We Need Diverse Books

Last updated
We Need Diverse Books
FormationJuly 29, 2014;9 years ago (2014-07-29)
Founded at Pennsylvania
Type 501(c)(3)
Website diversebooks.org

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a nonprofit organization created to promote diversity of multiple forms in American children's literature and publishing, which grew out of the Twitter hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks in 2014. [1] [2] The organization's programming includes funding grants and internships for diverse authors and people interested in publishing, a mentorship program, providing lists of book recommendations for librarians, teachers, and parents on finding books with characters from marginalized backgrounds, and publishing an anthology of short stories featuring multiple authors from diverse backgrounds. [1]

Contents

History

We Need Diverse Books started on Twitter. Following the announcement of a panel of all-white, all-male children's authors at BookCon in 2014, Ellen Oh, Malinda Lo, and other authors and publishing insiders began protesting and discussing the lack of diversity and representation in the field on Twitter using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. [1] [3]

The organizers asked Twitter followers to hold up a sign that said "We need diverse books because..." and insert their own personal reasons. This campaign elicited responses including: author Gayle Forman stating, "So both my daughters can see themselves – and each other – in books"; Lee & Low Books writing, "...despite myths to the contrary, there's a market for them. We've been selling them for 20 years"; and Ellen Oh stating, "...because of the young girl who looked at me with stars in her eyes and said, 'Now I know I can be a writer too!'". [4]

As the online discussion surrounding the hashtag grew, a core group of individuals decided to formally create a group to continue the movement. On July 29, 2014, We Need Diverse Books filed for incorporation as a nonprofit in Pennsylvania. [5]

Programs

Walter Dean Myers Awards

The Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, known as "The Walters,” was created in 2014. Named after young adult author Walter Dean Myers, the award recognizes published, diverse authors who champion marginalized voices in their stories. [6] The inaugural award was given to Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely in 2016 for their book All American Boys . [7] The awards program is managed by co-directors Kathie Weinberg and Terry Hong. In 2018 WNDB changed the categories from a single category of young adult titles to two categories of teen and young readers. [8] Subsequent awards include both categories. [9]

Walter Dean Myers Grant

The Walter Dean Myers Grant is a grant that financially supports emerging published and unpublished, diverse writers and illustrators. [10] [11] The grant was established in 2014 and named after children’s book author Walter Dean Myers, an advocate of multicultural children’s books. [11] [10] In 2015, WNDB granted their first recipients (five writers and illustrators) $2,000 each. [11] In 2016, WNDB granted five more writers and illustrators $2,000 each. [12] The Walter Grant took a hiatus in 2017 and resumed in 2018. [13]

WNDB Internship Grants

WNDB Internship Grants was established in 2014 but became active in 2015. [14] The program was created to financially support college students who are pursuing their dreams of a career in children’s publishing with an internship at a publishing house. [15] In the inaugural year (2015) five interns received $2,500 each to support their internship sessions. [16] In 2016, WNDB gave out 11 grants of $2,500 each and also invited them to networking events during their intern session. [17] In 2017, nine interns were given the grant and interned across many publishing divisions. Since the program started 13 interns now have full-time publishing jobs. In 2018, WNDB plans to award eight grants to interns. [18]

WNDB Scholastic Partnership

In 2016, Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books announced their expanded collaboration for the 2016-2017 school year via a series of eight flyers distributed to classrooms via the Scholastic Reading Club. [19] [20]

YA Short Story Contest

In 2016 a program that allowed children of all ages, races, and genders to submit short stories to the company was started. To be eligible for a prize, the stories have to be 4,000 words or less, and applicants have to explain in less than 75 words how the story is diverse. The applicant must also be under 18 years of age to be considered a child and must not have published this writing prior to this contest. The contestant that wins this contest receives a $1,000 grand prize. [21]

Mentorships

WNDB offers 11 writing mentorships for inspiring writers in picture book text, fiction and nonfiction, middle grade fiction, and young adult fiction, middle grade nonfiction, young adult nonfiction, and illustration. The program requires that the chosen mentees communicate with their mentors for a year. To be eligible for the writing mentorship a mentee has to either be a diverse writer/illustrator or a writer/illustrator that have a completed draft of a manuscript for children or teens that have a diverse main character or a diverse central subject. An illustrator has to have a portfolio and numerous completed samples of illustrations. [22]

OurStory

Ourstory is WNDB app is a database resource for kids, teens, parents and educators to help find diverse stories. The app offers different levels of subscription to gain exclusive content and materials from authors and illustrators that educators and librarians can include in programs and curriculum. OurStory kids is for 12 and younger, OurStory Teens is for 13 and up, and OurStory Pro is for educators.

