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Odds & Ends on the Web: May 4th Edition

5/5/2012

8 Comments

 
Readventurer Odds and Ends on the Web
Last week was very busy, book release-wise. A lot of the most anticipated books of the year came out during the first few days of May, among them: Bitterblue (BTW, according to April, Kristin Cashore is planning to write more fantasy in her Seven Kingdoms realm - it was a big news to us), The Drowned Cities, The Immortal Rules, Deadlocked and, of course, Insurgent. We can all agree that we are happy that the Insurgent promo campaign is finally over. We have never seen a book event so pervasive and intense and so annoying. It is no wonder that there were some feelings hurt in the process.

To get all huffy posts out of the way and move on to more positive topics, please note this list of the 10 grumpiest living writers. We particularly like this statement by a children's writer Maurice Sendak (Where The Wild Things Are) - “I didn’t set out to make children happy, or make life better for them, or easier for them… I like them as few and far between as I do adults. Maybe a bit more more because I really don’t like adults, at all, practically.”

Another interesting post (brought to our attention by ever informative Galley Cat) is about something that we all love talking about - book covers. Tiana Smith offers a very neat comparison of various book covers of the same novels, coming to a conclusion that American readers seem to be OK with any cover, as long as there is a girl on it. We would like to add, a white and skinny girl.

Have you ever wondered what those authors, who read negative reviews of their books and then demand the reviewers to be "more professional" and "constructive," mean? Might it be, that they expect us to assess their works using the language similar to these publishing industry euphemisms? How does "book X is epic" (code words for:  "too long") or "book Y is well -researched" ("reads like non-fiction") sound? No? We thought so, someone has to tell the truth, right?

Sarah Ockler had a very thoughtful (and funny) post about diversity in YA last week. This part of her post resonated the most with us:

"Actively diversifying our fiction does not mean any of the following:
  • Giving a character almond-shaped eyes or coffee-mocha-latte-chocolate-hazelnut-caramel-cappuccino-colored skin. In fact, as a general rule, writers seeking inspiration solely from Starbucks menus probably need to dial down the caffeine.
  • Slotting in a random person of color for no other reason than to break up the whiteness (especially if you’re writing about a place that is mostly white. Like, a Rod Stewart concert, or maybe a deer hunt).
  • Sneaking in a few non-white celebrity guest appearances on a poster, an iPod, or a character’s favorite TV show. I mean, I love Fresh Prince as much as anyone, because Parents Just Don’t Understand, but no—that doesn’t count.
  • Including a non-white character whose only real difference from the white characters is the color of his skin and/or his snappy catch phrases. Word!
  • Conducting a find-and-replace in Word to change Breanna and Chad to Belicia and Chen. CTRL+F what?
  • Putting a sushi or taco bar in the school cafeteria. Which is one of those things that sounds like a good idea at the time, but usually isn’t.
Diversity in fiction isn’t about tokenism, filling up imaginary “affirmative fiction” quotas, or embarking on a PC quest to be “inclusive.” It’s about respecting our readers."

And speaking of tokeinism, constant pushing a token "gay best friend" in YA books HAS to stop as well.

And to end this edition of Odds & Ends on the Web on the brightest and most positive note, we love this adorable poster. It reflects the experiences of children who read most truthfully.

These Are Your Kids on Books poster
We'll see you next week!
8 Comments
Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
5/5/2012 05:25:05 am

I don't know how I missed that Sarah Ockler post, but she's awesome.

Catie, you should've posted a picture of your girls in costume! :)

Maurice Sendak forever. That is all.

Reply
Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/7/2012 12:13:14 pm

Maggie, I reallllly hope you've watched the entire Colbert Report video with Maurice Sendak. They get high on markers!

Reply
VeganYANerds link
5/5/2012 10:53:29 am

I didn't pay attention to the Insurgent campaign, I'm not sure I get the purpose of it, that book will get plenty of attention as it is.

And I loved Sarah's post, authors take note!

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/5/2012 09:54:55 pm

Exactly, Insurgent was one of the most anticipated releases of the year anyway. Why did the publisher think it was a good idea to have a marketing campaign that was sure to clutter everyone's blog and twitter feeds and quickly annoy everybody?

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Tanya Patrice link
5/5/2012 06:44:39 pm

Wow - thanks for the links because ... eye opening. I stayed clear of the Insurgent stuff, so had no clue what was happening, but honestly, not surprised. Love the poster too, and the Sarah Ockler post. Personally, I've stopped reading the books with the skinny white girls on the cover.

Reply
Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/7/2012 12:23:39 pm

I suppose some consumers must like those covers or they wouldn't be so popular...but I know that basically every reader and blogger I know hates them. I'll take recent amazing covers like Rachel Hartman's Seraphina, Jesse Andrews' Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and middle grade books like Storybound, Liesl & Po, and The Apothecary.

Reply
michelle link
5/7/2012 02:23:51 am

"We can all agree that we are happy that the Insurgent promo campaign is finally over. We have never seen a book event so pervasive and intense and so annoying."

Seriously. I never read Divergent -- the premise of the factions never sounded believable to me so I wasn't really interested in reading it. Then this whole Insurgent everywhere all the time thing started and I just want it to go away!

And Sarah Ockler's post really was wonderful!

Reply
Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/7/2012 12:14:54 pm

Geez, us too, Michelle. I told the other two that when I finally sat down to read Insurgent, I felt like the publicity campaign left this horrible taste in my mouth the entire time.

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