Books I've Cherished

I'm following Zetta's lead and taking the Diversity Roll Call: Paradigm Shifts assignment posted over at Color Online:

Several books come immediately to mind when I think of works that shifted the way I see things--that made an impact on my life's decisions: SISTER OUTSIDER, by Audre Lorde; THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET, by Sandra Cisneros; MEAN SPIRIT, by Linda Hogan; WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, by Marge Piercy; The FREE RENUNCIATES trilogy by Marion Zimmer Bradley; SHATTERED GLASS, by Elaine Bergstrom; and WILD SEED, by Octavia Butler.

All of these are adult books that were written before there was a category for YA. But I certainly read them when I was a YA, and they had a tremendous impact on who I became and how I saw the world around me.

SISTER OUTSIDER began my journey into looking at the world through a Black feminist lens. It opened me up to works by June Jordan, bell hooks, Dionne Brand, Cherie Moraga, Joy Kagawa, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Jeanette Winterson, Dorothy Allison, the rest of Ms. Lorde's writings, and many other unapologetic feminists of colour -- women whose words gave me ways to express aspects of myself I'd never thought could be valued.

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET was the first book I read in print that seemed so utterly accessible. It showed me my heart, my innermost thoughts and feelings on a page where someone else wrote the words. I was simply amazed that this was possible. I loved the characters in this book -- felt like I knew them; that most of them were family.

MEAN SPIRIT blew my world apart. The writing, the magnitude and scope of the events Ms. Hogan described, and the sheer devastation of what this particular community experienced was a shattering revelation. I had read lots of non-fiction about the history of the Americas, and spent long nights chatting with First Nations friends and colleagues, and I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on the issues and topics. But when I read this book, I realized what a difference it makes reading about these types of events through story. Through fiction. And through the eyes of characters that live and breathe on the page. It was an ambitious undertaking, and Ms. Hogan did it masterfully. In my opinion, this book is one of the most brilliant and under-valued gems of fiction--multicultural or otherwise. It should be a MUST READ in every class that looks at literature by marginalized voices, and any and every class that studies American history.

WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME was shoved into my hands by a close friend. "READ THIS," she said. And I did, non-stop from the moment I opened the book. I had never read a work of feminist science-fiction before this book. I was amazed at Ms. Piercy's imagination, and her feminist commentary woven throughout the narrative. It was the first time I discovered that feminism and a social commentary could be merged with not only fiction (I'd discovered this with Audre Lorde's book), but with science-fiction. I was hooked.

The FREE RENUNCIATES trilogy and SHATTERED GLASS were books I read rather close together. Like Piercy's novel, both of these books showed me how magical feminism threaded through fantasy could be for young readers like myself. It was the first time I was seeing kick-ass heroines who needed no saving, who were out there finding their own destinies and who were shaping the world around them. SHATTERED GLASS was the first feminist vampire novel I'd ever read. The protagonist was a strong woman who was unashamed of her own sexuality and sensuality, and matched the men around her in power and ability. The concepts Ms. Bergstrom used in this novel, i.e. "vegetarian" vampires (who don't prey on humans) are the same ones Meyers later used in her mega-hit series.

And last (but certainly not least!), is Butler's WILD SEED. This book was a merging of all of the above, and really set the bar for every feminist, socially conscious fantasy/sci-fi novel I've read since. I found this book at a center for LGBTQ folks during a meeting, and started flipping through. By the end of the meeting, I was a third of the way through and could not put it down. I smuggled it home, read it that night, then smuggled it back the next day. Bad, I know. But such is the power of Ms. Butler's work. In WILD SEED, I saw characters and story and socially conscious narrative elevated to well beyond an art. I was completely absorbed in the story of these two "lovers." Their story was as epic and sweeping as any romance novel or Bollywood film, but there were layers of profound insight and revelations that struck at the very core of my belief systems. It's a book and experience I've absolutely cherished.

All of these books and authors have influenced my own work in some way. I am indebted to all of them, and so many others for breaking ground, fighting tirelessly to make way so that stories like mine and those of other marginalized voices could make their way into the world.

Save The Dates

The organization that I mentor for, Girls Write Now, is having a series of readings* throughout the spring. You are NOT going to want to miss them, I promise. Besides the amazing teens who will be reading (including my awesome mentee who is working an a kickbutt poem right this MINUTE), check out this stunning array of guests who will join us:

Friday (each reading is on a Friday), Feb. 26th: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of WENCH
March 26th: Nami Mun, author of MILES FROM NOWHERE
April 23rd: Lizzie Skurnick, author of SHELF DISCOVERY
May 21st: Ru Freeman, author of A DISOBEDIENT GIRL
June 18th: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK

All events are at The Center for Fiction, 17 East 47th Street (between Fifth and Madison), NYC, 6-8pm.

Please join us on any or all of the above dates, and help support a really special organization.

*Curated by Maud Newton

Protecting Kids Through Honest Dialogue

A Facebook friend posted this link to her profile. It was devastating to go through some of the posts on the organization's blog and see just how prevalent child sexual abuse is in India, and the possible reasons for that. I know it's far higher everywhere than most people think, but every time I read/hear of a new case where a child is silenced or shut down, or a perpetrator is let off the hook with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, it tears me apart.

