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| Source: NAACP |
Readers, February is Black History Month. We’ve admittedly been a bit busy around here with Cybils reading and judging and whatnot, but while I was trying to settle on today’s post topic, I thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight some of the many diverse titles that made it to the second round as Cybils finalists. We’ve had more diverse books than ever before, which is lovely, and they are all of high quality with fabulous kid appeal, of course.
Without further ado, here’s a list (to the best of my knowledge, and in no particular order) of finalists that feature African American protagonists, themes, and/or authors.
For Kids and Tweens:
by Hilary McKay
While We Run (African-Australian)
and Boys of Blur, by N.D. Wilson, in EMG SF!
Oh, sheesh, I even read that one. Going to edit now…
Would African-Australian qualify for this list? If so, you could include While We Run, by Karen Healey. The protagonist, Abdi Taalib, is an African from Djibouti living in Australia (100 years in the future). Your post said African-American, and he's not American, but he is black, so I thought it might be appropriate for Black History Month.
I did think about that one. I really liked WHILE WE RUN (and love Karen Healey's books in general) but once I'd written African-American, I second-guessed myself. Hmm…
Maybe you could add it with a qualification? There's so little good science fiction featuring protagonists of color, that I think it's important to highlight the ones that are out there.
Also, it's just a fantastic book and I love it so much. It's got so much depth and the characters are relatable, real, and multi-layered. I really want to read it again, because I don't feel like I got everything on the first read.
OK, you convinced me! 🙂 I thought it was a really gripping duology on the whole–luckily for me, it didn't pop up on my radar until both books were at my library. So I could binge-read them both!
Yay, thanks!
What a great list. I just ran across your blog and I am going to add this to my Sunday post. Thanks. I just read Strange Fruit! Great book!!1 I will check out the others on this list.