It’s Teen Read Week, and we’re celebrating reading here by talking with Susan from Color Online, a blog that is the online face of a non-profit that serves girls in the Detroit area. At Color Online, Susan focuses on empowering girls and young women, and a big part of that outreach is the library that she runs. Today, we’re talking about the reading habits of teens, particularly girls in an at-risk situation, to get an insight into reluctant readers and non-readers. 
You’re a literacy advocate and you run an excellent blog highlighting women writers of color, reaching out to reluctant readers and non-readers alike. You also run a library for a women’s shelter, I believe? Can you tell us a little more about what kinds of attitudes about reading you run into on a regular basis from the teens you work with—and perhaps from your own teen daughter, if she’s willing to share?
Most of the girls (ages16-20) at the shelter and those who participate in agency prevention programs weren’t raised in an environment where reading is valued. They associate reading with schoolwork, and for many of them, school is a chore so reading isn’t fun. Even if they are mildly interested in reading, the next barrier is time. No one has time to read. Reading is what you do when you’re bored or forced to.
Many of my girls are required to read books that are culturally alien to them or because of their reading levels, the material is either too difficult or the material at their reading level is boring because it’s written for a younger audience. My challenge was to find relevant books written at a level the reader could manage. This is how I became a voracious YA reader. I didn’t read a lot of YA as teen.
Among my readers there are two divides: those who love urban fiction and will only read books with characters who look like them, and the storylines romanticize the lifestyles they want to have; the other group will avoid traditional AA fiction and the urban fiction and want to escape into worlds that are very different from the challenging, unglamorous lives they lead. In other words, they want pop culture and mainstream fiction with happy, carefree white characters.
You advocate for young women, for getting good books into their hands (and a whole lot more). Tell us about your library. What kinds of books do your teens devour? How do you reach reluctant readers? What kinds of books do they ignore? Where are the gaps, in your opinion?
Our library collection is roughly 80% books by women about girls and women of color. We have more than 3000 titles in our library. Our largest collections are YA, urban lit, women’s literature, and multicultural literature. We have an impressive children’s collection, but most residents and participants are teens and young adults, so I cater to that population. Most popular: urban lit, YA, and pop culture titles in that order. As I mentioned before, we have two major camps: those who only identify with books that mirror their culture and those who want to escape it.
We have what we call a Tween section. This is where we have fantasy and science fiction suitable for young readers through adult. Think Harry Potter. These titles don’t move despite me building and diversifying the authors and storylines. If a girl doesn’t already read Twilight or Potter, she’s not likely to be converted.
When I ask why they aren’t interested in these books, the most common answer is magic and fantasy aren’t real and therefore boring. Extended translation: “What does fantasy have to do with me?” What they don’t say is that fantasy and science fiction are just more worlds where they are absent. How many black people are slaying dragons?
Having said this, I don’t want readers to make a broad assumption this is true of all black readers. We are not monolithic. I work with a particular population of urban youth who live in depressed areas.
While there are people of color writing these kinds of books, my girls haven’t been exposed to them. And these writers are underrepresented in the publishing industry so while the industry is saying we won’t read these books, it’s in part because readers don’t expect to see themselves in these books.
Tell us a little about the reactions the teens you work with have to the books they read as they become stronger readers. What effect do the books have on them?
Among the residents, I often don’t get to see this transformation because this population is transient. What usually happens is if I’m lucky enough to recommend the right book, the young woman will come back asking for more books. If a resident finds a book she really likes, she’ll tell other residents and the book is circulated. I’m always on the lookout for the readers because peers have a greater influence on each other. When I hook a reader, she usually attracts more potential readers to the library.
What I’ve learned in the years I’ve been at the agency is to not focus on immediate results. My job is to plant seeds. It doesn’t matter if I see them become full trees.
Why is multicultural literature important to you? Why do you think it’s important for kids and teens?
Because I am a person of color, I live a marginalized existence. We are the “other.” There is a standard and I’m not it, and since I am not the standard, I’m often absent in arenas, whether it is the media, workplace, or literature. Multicultural literature matters because in literature, I have a voice, when in my daily life, I’m ignored or silenced.
We have stories of our own. We have something to contribute and it is important that we are part of that larger conversation among all people. I focus on women writers of color in order to teach my girls that their voices matter, that their stories matter, and they have something to contribute. It is important for kids and teens to know they are not invisible.
This year’s Teen Read Week theme is Reading beyond Reality. I, being a fantasy buff, love to think of that in terms of reading fantasy, but there are plenty of ways to apply the idea. What ways would you encourage readers to read beyond reality?
Glad you asked. One way I encourage readers is to introduce them to works beyond their reality. If we limit ourselves to only our experiences and what is familiar to us, we are boxing ourselves in. While fantasy isn’t popular, when I can, I suggest speculative fiction, fiction that has elements that are science fiction, fantasy, or magical realism at a level a girl can relate to such as Zetta Elliott’s A Wish After Midnight or Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl In The Ring.
You mentioned that you are just getting into fantasy yourself. What kept you from reading it in previous years? Have you always been a big reader since childhood, or did you come into it later? Did you ever have trouble finding something “relatable” in fantasy? Has that changed lately, and if so, how?
One of the reasons I am a literacy advocate today is because in many ways, I am like the girls I mentor. While my parents bought us books, reading wasn’t actively promoted in our house. I read in order to do well in school and sometimes because I enjoyed it but I didn’t fall in love with books till much later. I didn’t read fantasy beyond Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh simply because I wasn’t exposed to more fantasy books, and when I was older, like my girls, fantasy held no interest. These books didn’t have characters that looked like me, and my limited knowledge of the genre was what I knew about children’s books. Well, I wasn’t a child so why would I want to read about magic and fantasy worlds?
In 2007, I met a reader, a professor who was a big time Octavia Butler fan. I became friends with this woman and she introduced me to a writer I instantly related to. I’ve been reading speculative fiction since. I don’t read a lot of fantasy but I don’t have the prejudices I had before. Recently, I began reading Justine Larbalestier’s blog. I read her blog awhile before reading her work. Once I read Magic or Madness, I knew I would likely read most if not all of her work. Zetta was a friend first, too, and A Wish After Midnight is one of the most impressive reads for me in all YA lit. When I became active in the blogging community, I was exposed to fantasy so while my own reading was limited, I was listening to my peers, picking up titles, reading the reviews and shelving these books, ready to recommend them to the girl who would want them.
Tell us about your Color Me Brown challenges. Do they help to draw attention to writers of color and books about people of color?
Color Me Brown was a response to the Liar book controversy. One of the positive things that came out those public debates was a frank discussion about lack of representation and promotion of books written by and about people of color. To many white readers, this was news. For people of color, it’s been a long-standing battle. In one of my rants, I complained about how difficult it is to find a review about a book by or about POC. I argued I’d better start writing more reviews if I wanted to read them. Now, I’m not one to complain without taking action, and that is how CMB was launched. I challenged readers to join me in blogging brown. The challenge was greatly supported. We received more than 100 links to POC reviews in just than 30 days. I’ve followed up the challenge with a weekly CMB feature where I post links from around the web about books by and about POC.
I think CMB, like our other challenge CORA Diversity Roll Call, is positively affecting what is being promoted in the blogosphere. I believe you and I met because of Color Me Brown. [Stacy: Indeed, that's true!] I know I’ve met and we have gained more readers at Color Online because of CMB. I continue to see reviews on blogs after the challenge ended. Many readers didn’t treat CMB like a one-time challenge; they’ve made a conscious shift in what they are reading and why.
One of the things I wanted readers to understand about reading multicultural lit is that reading in this vein doesn’t mean reading something you don’t enjoy, can’t relate to, something that is below your standards or interests. POC writers are writers first. They write all genres. Simply because a writer is a person of color doesn’t mean that race or ethnicity is the focus of the work. It means that race or ethnicity in some way informs the read.
What can allies do to support your mission?
I’d like readers to continue or begin reading and reviewing titles written by people of color and participate in our CORA Diversity Roll Call meme. Tell publishers and bookstores that you want greater diversity on the shelves and in the catalogs. Request more multicultural literature is on display and on the shelves at your local library. Teach your children and encourage your teens to look beyond obvious differences and enjoy what it means to see the world from someone else’s perspective. Support POC writers. Buy their books. When you donate to your school and library, include multicultural literature.