When I worked at the Children's Aid Society years ago, I went to court with a pre-teen who had been repeatedly abused by her father since she was about six. She had run away and was staying with her older sister (who accompanied us to court). The courts made the pre-teen return home to her father because her statement "lacked credibility." While it's possible she was making it all up, and I suppose she could have doctored the photos of scars and bruises, and her sister's testimony could have been in conspiracy, the evidence that children do not make this sh*t up if nothing is happening in the home is overwhelming. My kids make stuff up all the time. But this kind of stuff never even enters their radar.

I've been thinking a lot about protecting my kids and everything that means. I know some people think that protecting children means keeping certain books, films, etc. away from them. If the books are ADULT books, I agree with that. But if the books openly discuss issues in an age-appropriate way, I don't think they should be kept from the children they are meant to educate. I do think parents and care-givers have a responsibility to discuss the material with their children, however. Reading materials are not a substitute for discussion.

As someone who grew up in a home where NOTHING related to sex or the body was discussed openly, I have to say that open and honest dialogue around these types of things (in a non-threatening, age-appropriate way!) has to be one of the single most important protections for our kids.

Here are some helpful, non-threatening books I've found that address various issues kids may face -- from trauma to protecting themselves from unwanted touch:

A Terrible Thing Happened
Please Tell: A Child's Story About Sexual Abuse
My Body Is Private
Your Body Belongs to You
The Right Touch
I Said No!
Some Parts Are Not For Sharing

If you know of other great books or resources, please leave them in the comments.

Laundry

My last post got more hits than I've ever had since I began this blog. I'm thinking that, as hard and painful as the topic of race is in this country, people really want to talk about it--or at least watch others talk about it. It's an old wound, it's a festering wound, but maybe more and more people are okay with peeking at it after so long of either denying it or pretending it didn't exist--or didn't affect them.

I had to hurry off that last post because of urgent cuddling time with my sick munchkin. But I'm kind of glad I had to hurry off. It's exhausting, all this race and representation talk. When the discourse is among like-minded folks, it can be energizing, inspiring, revitalizing. But when you're constantly having to search for the right words--the words LEAST likely to be misinterpreted, LEAST likely to be taken in offense...sometimes you just want to say, "Okay, forget it. I'm gonna go fold laundry."

But me--sometimes I can't help myself. Sometimes I see people saying the most effed up stuff and I look at who they're saying it to: often those who don't have the words to defend themselves, or those who are (in Ms. Zetta's words) "the most vulnerable members of my community." And I'm reminded of my parents--intelligent adults who were reduced to stuttering fools when they couldn't find the right English words to deal with police officers, bank officials, school principals. And I have to say something. Because I do have the words. I CAN put sentences together in ways that make sense, and because of that I have the responsibility to speak up. And while I reallyreallyreally want to use wordsmithing to tell stories, to heal and transform myself (and, if possible, others), to write new worlds into existence, I can't just walk away when I know that what takes me a few minutes to articulate might never make it out of the mouths of those who need the words most.

So, I'm striving to find a balance between my two passions: working for social change* and working on my own creative pursuits. Some days I do a great job at the balance thing and allow myself to indulge in some back-patting. Other days, I watch myself get ground up and have to scrape the remnants up off the floor, as I tsk-tsk and bombard myself with I-told-you-sos.

But always...always there is laundry. And thank goodness for that.

*Though I often wonder if, given the current state of the world, any of us really have the luxury to NOT work toward social change...

Who Gets to Represent?

Zetta just pointed me to this post on Read Roger. I was in the midst of writing a response when I realized it was becoming more of an essay. So, here are some of my thoughts, rather quickly as I have a sick kid on the sofa (asleep right now, but...):

My guess is that if this publisher (Bloomsbury) released books written by authors of colour, they would feature PoC on the covers because they would likely be ABOUT race. But then again, we'll never know, really, because all of the books I've seen by Bloomsbury--books with characters of colour--have been written by white authors (this was the first book I found on their current list, after going through about eight pages on the site, that was clearly written by a PoC--and it does feature a PoC on the cover).

This: "would Liar and Magic Under Glass have been published if their authors were not white...?" is a great question. I've also wondered about the reverse: If a book like A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT were written by a white author, would it have found an agent or publisher?

In answering questions for an interview recently, it dawned on me that many books clearly for and about children/teens of colour seem to fall under "educational," while much of the fun, romance, and adventure reads feature all-white casts, written for a clearly-targeted white audience, by white authors.

Two thoughts on that: 1) Must we consistently get lumped into the "to study" category? And 2) While I'm glad that Bloomsbury is publishing books with characters of colour, I resent the implication that I should be *grateful* for this, as if publishers are doing PoC a favour by representing the world as it truly is. And as if white authors are doing children/teens of colour a favour by doing the same thing. Why aren't people expected to reflect the world with all its true colours?

When white authors write characters of colour, their careers are not hindered. In fact, they may get the traditional pat-on-the-back response whenever the privileged represent those they have privilege over. When authors of colour write books featuring white protagonists and all-white casts, their careers are not negatively impacted. I am not applauded or thanked when I write white characters in my books because I am expected to.

When authors of colour dare to feature protagonists of colour, or people their books primarily with characters of colour, our challenges to getting published are vast. If we do somehow manage to get published, our books are "educational," or about race and "other"-ness -- and we are almost never lead titles. Many of us struggle to get a second book published (Mitali Perkins waited over ten years to have her second book published), and to get the marketing and publicity support we need to reach our audience. (This last bit is probably true for the majority of authors, regardless of race or background, but it is definitely compounded for PoC).

I'll post more on this later, if I can. Right now, I have a sick little munchkin to attend to.