Earlier in the week, author Walter Dean Myers wrote a piece for the New York Times asking Where are the people of color (POC) in children's books?
As a POC myself, it's something I've always been aware of – that most of the characters in books aren't like me – but for a long time I didn't question it. It's something I learned to live with, like people always asking me where I'm from. Actually, live around is probably more apt, kind of like a bad knee I don't bother complaining about any more. But things are getting better, right? Park in Rainbow Rowell's wildly successful Eleanor & Park is half-Korean, and the latest novels from Patrick Ness, Keren David and James Dawson all feature characters of colour. But according to a study by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin which said that of the 3,200 children's books published in 2013, only 93 were about black people.
93. It's time to complain. Not just because 93 out of 3,200 isn't enough, but because, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in her TED Talk about the danger of the single story, we are all impressionable and vulnerable in the face of a story, particularly as children. Stories matter, she says. The characters who tell them do too because every child deserves to grow up thinking that they can be Harry Potter. After all, these books change our view of the world so they should represent every corner of it, shouldn't they?
And every voice.
Tanya Byrne's is the author of Heartshaped Bruise and Follow Me Down, her third novel will be published later this year.
1. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
In this series the people with dark skin are the ruling class and everyone else is the underclass. Reversing race roles sounds simple, but the trouble with privilege is that people try to understand someone else's experience by comparing it to their own. What Blackman does here is offer an alternative history altogether.
2. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Given this list was prompted by a piece from Walter Dean Myers, it would be remiss of me not to mention his remarkable novel, Monster, which won the Printz in 2000 and is about a sixteen-year old boy on trial for murder.
3. If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
Woodson's books could take up most of the top ten, but If You Come Softly, the story of an African-American boy and a Jewish girl who fall in love, is my favourite.
4. Liar by Justine Larbalestier
I became aware of this book a couple of years ago following the furor on twitter when the cover was whitewashed. It's about Micah who is a compulsive liar and pretty much gets away with it until her boyfriend dies and things start to unravel.
5. Keeper by Mal Peet
This was Peet's first novel, which he wrote because he thought football books for children were "pretty much crap". He's certainly redressed the balance with this, the story of a black South American footballer called El Gato.
6. In Darkness by Nick Lake
This is the challenging but beautiful story of 15-year-old Shorty who is trapped after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Not the easiest read but who said books should be?
7. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin
This was first published in 1968, but is still much loved today and tells the story of a young mage named Ged who is sent to a special school for wizards.
8. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
I became aware of this book after hearing Rick Riordan talk about it. It's the story of Sunny who has magical abilities and has to track down a serial killer.
9. Flygirl by Sherri L Smith
Set in the middle of the second world war, Flygirl is about Ida Mae Jones who tries to pass for white so that she can join the Air Force. It deals not just with racism and sexism, but identity in general. Something any teenager can relate to.
10. Bird by Crystal Chan
I'm yet to read this but I've heard so many good things about this book that I had to include it on this list. It's the story of 12-year-old Jewel who was born the day her brother John "Bird" died. When she meets a boy who is also called John and even looks a bit like her brother if he'd grown up to be that age, her family think it's a sign.
