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The horrific massacre in Orlando left me feeling helpless but I have to believe that one way to tackle the bigotry and hatred that triggered it is to provide young readers with books that promote tolerance and respect for diversity in race, religion, and sexuality. By the time many people reach adulthood it can be too late to change their opinions, but teens are still deciding how they view the world and they can be influenced.
Diversity in YA not only provides role models for teens who feel marginalized, it also helps teen readers to develop empathy for people who may seem different from them. Empathy is a powerful tool in the fight against intolerance and bigotry and so today I am highlighting diversity in YA.
- In response to what happened in Orlando Mostly YA Lit shares 10 YA Books that Promote LGBTQ, Diversity & Compassion.
- This YA Interrobang list of the week features Genderqueer and Transgender YA Leads.
- Fantasy is still one of the most popular YA genres. In this piece Malinda Lo provides advice about how to Take the Homophobia Out of Fantasy.
- In Making Choices in LGBTQ YA, author Dahlia Adler, discusses some of the decisions you need to make if you write LGBTQ YA.
- Kaye M. writes eloquently about Islamophobia in YA—the things that are unsaid and the things we need to know. “Off we should be shuffled to the internment camps, while our pain is profited off and spun into grand stories about rajas and shahs and sultans that make sure to show our worst sides more than what we truly are: achievers, great thinkers, intellects, dreamers.”
