To the young, authors find, Black books matter.
The Hate U Give,” which takes its title from a phrase coined by the rapper Tupac Shakur, is one of a cluster of young-adult novels that confront police brutality, racial profiling and the Black Lives Matter movement. Several are debut novels from young African-American writers who have turned to fiction as a form of activism, hoping that their stories can help frame and illuminate the persistence of racial injustice for young readers.
Black Lives Matter Teenage Books
You hear about it so often these days that you just might wonder: How diverse is children’s literature, really? The numbers have been improving slowly, but they remain far from true representation. Now, a new, shareable infographic has the numbers you need to talk about diversity in kidlit, and — admittedly — the outlook is pretty grim.
How Diverse Is Children’s Literature? This Infographic Tells The Disturbing Truth
I was unaware gay people even existed and, when puberty hit, found myself more than a little lost. I so dearly wish there had been just one book with a character who was a bit like me – just a normal teenage guy who happened to be gay. I would have especially loved one whose sexuality did not define him.
Teenage readers now are comparatively lucky in that they do have role models in books by not only myself, but also much more famous authors like David Levithan, Patrick Ness and Cassandra Clare.
The Importance of LGBT Visibility in Children’s Books
Identity Books 