Selected Resources for Latino Children's and YA Books

I compiled the information below for a guest lecture I'm doing in a YA literature and resources class. This is obviously not an all-inclusive list of resources. I listed some of the articles / news stories that have come out recently that seem to have fueled the momentum in the movement for greater diversity in books for children and young adults. The great thing? There's so much discussion of the topic taking place online these days that it's almost hard to keep up!

Articles / Blogs / Websites

• "The Apartheid of Children's Literature" (Christopher Myers, The New York Times, Mar. 15, 2014)
• "Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books" (Walter Dean Myers, The New York Times, Mar. 15, 2014)
• "As Demographics Shift, Kids Books Stay Stubbornly White" (Elizabeth Blair, Code Switch / NPR, June 25, 2013)
• "Children's Books: Still an All-White World?" (K. T. Horning, School Library Journal, May 1, 2014)
• "The Publishing Perspective on Diversity" (Andrea Pinkney, School Library Journal, May 1, 2014)
• "Should White People Write About People of Color?" (Malinda Lo, Author Blog, April 24, 2014)
• A Cheat-Sheet for Selling Diversity (Grace Lin, Author Blog, May 28, 2014)
• The Open Book
• We Need Diverse Books
• REFORMA's Children and Young Adult Services*
• Diversity in YA*
• Rich in Color*
• Rich in Color Tumblr         

Publishers

• Cinco Puntos Press
• Lee & Low
• Piñata Books

Awards

• The Pura Belpré Award
• Tómas Rivera Book Award
• Américas Book Award

Conferences

• National Latino Children’s Literature Conference
• Virginia Hamilton Conference

Statistics

• Children’s Books By and About People of Color Published in the U.S. (Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their View of Identity (Pew Hispanic)

One Book, One Barrio!

La Casa Azul Bookstore in NYC is hosting the first ever One Book, One Barrio reading campaign! The 2013 Pura Belpré Award honor book The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano has been selected as the first book to be read as part of the campaign.  If you are in the New York City area, there are a number of upcoming events you can attend. If you aren't, how about finding a copy of the book in your local library or independent bookstore and reading it in solidarity? Here's a good opportunity to check on how diverse these resources are in your area and to encourage them to promote and support more diverse offerings. The campaign goes through the fall, so if you're a teacher or librarian perhaps consider a unit, program or book discussion focusing on the book.