I dig Space. I always have. As a grade school student, I would take my transistor radio to the bus stop so I could listen to Mercury capsule launches. I wrote letters to Mission Control and got pictures of the original Mercury astronauts. I was nuts for astronauts.
Why did this ancient history come to mind now? In today’s I.N.K. blog, Tanya Lee Stone writes about her upcoming book, Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Unlike me, these women pushed for their dream of going to space even though it was never fulfilled. I abandoned mine after I realized even leaving the earth on carnival rides made me queasy.
But I never lost my admiration of astronauts. In high school, I used the assignment in Speech class to write about a career to discuss astronauts. Of course, I had a wealth of information and was no stranger to the library to gather more. My grade: C. My teacher Ms. Streusel (really, that was her name) said being an astronaut was not a career. NOT A CAREER?! I felt like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. We both had C’s, our dreams dashed, and our teachers were nuts.
While Ralphie eventually found out that the gun he wanted for Christmas could actually shoot his eye out, my admiration for astronauts has remained as men and women make a living (definition of a career, right?) as astronauts. But the real modern day message to me after seeing Ms. Stone’s book was that as children’s authors, we really have a duty to give children information to pursue their dreams. There may not be a parent, teacher, or older sibling who has the time or ability to support that child’s dream. But if a child can read a book and know her goal is possible, we’ve given someone hope and perhaps made the impossible seem possible.
I originally composed this post on the day after the November 4th election, but took it down when I decided to write an essay to submit to the New York Times op-ed page with a similar message. Well, needless to say, I am a nobody so my essay never made the light of day. I think the issue I raised is appropriate to reflect on, however, on this MLK Day and Inauguration Eve.
When I worked in an office, one of my rules was to not discuss politics at work. I figured I had to live with these people and getting into a tiff over politics would not serve having a happy workplace.
And now that I work from home, my rule has been to not discuss politics in my blogs. But today I’m going to break that rule because I think it’s important for people to know why Barack Obama’s victory is a victory for children’s writers.
Fiction writers observe the world and put it to paper. That’s it. We don’t make the world they way it is. It is what it is. We create characters and settings from what we see.
For years, editors have been rejecting manuscripts when we’ve shown stable African American families in middle class situations because they’ve said the characters weren’t true. They didn’t “talk black.” I’ve had this said to me, as have other writers of all races. It didn’t matter that I was an African American from a home of college educated parents with regular jobs and that I knew throngs of other people who were just like me. Editors couldn’t get past the image they saw on the nightly news. Black people lived in the hood, talked gangsta, and were baby daddies. I know all editors didn’t get blinded by this stereotype, but if it happened just one time it would have been one too many. Editors have immense power when it comes to what our children read.
So maybe now, when children’s authors submit books that reflect the diversity of the minority experience, editors won’t tell them that the characters they’ve written aren’t authentic. Maybe people will see, finally, that we are not all the same. Some us live in McMansions, some us live in six flats in the inner city, some of us live in lakefront condos. Some us take the train to work, some of us ride our bikes, some of us drive Jags. Some of us didn’t finish high school, some us finished college, some of us have PhD’s. Some of us work blue collar jobs, some of us work in an office, and one of us will work in the White House. It’s the world the way it is, pure and simple.
Barak Obama is not alone in being an educated and well-spoken black man with a good-looking family. I hope his election will make people–and editors–open their eyes and their hearts and see their country is not filled with caricatures, but with real people–real Americans who deserve to be portrayed honestly.
The film industry has the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Academy Awards. The children’s book world has a range of awards governed by the American Library Association, all of which will be announced during ALA’s Midwinter Conference in Denver, January 23-26.
While you can easily find mock Newbery and Caldecott elections and discussions, fellow AA writer Kyra Hicks has searched and found none for the Coretta Scott King Awards for African American children’s literature. So Kyra started her own. Check it out on her blog, Black Threads in Kids Literature.
My son had a fencing meet, my husband had to work, and they were fundraising on WBEZ, so early Saturday morning I headed to the Newberry Library for a symposium. I had seen it advertised in the Tribune Books section the preceding Saturday and though it sounded interesting. It was.
