Et tu, Little Brown?!

Check this post from Bookshelves of Doom and this post from 100 Scope Notes. There's racebending on the covers of The Mysterious Benedict Society books by Trenton Lee Stewart from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. UGH.

I'm emotionally exhausted. As Susan of Black-Eyed Susan's and Color Online says, whitewashing book covers:

contributes to the poor self-image among children of color
fails to accurately represent race and diversity
says people of color do not matter
denies readers positive and diverse representation
is socially and morally wrong

What's keeping me from getting depressed is the realization that all this discussion and debate about race and representation in books is making us really evaluate our book buying, reading, and reviewing habits. This is a good thing. Yes, I believe positive change will come out of these cover controversies!

Comments

You are fighting the good fight.
I forwarded an email I sent, so that you can see you've got me riled up and fighting with you.
Ana S. said…
I believe something good will come out of it too. But ugh, not yet again :(
Color Online said…
Tari,

You rock!

Thank you.
Tarie Sabido said…
Natalie, Nymeth, and Susan: Let us continue fighting together.