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Something I've been sitting on talking about for a week because tempers were flaring and I wanted people to come at this more even-keeled.
I wanna talk about the YA author experience as an eight year vet. And I wanna talk about changes, and who's doing what work, and why.
I wanna talk about the YA author experience as an eight year vet. And I wanna talk about changes, and who's doing what work, and why.
I pursued YA because I wanted to write for kid me. So do 99% of the authors coming at this industry--they're writing for the child they were.
And for many of us, as children, we weren't in young adult fiction. We were just absent.
And for many of us, as children, we weren't in young adult fiction. We were just absent.
We were BIPOC, disabled, fat, Jewish, Mustlim, etc... any and all of the above. We were almost to a person voracious readers (yes, even of the classics, in some cases especially of the classics) but what we were reading were someone else's stories, told by people not like us
-t on Muslim (thanks fat fingers.)
We struggled with ED and assault and bullying and racism. The books that bothered to talk about those real live experiences were, again, told by someone who didn't live it so they didn't seem genuine. And they were /dated/.
We struggled with ED and assault and bullying and racism. The books that bothered to talk about those real live experiences were, again, told by someone who didn't live it so they didn't seem genuine. And they were /dated/.
A lot of us came at YA as a chance to tell child-us that we were okay, that we were important, too. That we deserved honest stories.
And as much as we did it for ourselves, we did it for our communities. Our own kids. Our nieces. Nephews. Neighbors.
And as much as we did it for ourselves, we did it for our communities. Our own kids. Our nieces. Nephews. Neighbors.
And because of this, YA is, if not THE MOST DIVERSE CATEGORY IN LITERATURE (romance is gonna be up there, too), it's one of the top two.
Because a lot of people got tired of seeing kids like them left out of the conversation.
No one has to be invisible.
Because a lot of people got tired of seeing kids like them left out of the conversation.
No one has to be invisible.
If any of you thought that changing an entire /category/ of fiction to be more welcoming was going to be quiet, polite, or peaceful, you haven't been paying attention to the world at large.
The experience of diversifying YA parallels the experience of diversifying politics.
The experience of diversifying YA parallels the experience of diversifying politics.
And the demographics who are the loudest about the efforts to change the inequalities in the world are the same ones who are usually the loudest about how much YA sucks, we're a cult, we're childish, etc.
It's not a coincidence. It's just not.
It's not a coincidence. It's just not.
It. Has. To. Start. Somewhere.
And no, it's not always fun. It's definitely not for the people doing the hardest work of standing up to a very loud, nasty majority who doesn't want diversity, or, if they do, they want it in a way that has never, ever been proven to work.
And no, it's not always fun. It's definitely not for the people doing the hardest work of standing up to a very loud, nasty majority who doesn't want diversity, or, if they do, they want it in a way that has never, ever been proven to work.
Silence and asking, "Please?" Does not work. Period, the end.
SO, yes. It's loud and ungainly. Growing pains are.
But if you wanna know why we're here doing it, it's because of kid us. And the kids like us who need stories TODAY. 50% of classrooms aren't allocishet white.
SO, yes. It's loud and ungainly. Growing pains are.
But if you wanna know why we're here doing it, it's because of kid us. And the kids like us who need stories TODAY. 50% of classrooms aren't allocishet white.
Screaming at us isn't going to make us stop writing. Nor is it going to change the reasons WHY we write what we write.
Invisibility is not the answer. It wasn't for us as kids, and it certainly isn't now, when we exist in a digital age.
Invisibility is not the answer. It wasn't for us as kids, and it certainly isn't now, when we exist in a digital age.