Two unique aspects of the app are the "window" or "mirror" feature and that the app does not have a search box. The "mirror" or "window" feature stems from an idea of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, a librarian. She believed that it is important for children to see or "mirror" themselves and culture in the books that they read. The OurStory app does not have a search box because the app is made for people to discover new books. [23]

Bookseller of the Year Award

The Bookseller of the Year Award was created to celebrate the role that independent booksellers play in aiding the discovery of diverse authors and illustrators. [24] The program launched in 2017 with over 25 nominations and the winner was Sara Luce Look from Charis Books and More in Atlanta, Georgia. [18] To be eligible for the award the nominees need to meet the following requirements:

WNDB in the Classroom

One of WNDB goals is to bring diverse books and authors to low-income schools. They provide free books and author visits to the low income classrooms around the country. WNDB realized that there was a literary gap that affected youths and decided to create WNDB in the Classroom, to help children find stories and characters that they can relate to. Since 2014 the program has donated over $75,000 worth of books, along with comprehensive discussion guides. [25] As of December 2018 the program has donated over 12,000 books to school children across 32 states. [26]

WNDB Retreat

WNDB offers two different retreats for diverse writers and/or writers who have a diverse story to tell. [27]

The Writing Cross Culturally Retreat – Provides writers with resources and tools for telling stories with care, respect, and sensitivity. On this retreat there are discussions on representation and misrepresentation, the ways prejudices and privileges connect to the writing and publishing process. Participants are encouraged to learn how to analyze their own internal prejudices and those that are endemic to publishing by looking beyond themselves and inherent biases. The goal of this retreat is to help participants understand the how, when, why and why not of writing cross-culturally through hands on workshops, lectures, group and individual work, writing exercise, and space for personal reflection. [27]

The Own Voices Retreat – Provides writers from marginalized backgrounds with resources to develop their manuscripts, learn about the industry, and gain the tools to navigate the publishing industry. The goal of this retreat is to help participants work on their manuscripts, learn information about the publishing process, and guide them through the publishing process by having hands on workshop, lectures, group and individual work, writing exercises, breakouts, personal reflection, as well as opportunities to dig into their manuscripts and work with mentors to get their work submission ready. [27]

Anthologies

WNDB publishes short stories anthologies that are school-friendly and showcase diverse authors. The anthologies feature award-winning authors’ and new voices original stories. This is yet another way to support the WNDB goal to provide diverse materials in children’s literature. The YA anthologies, Flying Lessons & Other Stories and Fresh Ink, are available for purchase. There is a middle grade anthology coming soon. WNDB hosts a short-story contest every year for an unpublished, diverse author and the winner holds a spot in the book. The winner also receives $1,000. [28]

PRH/WNDB Creative Writing Awards

The Penguin Random House/WNDB Creative Writing Award was established in 2019. WNDB has partnered with the Penguin Random House Foundation and Scholarship America to manage the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Scholarship Competition. The competition recognizes the unique voices of high school seniors across the country by providing scholarship awards in the amount of $10,000 for the following categories:

Literary compositions will judged by their technical merit; however, artistic expression is our core criterion. We are looking for writing with a strong, clear voice by authors who are daring, original, and unafraid to take risks. All judging will be under the supervision of We Need Diverse Books and Penguin Random House by a specially selected panel of judges. [29]

Publications

In January 2017, We Need Diverse Books published a middle-grade anthology of short stories called Flying Lessons and Other Stories featuring a wide breadth of diverse authors and stories. [1] [30]

Fresh Ink, an young adult anthology of diverse short stories, was published by Penguin Random House on August 14, 2017. The book features various authors of a diverse background. [28]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fallen Angels</i> (Myers novel) 1988 novel by Walter Dean Myers

Fallen Angels is a 1988 young-adult novel written by Walter Dean Myers, about the Vietnam War. It won the 1988 Coretta Scott King Award. Fallen Angels is listed as number 16 in the American Library Association's list of 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990–2000 due to its use of profanity and realistic depiction of the war.

