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diversity and reading
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From: Rosanne Parry <rosanneparry_at_comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:49:44 -0800
Lots of thoughtful illumination of the problems inherent in publishing diverse books. Plenty to think about, in fact maybe a little too much. My mother's favorite quote from Dr. King is, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." And I believe it's true but waiting for that long arc to move in the direction you so ardently desire can overwhelm a person into complete inaction. Careful planning and measurement of results is vital, I agree. So is institutional change. But I'm not sure it's the most important action nor is it particularly useful to many readers of this list. Nonetheless, there are important steps anyone can take.
A few examples. Laurel Snyder has a new book about Passover called The Longest Night. She's a far better marketer of her work than I am of mine, but for the Jewish titles she has trouble reaching beyond Jewish schools and bookstores. Next week, I'll take a copy of this book to Dorothy, a second grade teacher at St. Andrews. If she finds the book valuable (and I'm sure she will, there's no understanding the mass if you don't understand Passover) she'll take the book to the Catholic School Library Association. That's a relatively small pool of students in Oregon, but if the book is as strong as the rest of Laurel's work, it will gradually make its way from one CSLA to another and eventually to states with a more substantial Catholic school populations. That's a very small effort on my part, maybe 20 minutes of time and the price of one book. But the potential result is huge.
I recently did a Writing Family Stories night at a public school with a large LDS population. I know those families are interested in stories about young people who struggle with some aspect of their spiritual life. So I think I'll email the PTO president who invited me and suggest she give Francisco X Stork's book Irises a try. Not because it's a Hispanic story but because it's a story of the struggle to do right by your family and your faith without sacrificing your dreams. A theme that will give this very family and faith oriented (but not especially Hispanic) community plenty to talk about. If she finds it as thought provoking as all the rest of Francisco's work, it's likely the book will be shared from one avid book buying LDS congregation to another. That's a ten minute task for me, but again there's potential for a large pay off. Can I measure those results? No. Why would I want to? If 2 or 3 hundred readers of this list do similar small things for books they love and authors they wish to support, ama zing things will happen. In fact amazing things happen all the time because some of you work at making exactly these connections all day long. Thank you!
It's not that we shouldn't grasp the contours of the entire problem, but if all you can see is the enormity of it and the distance to the goal, you might never get out on that road and take some steps in a useful direction. Jewish books are not just for Jewish readers. Hispanic stories speak to a far broader audience than their own ethnic community. The window of opportunity for each young reader is so brief. Unless we, each of us, invites new readers to the books we love and wish to see more of, the situation will not change even with the sort of institutional shifts that would seek to make the same change.
Rosanne Parry WRITTEN IN STONE, 2013 SECOND FIDDLE, 2011 HEART OF A SHEPHERD, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com
Received on Tue 19 Feb 2013 01:49:44 PM CST
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:49:44 -0800
Lots of thoughtful illumination of the problems inherent in publishing diverse books. Plenty to think about, in fact maybe a little too much. My mother's favorite quote from Dr. King is, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." And I believe it's true but waiting for that long arc to move in the direction you so ardently desire can overwhelm a person into complete inaction. Careful planning and measurement of results is vital, I agree. So is institutional change. But I'm not sure it's the most important action nor is it particularly useful to many readers of this list. Nonetheless, there are important steps anyone can take.
A few examples. Laurel Snyder has a new book about Passover called The Longest Night. She's a far better marketer of her work than I am of mine, but for the Jewish titles she has trouble reaching beyond Jewish schools and bookstores. Next week, I'll take a copy of this book to Dorothy, a second grade teacher at St. Andrews. If she finds the book valuable (and I'm sure she will, there's no understanding the mass if you don't understand Passover) she'll take the book to the Catholic School Library Association. That's a relatively small pool of students in Oregon, but if the book is as strong as the rest of Laurel's work, it will gradually make its way from one CSLA to another and eventually to states with a more substantial Catholic school populations. That's a very small effort on my part, maybe 20 minutes of time and the price of one book. But the potential result is huge.
I recently did a Writing Family Stories night at a public school with a large LDS population. I know those families are interested in stories about young people who struggle with some aspect of their spiritual life. So I think I'll email the PTO president who invited me and suggest she give Francisco X Stork's book Irises a try. Not because it's a Hispanic story but because it's a story of the struggle to do right by your family and your faith without sacrificing your dreams. A theme that will give this very family and faith oriented (but not especially Hispanic) community plenty to talk about. If she finds it as thought provoking as all the rest of Francisco's work, it's likely the book will be shared from one avid book buying LDS congregation to another. That's a ten minute task for me, but again there's potential for a large pay off. Can I measure those results? No. Why would I want to? If 2 or 3 hundred readers of this list do similar small things for books they love and authors they wish to support, ama zing things will happen. In fact amazing things happen all the time because some of you work at making exactly these connections all day long. Thank you!
It's not that we shouldn't grasp the contours of the entire problem, but if all you can see is the enormity of it and the distance to the goal, you might never get out on that road and take some steps in a useful direction. Jewish books are not just for Jewish readers. Hispanic stories speak to a far broader audience than their own ethnic community. The window of opportunity for each young reader is so brief. Unless we, each of us, invites new readers to the books we love and wish to see more of, the situation will not change even with the sort of institutional shifts that would seek to make the same change.
Rosanne Parry WRITTEN IN STONE, 2013 SECOND FIDDLE, 2011 HEART OF A SHEPHERD, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com
Received on Tue 19 Feb 2013 01:49:44 PM CST
