Morning Links: June 27
Infographic citation: Huyck, David and Sarah Park Dahlen. (2019 June 19). Diversity in Children’s Books 2018. sarahpark.com blog. Created in consultation with Edith Campbell, Molly Beth Griffin, K. T. Horning, Debbie Reese, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Madeline Tyner, with statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp. Retrieved from https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/picture-this-diversity-in-childrens-books-2018-infographic/.
Censorship & Book Challenges
At NPR Illinois: Lawmakers To Question Officials About Removing Hundreds of Books From A Prison Library. “Most of the removed books deal with race, some are about the Holocaust, and others are children’s books about growing up with an incarcerated parent.“
At NPR: Arizona Prisons Lift Ban On Book About Mass Incarceration. “An uproar over the ban of Chokehold: Policing Black Men, including threats of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, prompted Arizona prison officials to review a publication blacklist and reverse suspending the book.“ This one’s got a few links about other related incidents—if you’re not up on censorship in prisons, this would be a decent place to start your rabbitholing.
At the Portland Press Herald: Gay-themed books fuel fight over free speech at small-town library in Maine. “The controversy began last fall when local pastors challenged the inclusion of two books with gay themes in a display of frequently banned books. Tensions bubbled up again this spring when the interim town manager asked if the library had a policy for book displays and, in doing so, questioned whether librarians were making political statements with their displays on “‘town time and the town’s dime.”“
Publishing
At sarahpark.com: Picture This: Diversity in Children’s Books 2018 Infographic. “One important distinction between the 2015 and 2018 infographics is that we made a deliberate decision to crack a section of the children’s mirrors to indicate what Debbie Reese calls “funhouse mirrors” and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas calls “distorted funhouse mirrors of the self.” Children’s literature continues to misrepresent underrepresented communities, and we wanted this infographic to show not just the low quantity of existing literature, but also the inaccuracy and uneven quality of some of those books.“
Booklists
At Buzzfeed: 12 Books By (And About) Lesbians And Bisexual Women To Read This Pride Month. Well, The Gilda Stories just jumped right up my TBR list, holy cow.
At SF Gate: The books to read at every age, from 1 to 100. The Giving Tree? Ewwwww. I Capture the Castle? YAAAAAYYYYY!! Also includes appearances by Audre Lorde, Julia Child, Shirley Jackson, Zora Neale Hurston, Louise Erdrich, Elena Ferrante, and Beverly Cleary.
Here For It
Book Awards
At ITV: Children select winner for Channel Island Book Award. “The winning story, The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, was announced in a ceremony at Jersey Library.“
At London News Online: Lambeth Phoenix Book Awards. “The children shortlisted four impressive contenders across genres from sci-fi to real-life. They were: Do you Speak Chocolate? by Cas Lester; The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James; The Colour of the Sun by David Almond; Scythe by Neal Shusterman, with Scythe the 2019 winner.“
A/V
At Film School Rejects: The Best Horror Movies of 2019 So Far. AHHHHH I WANT TO SEE SO MANY OF THESE AND MOST OF THEM DON’T HAVE RELEASE DATES OR DISTRIBUTORS IN THE US, WOE IS MEEEEEEE
At IndieWire: ‘Mouse Guard’ Director Pulls a ‘Deadpool’ and Releases Demo Footage From His Canceled Fox Movie. I AM SO BUMMED OUT THAT THIS MOVIE HAS BEEN CANCELLED AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE THE BOOKS BUT STILL *runs sobbing off into the sunset*
At Pajiba: For Your Consideration: Keanu Reeves. “Friends, the Pajiba 10 ethos is simple. It’s about celebrating a sublime mix of hotness, and inner hotness. The algorithm is designed to pick out those celebrities who simultaneously moisten your lions [pretty sure they mean loins here?? but lions are cool, too] and warm your soul.“ I shall console myself about Mouse Guard and my lack of access to all those rad horror movies with this image-heavy lovefest.