#WeNeedDiverseBooks

Hi everyone!
I am YA author B. A. Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline says it all - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

As a YA author of color (AOC) I have grown used to being unnoticed at writer's conferences. There is a reason I have stopped attending the national RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference, and have never gone to SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) although I am a long-time member of both organizations. I listen to editors, reviewers, readers and even other authors talk about how colorblind they are. All too often colorblind ends up equating to I don't even notice books about characters of color, or their authors.

During February, the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) listserv took on the topic of diversity in books. CCBC is part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (my old alma mater, although I graduated from the school of agriculture - seriously, I remember my Soil Science class fondly). The listserv filled with messages about the lack of diversity with more than 90% of the children's, MG and YA titles in the US featuring white protagonists. All too  many of the ethnic "extras" in these books are 2-dimensional, caricatures, or stereotypes.  And most are written by white authors.  I and other ethnic writers recounted the frequent experience of sitting at a conference booksigning and seeing people stop to talk to the authors on my left and right and practice that colorblind thing when it came to me.

It happened again at a booksigning last month. I am ever-hopeful and tried to reach out to the prospective buyers walking down the YA aisle. And it almost worked. Two white teens stopped,

picked up my books and read the back-covers. I admit I designed blurbs specifically to appeal to the teen eye. The brother and sister headed off to corral Mom, obviously the keeper of the funds. Mom came close enough to see me and to spy the black characters on the covers of my books. And that was that. I could see the kids pleading with her, but she would not come close enough to look at the books herself or to purchase one.

I almost went over to promise her there was nothing in the pages to damage her kids. Instead I sat, smiled, and watched her heard them away.

As I said, I am not the first YA or MG author of color who has experienced this, seen or heard white parents explain to their kids that "those books are not for you." And I hear how publishers and booksellers say there is no problem with so many titles featuring white casts, that kids of color should be colorblind because those books speak to universal themes and that is more important than them seeing themselves in the pages.

The books that interested the kids were:

• a teen dealing with the aftermath of domestic violence that left him in charge of his younger siblings and worried about his own future (Pull, a 2012 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers)
• teen boys in conflict with their fathers (Being God)
• an GLBT teen dealing with the loss of his boyfriend and feelings of being the only one of his kind (Minority Of One)

Obviously dangerous topics that could never have universal appeal.

For another side of the issue, checkout my post about what happened at a different conference, Romance Slam Jam 2014 - http://barbarabinns.com/2014/05/look-at-kids-and-see-why.html

That's why I support the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign.  To get more books like these in kids hands.

I hope you will consider doing the same.

YA Author James Klise

James Klise is the author of Love Drugged, a 2011 Stonewall Honor book, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and an ALA Rainbow List selection. His short stories have appeared in many places, including Story Quarterly, Southern Humanities Review, New Orleans Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Chicago, where he works by day as a high school librarian. His website is www.jamesklise.com.

First of all, thanks for the invitation to join you this month at Romancing the Genres. It’s a pleasure to be here!

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

I began with a frightening mental image: a teen trapped in a room against his will. In my mind, I saw a panicky teenager who was trapped in what appeared to be the library of a very large house. There was a gothic element to it. I just had to figure out what this boy was doing there, and how he might get out. It sounds a bit silly in retrospect, but it took me (a gay man) an embarrassingly long while to realize that my main character was a gay teenager and that the private library was, in fact, a private laboratory. I was most eager to write about a teen romantic relationship that wasn’t perfect and maybe felt awkward, but still felt real and important. (Like a lot of teen relationships, in fact.)

What made you decide to be a writer? What motivates you to write?

My love of writing is certainly linked to my love of reading, which goes way back to childhood. My parents read to my sisters and me each night before bed. Once a week, we all piled into the station wagon and drove to the public library on Main Street in Peoria, IL. We got 10 books each and read everyone else’s books, too. Even now, on any given day, I’m always more eager to READ than to write.

What I love most about writing fiction is the challenge, crafting scene after scene, building a satisfying story. First drafts can be nerve wracking, but I enjoy revision, making improvements to sentences, clarifying moments to make them sharper, funnier, or more suspenseful. Writing a novel requires such extreme commitment, and endless patience. So it’s extremely satisfying to finish a project. Later, of course, there’s the fun of seeing if it will ever be published!

What genre are most of your stories? Why did you choose that genre?

Everything I have written is realistic fiction. Well, let’s say “realistic” with quotes, because I am thrilled when out-of-the-ordinary things happen in stories, even realistic ones. I’m most drawn to stories that take chances and offer big surprises. While my stories take place in a familiar world, usually modern-day Chicago, I hope there are elements of the fantastic, too, that help keep teen readers turning pages.

A funny thing regarding genre: When I wrote LOVE DRUGGED, my aim was to write a thriller. I read many thrillers for inspiration and instruction. It wasn’t until after the novel sold that my editor told me how happy he was to acquire… a comedy. (And he was right! The narrator is funny.) Maybe any book, regardless of genre, can benefit from having the bones of a thriller.

If you have children/teens, tell us how they impact your YA writing?

I work full-time as a high school librarian in Chicago—so my days are spent with teens. Many of them are ardent readers. It’s not a stretch to say that I would probably not be writing for teens at all if I didn’t know so many of them. (Prior to working in a school, I only wrote short stories about grown-ups.) The useful thing about being around teens is that they always remind me what they want: gripping, relevant stories about characters they can relate to. Teens are not what we might call “patient” readers. They’ll close a book, and return it, if they’re bored on page 3. They really hold an author’s feet to the fire! Because of this, when I write for teens, the work needs to be as sharp as possible. Writing for teens has made me a better writer.

What was the most challenging book you’ve written?

That’s easy—the one I’m revising now. I bet everyone says that.

What books do you have available now?         

My first book is a novel for teens called LOVE DRUGGED (Llewellyn/Flux). My book definitely includes a romance—but this romance is doomed from the very beginning! The story, which takes place in Chicago, is about a closeted, freaked-out gay teenager who gets his hands on an experimental drug that claims to “cure” same-sex attraction. The premise sounds outrageous, but I tried to handle it realistically, because I wanted to explore those normal, confusing feelings many LGBTQ kids experience before they come out.  In the novel, my character steals and experiments with the drug at the same that his romantic relationship with a female classmate heats up. Spoiler alert: Things do not end happily for these lovebirds.

I'll end with a question:         

Most YA novels contain some element of romance. After all, for many people, the teen years are filled with exciting first experiences in this area of life. What do you think - does a YA novel NEED an element of romance to hook a teen's interest?
I'm curious to hear what people think!