Comments on: Teen reading habits: interview with Susan from Color Online

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:56:08 +0000

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.

By: Children’s Reading and Literacy News Roundup – 26 October | Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub Blog

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:22:19 +0000

[...] Teen Read Week, Tu Publishing had a lovely interview with Susan from Color Online. Susan not only talked about teen reading habits, she offered descriptions of what a female teen [...]

By: Doret

Doret — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:32:33 +0000

“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.

By: Ari

Ari — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:56:46 +0000

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.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:43:37 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by stacylwhitman: It’s Teen Read Week! Today, we discuss teens’ reading with Susan from Color Online: http://bit.ly/1Ied0g...

By: New Tu You « Fledgling

New Tu You « Fledgling — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:57:45 +0000

[...] Tu Publishing? If not, stop by the publisher’s blog and while you’re there, read a great interview with LaTonya Baldwin, fabulous founder of Color Online. It’s also Teen Read Week, so do [...]

By: Max Elliot Anderson

Max Elliot Anderson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:57:32 +0000

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

By: Zetta

Zetta — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:46:23 +0000

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!

By: Publishing – publishing process | Point Article News Feed

Publishing – publishing process | Point Article News Feed — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:15:34 +0000

[...] Teen reading habits: interview with Susan from Color Online4 hours ago by Tu Publishing Multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults. – [...]

By: Tu Publishing

Tu Publishing — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:19:03 +0000

(Also, be sure to read the comments of that post, which go beyond the advantages of being a white writer.)

By: Tu Publishing

Tu Publishing — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:10:11 +0000

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.

By: Susan James

Susan James — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:54:25 +0000

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?

By: Tweets that mention Teen reading habits: interview with Susan from Color Online -- Topsy.com

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:32:06 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by stacylwhitman, Tu Publishing. Tu Publishing said: It's Teen Read Week! Today, we discuss teens' reading with Susan from Color Online: http://bit.ly/1Ied0g [...]