Benjamin Myers is an English writer and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Dean Myers</span> American childrens book author

Walter Dean Myers was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Harlem. A tough childhood led him to writing and his school teachers would encourage him in this habit as a way to express himself. He wrote more than one hundred books including picture books and nonfiction. He won the Coretta Scott King Award for African-American authors five times. His 1988 novel Fallen Angels is one of the books most frequently challenged in the U.S. because of its adult language and its realistic depiction of the Vietnam War.

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for young people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Myers</span> American author and artist

Christopher Myers is an American interdisciplinary artist, author and illustrator of children's books, and playwright. His wide-ranging practice—including tapestries, sculpture, stained glass lightboxes, theater and writing—is rooted in storytelling and artmaking as modes of transformation and cultural exchange. He explores contemporary hybrid cultures and identities resulting from histories of migration, globalization and colonization. Critics have noted his work's fluid movement between disciplines, image and language, sociopolitical research and mythology, and diverse materials. Shana Nys Dambrot of LA Weekly wrote, "Ideas about authorship, collaboration, cross-cultural pollination, intergenerational storytelling, mythology, literature and the oral histories of displaced communities all converge in his literal and metaphorical patchwork tableaux … [his] sharp, emotional and sometimes dark parables express it all in bright, jubilant patterns and saturated colors."

Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, Sussex, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including memoir and life writing, as well political non-fiction. The company was set up in 1993 by Anne Benewick, together with Judith Mackay, as a packager of infographic atlases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malinda Lo</span> American writer of young adult novels

Malinda Lo is an American writer of young adult novels including Ash, Huntress, Adaptation, Inheritance,A Line in the Dark, and Last Night at the Telegraph Club. She also does research on diversity in young adult literature and publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Tate</span> American writer (born 1963)

Don Tate is an American author and illustrator of books for children. He is also an activist promoting racial and cultural inclusiveness in children's literature. He notes that as a child he had to read the encyclopedia to discover a multicultural world; based on the children's books of his day he "thought the world was white". He co-founded the young African American blog The Brown Bookshelf and helps run the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign to improve diversity of material in children's books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Thomas</span> American author (born 1988)

Angie Thomas is an American young adult author, best known for writing The Hate U Give (2017). Her second young adult novel, On the Come Up, was released on February 25, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Reynolds</span> American young adult novelist

Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and had an early focus on poetry, publishing several poetry collections before his first novel in 2014, When I Was The Greatest, which won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Young adult fiction and children's literature in general have historically shown a lack of diversity, that is, a lack of books with a main character who is, for example, a person of color, from the LGBTQIA+ community, or disabled. The numbers of children's book authors have shown a similar lack of diversity. Diversity is considered beneficial since it encourages children of diverse backgrounds to read and it teaches children of all backgrounds an accurate view of the world around them. In the mid-2010s, more attention was drawn to this problem from various quarters. In the several years following, diversity numbers seem to have improved: One survey showed that in 2017, a quarter of children's books were about minority protagonists, almost a 10 percent increase from 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamar Giles</span> American author

Lamar Giles is an American author of young adult novels and short stories. He best known for his award-winning novels with his most popular being Fake ID, SPIN, Not So Pure and Simple, and The Legendary Alston Boys middle grade fantasy series. He is also one of the founding members of the American non-profit We Need Diverse Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onjali Q. Raúf</span> British author and the founder of the NGO Making Herstory

Onjali Qatara Raúf is a British author and the founder of the two NGOs: Making Herstory, a woman's rights organisation tackling the abuse and trafficking of women and girls in the UK; and O's Refugee Aid Team, which raises awareness and funds to support refugee frontline aid organisations.

Emily X.R. Pan is a New York Times Bestselling American author of young adult fiction, best known for her debut novel The Astonishing Color of After.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kekla Magoon</span> American author (born 1980)

Kekla Magoon is an American author, best known for her NAACP Image Award-nominated young adult novel The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, The Season of Styx Malone, and X. In 2021, she received the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association for her body of work. Her works also include middle grade novels, short stories, and historical, socio-political, and economy-related non-fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Oh</span> American author

Ellen Oh is a Korean-American author, and founding member and CEO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the award winning author of young adult and middle grade novels including the Prophecy trilogy, also known as the Dragon King Chronicles, a series of fantasy, young adult novels based on Korean folklore.

