Two posts in one!

[conuly]

I ordered for Ana two new chapter books with black protagonists - Nikki and Deja, and Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-up. And when they came, she fell all over them, just like she did with the Ruby Booker book. (I like these books better.)

Moral lesson here? Ana is desperate for chapter books, especially books with main characters on the cover who look like her. She showed more enthusiasm over these than she did over getting the new Clementine book that we were waiting for! (Clementine, a great series, has a serious dearth of non-white characters, btw. I think we finally have seen ONE black classmate in the illustrations. In the fourth book. They take place in Boston, a city which is almost 25% black. But you just can't limit yourself that much or there'd be nothing left to read, unfortunately.) I'm starting to think that this is the way to go, but bigger - make a whole damn listing of books, in categories, with a. non-white protagonists and, if possible, b. those same protagonists clearly shown on the cover, so you can see what they look like. (The first is good, the second is better. I'm entertaining the theory now that Gregor from the Underlander Chronicles might be black, after all, there's never (that I found) any clear description of him or his family that might contradict that, but there's also no clear picture of him on the cover ever either.)

So, once again, I'm asking people to reach out and bug their friends and recommend books to me (picture books or chapter books, I'm not picky!) that have black protagonists, or, really, any other non-white protagonists.

There's something else. I noticed while updating my librarything today that sometimes, the best books have the least reviews. (This goes whether or not the cast is "diverse"). People just don't know about them, I guess.

So, since I already posted this on P101, I figured I'll post it here too. If you can think of any really good book of yours, or your kid's, or your library's, that you have rarely or never seen recommended, anywhere - you can post about it. (Even if everybody in it is white, just tell us when you do so I know which sort of comment you're making, an obscure book comment or a diversity comment.)

These books are both rarely recommended AND feature non-white characters

Do Like Kyla
Firefighters in the Dark
Andrew's Loose Tooth (the main character seems to be Munsch's son, his adopted, non-white daughters also show up)
Max Found Two Sticks
Sam and the Tigers
The Rain Stomper
The Apple-Pip Princess (features non-white princesses for a change, story is a bit long)
I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer (has one scene where the polar explorers eat their sled dogs)
Talkin' About Bessie (bit long for a read-aloud)

Nikki and Deja

I need to start cataloging my chapter books, but I'm dawdling over it!

Crossposted (more or less) to P101

Comments

[trialia]

If she likes fantasy, you may want to introduce her to N.K. Jemisin - when she hits 12 or 13, that is. A little adult for someone Ana's age. But Nora Jemisin is a woman of colour in the field herself - sadly a rarity! - who is an excellent writer and whose cast varies greatly in racial makeup. If only all fantasy was that varied.

[steorra]

I like The Nightmare Tree by Richard René (though I am probably partly biased by knowing the author.) It's children's fantasy set in the Seychelles. The main character is black, but not shown on the front cover.

[steorra]

Also, what is P101?

[conuly]

The LJ comm parenting101.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

A bit older age range, but I've just read Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu this weekend and it was absolutely awesome. I think everyone in the book is black so it's very relevant for you. The author has a chapter book out titled Long Juju Man but I'm not familiar with it. That would probably be more suitable for Ana.

Toni Morrison also has children's books but I haven't read those either.

[conuly]

When you say "an older age range", do you mean "it has themes and concepts that may be difficult for the nieces to grasp, or that you might not want to expose them to just now" or do you mean "it'd be hard for a second grader to read"? If it's the latter, you should know that reading chapter books together is what we do.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Zahrah goes from an African Green-sky to a surreal Wonderland-like fantasy. It is about a teenager and covers some teenage and coming-of-age types of subjects; I think that she would love it anyway.

[blackhanddpants.livejournal.com]

It's not a chapter book, and I can't tell exactly what that page is, but I followed the firefighter book's link and noticed that Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm is listed there as a "you might also like." We LOVE Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, around here. It's a delightful book, and Harvey's protege is a little black girl.

[conuly]

We *have* Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, and adore it! We also have Raising Dragons, by the same author.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

What about Josephine's 'Magination? And here's another vote for Zahrah.

[conuly]

Two votes, I'm definitely putting it on my to-buy list. Thanks.