“American Identity in Children’s Literature” featured four scholars speaking on the development of children’s books in the Jewish, Native American, African American, and Chicano/Chicana cultures. The morning was full of gasps as audience members were exposed to the worst stereotypes and perpetuations of disgraceful treatments of minority characters. I almost got sick to my stomach at Clemson’s Michelle Martin’s slides of “The Ten Little Niggers” and “Little Black Sambo,” but I was equally appalled at U of I’s Debbie Reese’s exposition of the cultural superiority of Caucasians and the demonizing of Indians in books portraying Natives. (FYI–Debbie uses both terms, and actually prefers “Indian” because of legal considerations, i.e., federal treaties.) San Diego State’s June Cummins-Lewis educated me on Jewish children’s literature and the life of Sydney Taylor, and her colleague Phillip Serrato illuminated stereotypes in Chicano/a lit.
The audience mostly seemed filled with teachers and future teachers. After I asked a question and identified myself as a children’s author, several people revealed themselves to me later as aspiring kid’s writers. Out of all of the group, however, there was just one other current SCBWIer there. I realize many SCBWIers went to the gallery tour of the Artifacts of Childhood exhibit, but this symposium would have been a valuable education–even for those who think themselves as culturally sensitive. How many of us, for example, have a copy of Little House on the Prairie on our shelves? I admit I do have a copy in my Newbery Award collection, even though I have yet to read it. Debbie Reese said we should all take our copies back to the store and ask for our money back due to its portrayal of Indians.
If you missed it, the morning was being recorded for podcast on WBEZ’s website, www.chicagopublicradio.org. I don’t see it on there yet, but check back. It’s worth the listen.
This is a serious message is from someone who cracks me up, Roy Blount, Jr. After you read his message, you get to see a video that includes Elmo, Jon Stewart, Judy Blume, plus Bill O’Reilly. What a combination!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are
hard. And local booksellers aren’t known for vast reserves of
capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating.
Booksellers don’t lose enough money, however, to receive
congressional attention. A government bailout isn’t in the cards.
We don’t want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do
neighborhoods. So let’s mount a book-buying splurge. Get your
friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a
book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but
that’s just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the
histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go
crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a
load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of
verse, and take a chance on romance!
There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep
well; they’re easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements
for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile
children’s books as gifts for friends who look like they may
eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS
(they’ll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books.
Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be
hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their
cat in the stockroom: “Got to move on, folks. Got some books to
write now. You see…we’re the Authors Guild.”
Enjoy the holidays.
Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This video is from the Association of American Publisher’s campaign, Books Are Good Gifts.
In today’s post on I.N.K., writer Kathleen Krull writes that’s she’s glad that the president-elect reads. Amen to that! It seemed sometimes that 43 felt about reading and being exposed to new ideas the way his father 41 felt about broccoli (which is odd because his wife started two very successful book fairs).
Kathleen’s most important words, however, were at the end. “But this Thanksgiving I say ask not what Obama can do for you, ask what you can do for Obama.” I think since the initial shock/surprise/celebration, Americans of all political persuasions are now thinking about being ready to stand in service. On CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, Nancy Giles spoke about being inspired by Obama’s election. “And speaking of change, damn it, I’m going to get myself in shape … for something.”
I had that feeling last week when I saw the next president head to the gym the day after the election. I thought if he had the time and the energy after a looooooooong campaign to go workout, then certainly I could do better about how often I exercise. Some writers, like my friend HR, are dedicated to their workouts. And then again, some of us are dedicated to the comfy seat of our office chair and consider keyboarding an Olympic sport.
So I pledge–well let’s say plan–to get back to my arthritis exercise group (that’s where they put the lupus folks) this week. I may not do all 4 classes this week, but I’ll do at least 2. Certainly there is going to be something children’s writers can do to help #44. I want to be ready. Bye, bye, chair!
I’m quite fond of dictionaries–the real ones, the big ones with lots of words. We have an average of 1.5 dictionaries per room in this house probably. I’m in the kitchen right now and there are two here.
That’s why I thought it was cool that it will soon be the 250th anniversary of Noah Webster’s birthday. Imagine writing something that lasts that long! Awesome!
You've stumbled across or been tricked into visiting the blog of children's author Gail Piernas-Davenport, The Riant Writer.
Dedicated to Mirthful Truth in Writing and in Life. Honest.
Why did this ancient history come to mind now? In today’s I.N.K. blog, Tanya Lee Stone writes about her upcoming book, Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Unlike me, these women pushed for their dream of going to space even though it was never fulfilled. I abandoned mine after I realized even leaving the earth on carnival rides made me queasy.