This is a timeline of African American Children's literature milestones in the United States from 1600 – present. The timeline also includes selected events in Black history and children's book publishing broadly.

Joan Drury was an American novelist, book publisher, book seller, and philanthropist. She owned Spinsters, Ink, a publishing company that focused on books by women, especially those identifying as lesbian. She was the author of a series of mystery novels featuring a lesbian protagonist, Tyler Jones, and owned and operated a bookshop, Drury Lane Books, in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Drury won several awards for her services to publishing as well as for her own writing, including a Lambda Literary Award. She was also a philanthropist who sponsored writers' retreats, and created the National Lesbian Writer’s Award.

The Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, known as "The Walters,” was created by the American nonprofit We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) in 2014, and the inaugural award was presented in 2016. Named after young adult author Walter Dean Myers, the award recognizes published, diverse authors who champion marginalized voices in their stories. The awards program is managed by WNDB's co-directors Kathie Weinberg and Terry Hong. In 2018, WNDB changed the categories from a single category of young adult titles to two categories of teen and young readers. Subsequent awards include both categories.

Ghost Boys is a 2018 middle-grade novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Set in Chicago, the novel follows the story of Jerome, a 12-year-old black boy who is shot and killed by a white police officer before coming back as a ghost. Emmett Till, a black boy who was murdered in 1955, features as another ghost in the text. Rhodes' novel has themes of racism and socio-economic injustice that are aimed at a younger audience.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Charles, Ron (3 January 2017). "'We need diverse books,' they said. And now a group's dream is coming to fruition". Washington Post. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Hart, Melissa (31 October 2018). "We Need Diverse Books". The Writer. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. ↑ Hart, Melissa (31 October 2018). "We Need Diverse Books". The Writer. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Flood, Alison (1 May 2014). "'We Need Diverse Books' calls for more representative writing for children". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Sun, Carolyn (1 September 2014). "We Need Diverse Books Inc. formed". Library Journal. 139 (14): 20.
  6. ↑ Kirch, Claire (16 October 2014). "Diversity Group Announces Walter Dean Myers Award and Grants". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Kirch, Claire (20 January 2016). "Reynolds, Kiely win WNDB's debut Walter Award". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Walter Dean Myers Award - Children's Books". UCF Research Guides at University of Central Florida Libraries. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Walter Awards". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  10. 1 2 Kirch, Claire (16 October 2014). "Diversity Group Announces Walter Dean Myers Award and Grants". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 Kirch, Claire (29 October 2015). "WNDB Announces Inaugural Walter Dean Myers Grant Recipients". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. ↑ Meadows-Fernandez, Rochaun (13 June 2017). "Why Young People Need Diverse Books". Yes! Magazine. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "Walter Grant". diversebooks.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  14. ↑ "WNDB 2014 Annual Report" (PDF). We Need Diverse Books.
  15. ↑ "Internship Grants". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  16. ↑ "WNDB 2015 Annual Report" (PDF). We Need Diverse Books.
  17. ↑ "WNDB 2016 Annual Report" (PDF). We Need Diverse Books.
  18. 1 2 "WNDB 2017 Annual Report" (PDF). We Need Diverse Books.
  19. ↑ "Scholastic & We Need Diverse Books(TM) announce expanded partnership". PR Newswire. 29 February 2016.
  20. ↑ Baker, Jennifer. "We Need Diverse Books and Scholastic Inc. extend partnership on diversity flyer distribution". Forbes. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  21. ↑ "The We Need Diverse Books YA Short Story Contest". We Need Diverse Books. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "General Info & Eligibility". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  23. ↑ "OurStory". OurStory. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  24. 1 2 "Bookseller of the Year Award". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  25. ↑ "WNDB in the Classroom". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  26. ↑ "WNDB in the Classroom". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  27. 1 2 3 "WNDB Retreats". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  28. 1 2 "Anthologies". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  29. ↑ "Penguin Random House WNDB Creative Writing Award". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  30. ↑ Begley, Sarah (19 December 2016). "A collection of tales the bind". Time Magazine. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.