Banned Books Week: Protecting diversity in YA literature
Hundreds of books are either removed or challenged in U.S. schools and libraries each year, and a disproportionate number of them involve diverse characters or issues, according to an analysis by young-adult author Malinda Lo.
While only about one in 10 children’s books are by or about people of color, according to industry experts, Lo found that 52 percent of the most-often banned or challenged books from 2000 to 2014 either addressed issues of race, sexuality, or disability, or included characters who are non-White, LGBTQ, or have disabilities.
“It’s clear to me that books that fall outside the white, straight, abled mainstream are challenged more often than books that do not destabilize the status quo,” wrote Lo on the Diversity in YA website. “The message this sends is loud and clear: diversity is actually under attack. Minority perspectives are being silenced every year.”
As this year’s Banned Books Week approaches — it’s Sept. 17 to Oct. 3 — many NEA members are celebrating the voices, characters, and books that look at the issues that matter to students, and standing up against censorship. On their side is their union, whose governing documents clearly state: “NEA deplores prepublishing censorship, book-burning crusades, and attempts to ban books from school library media centers and school curricula,” and resolves that “Teachers and school library media specialists must have the right to select and use materials and techniques without censorship or legislative interference.”
And yet, it’s still a series of battles out there, every year, in public school classrooms and libraries. Take this summer’s challenge to the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, for example. The book by journalist Rebecca Skloot tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American mother whose cancerous cells were swiped from her cervix without her permission and used to develop the polio vaccine. With its careful exploration of medical ethics and racial inequality, it’s no surprise that the award-Banned Books Week: Protecting diversity in YA literature - NEA Today:
