protagonists, but not enough for it to be fair. Representation is really important to any minority group.
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