I've used a lot of this space talking about the "why" of diverse books in literature for children. I have made my feelings pretty clear about the importance of diverse literacy both for teaching and for pleasure reading. I have spent less time on the "what" and the "how" of what diversity in literature looks like.
I know when someone talks about diversity, the first things that come to my mind are race, gender and religion. If I am honest the thoughts that immediately pop up are even pretty narrow within those broad categories. White or black. Boy or Girl. Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. At my high school, we were required to read books about apartheid in South Africa (Cry the Beloved Country definitely opened up my world view), books by Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Zora Neale Hurston, as well as the Diary of Anne Frank, and other Holocaust narratives. Those have stayed with me as what diverse books are.
I was so glad last semester when I took a class on young adult literature where the required reading list included books from a wealth of diverse categories beyond these ones in my mind. Diversity of subject can come through in so many characters and settings. When you get beyond black and white, there is even more diversity and difference. We read books about American Indians, Christian conservatives, rural boys, urban girls, conservative Muslims in Australia, and kids who are transitioning from one gender to another, among the many books we read. We covered poverty and wealth, isolation and inclusion, and other differences that be reflected in many schools and districts.
In addition to these characters with very different outward lives, we also read a collection of books with students who are neurologically different. Mockingbird and Marcelo in the Real World are two of the books we read about youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. These books were illuminating for members of my class who knew little about this disorder, and comforting for those who have seen it up close. This is a personal interest of mine and I have since found that in recent years there is a wealth of literature focused on, or even just inclusive of, characters with ASD. Al Capone Does My Shirts, Rain Reign, The London Eye Mystery and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are just a few that have crossed my radar screen and that show all the many sides of this disorder. Along these same lines, El Deafo and Out of My Mind are two recent books that have characters with disabilities that too often are not discussed.
I know when someone talks about diversity, the first things that come to my mind are race, gender and religion. If I am honest the thoughts that immediately pop up are even pretty narrow within those broad categories. White or black. Boy or Girl. Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. At my high school, we were required to read books about apartheid in South Africa (Cry the Beloved Country definitely opened up my world view), books by Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Zora Neale Hurston, as well as the Diary of Anne Frank, and other Holocaust narratives. Those have stayed with me as what diverse books are.
I was so glad last semester when I took a class on young adult literature where the required reading list included books from a wealth of diverse categories beyond these ones in my mind. Diversity of subject can come through in so many characters and settings. When you get beyond black and white, there is even more diversity and difference. We read books about American Indians, Christian conservatives, rural boys, urban girls, conservative Muslims in Australia, and kids who are transitioning from one gender to another, among the many books we read. We covered poverty and wealth, isolation and inclusion, and other differences that be reflected in many schools and districts.
In addition to these characters with very different outward lives, we also read a collection of books with students who are neurologically different. Mockingbird and Marcelo in the Real World are two of the books we read about youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. These books were illuminating for members of my class who knew little about this disorder, and comforting for those who have seen it up close. This is a personal interest of mine and I have since found that in recent years there is a wealth of literature focused on, or even just inclusive of, characters with ASD. Al Capone Does My Shirts, Rain Reign, The London Eye Mystery and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are just a few that have crossed my radar screen and that show all the many sides of this disorder. Along these same lines, El Deafo and Out of My Mind are two recent books that have characters with disabilities that too often are not discussed.
And so there is the "what" of diverse books, but I still owe you an explanation of the "how." While there are so many ways that diverse books should be used in reading and writing classes (as well as other subjects as I have discussed before), I have one example that stands out as exemplary. Recently my own son was given a book to read that opened his world view, but also sharpened his problem-solving skills. He is in a book club at school with three other students. They read the book How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor. The story is about a girl and her family who find themselves homeless after a series of events. The girl Georgina is desperate to save herself, her mother and her brother, and comes up with a plan in order to try to get them back in their apartment and out of their car. The teacher leading the group did a really great job of using the book and the differences between the children in the class and the characters in the book to understand character. They examined homelessness and what that looks like, examining differences between themselves and the characters. She even had the kids bring in a small bag with the things they would take from their homes if they could only bring a few things.
The teacher went beyond these reading skills of place, setting and character. She also used this book to examine problem-solving skills and critical-thinking. All of the standards we are working toward in schools focus on these skills that require much deeper thought, looking at problems that don't necessarily have a right answer. The fact that this book had characters with experiences so vastly different from the experiences of the students she was working with allowed this teacher to focus on how various solutions don't always work in every situation. I am not ruining any plot points in saying that stealing a dog comes up as one possible solution for Georgina, as she believes she can get a reward for returning a missing dog if she can only borrow that dog first. The teacher was able to use this as a springboard to discuss how decision-making does not mean finding the one correct answer, but rather seeing all of the possibilities and finding that one that works and is appropriate. Critical-thinking is a skill that can only truly be developed by using it. When students are faced with problems that have an answer that is right, they will not have the opportunity to build this skill. Books with a diversity of situations that are outside of their experience will help to develop critical-thinking, problem-solving skills and questioning.
On a slightly different note, I feel the need to link to an article that my husband shared with me today about a lending library made out of books. Talk about something completely different from anything I know! Every time I have moved, I have always found the local library and comforted myself by shelves with books, librarians behind desks, and small nooks to read in. Lacuna takes everything I know and turns it on it's head. There are nooks, there are shelves, and there are books, but they are all MADE OUT OF BOOKS! I wish I could get out to the Bay Area Book Festival just so I could see this!