To support us directly, we gladly welcome your donations. I have passion overflowing. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with our resources. While the agency loves what I do in the library, we receive no funding. Gently used and new book donations help me introduce readers to works they might otherwise never know.
Tu Publishing's editorial director Stacy Whitman has worked as an editor at a trade magazine, at Houghton Mifflin's school division, and at Mirrorstone, an imprint of Wizards of the Coast, where she worked on children's and young adult fantasy. In her current day job, she is the publication manager for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. She holds a master's degree in children's literature from Simmons College. 
Interesting how we all come from different places. But I get the idea from reading this that one is either a fantasy fan or they’re not. I mean, when I first picked up LOTR at the library, I was a 12 year old girl. What did an ancient man, a 100 year old dwarf and a bunch of 50 year old hairy footed hobbits have to do with me? Not much even if their skin was the same color as mine. I just loved the story to the point of obsession.
I had a happy childhood. I wasn’t escaping. I think I would have the same reaction if I’d picked up The Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon. I would have loved the story and become a fantasy fan even though I’m not Chinese. I hear a lot about no black people in fantasy, but I honestly never thought about skin color. Frodo was a hobbit. If his skin had been black or brown or green, it wouldn’t have mattered. I also always loved books with talking animals, too. Dragons talk. Narnian animals talk. Star Wars characters sometimes look like animals. Sometimes they are humanoid but blue. None of it makes a big difference to me. I think of them all the same as I do the white characters. They feel, they think, they have adventures. Why is it so important to people of color?
Yes and no. Often, I think, especially in fantasy with human characters, “white” is the default. Even Frodo is a “white” hobbit–not brown or tan or black. When you’re talking about animal creatures or aliens, certainly–but there’s still a cultural influence, a white privilege, that often comes with such stories. If you haven’t read Justine Larbalestier’s excellent post on white privilege, I’d suggest that as a starting point for thinking about this issue: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/10/01/the-advantages-of-being-a-white-writer.
(Also, be sure to read the comments of that post, which go beyond the advantages of being a white writer.)
Thanks so much for pairing up with LaTonya! She’s such a fierce advocate for literacy and diversity in literature—and she’s tireless in her efforts to promote *quality* stories that truly reflect the range of experiences of all POC. I’ll make sure to link to this at my blog–my followers know about LaTonya, but they also need to know about you & Tu, Stacy!
It’s so important to draw attention to reading, and attract reluctant readers to it,especially boys. In fact, I’ve recently completed a feature magazine article on this subject that came out in October, “Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers.”
I grew up as a reluctant reader, in spite of the fact that my father published over 70 books. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for tween boys, that avid boy readers and girls enjoy just as much.
My blog, Books for Boys booksandboys.blogspot.com is dedicated to drawing attention to the importance of reading.
Keep up your good work.
Max Elliot Anderson
Wonderful interview!
I agree with Susan. A big reason as to why I was never interested in fantasy when I was younger was because I didn’t see any characters who looked like me. Where were the Asian witches and wizards, African American vampires, Latina werewolves? Once I started my blog, I came across more diverse sci fi/fantasy reads (A Wish After Midnight, Silver Phoenix, Asleep. Those are only the ones I’ve read. There are so many others like Magic or Madness, Nancy Farmer’s books, and other titles that are escaping me at the moment). Unfortunately, these titles aren’t being promoted in bookstores or libraries and we as consumers need to change that. I make even more of an effort now to BUY books by poc and I usually don’t regret that choice, even if I didn’t like the book. After all poc readers deserve their own versions of Harry Potter, Twilight, Gossip Girl, etc.
“My job is to plant seeds. It doesn’t matter if I see them become full trees.” – I love that.
There would be less reluctant readers in the world if there were more people like Susan and everyone of given a fair chance to see themselves represented in stories they read.
I haven’t ever been too big on reading fantasy fiction either, but was mystified by a book that my daughter brought home from school to read… “Sea Clearwater” by Selene Cardenas. The first thing that caught my attention was that the author was 13 years old when she wrote the book, in addition the cover looked interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I absolutely loved the book characters.. (wizards, fairies,water benders, and many more). It turned out to be a very exciting book and I plan to read more books in this genre in the future.