Children’s books are, at last, showing more diversity in ethnicity. Kids can read about characters who look like them. It has been a long time coming. Publishers hope allkids will enjoy reading these books and learning about those whose lives are different from theirs.
Familiarity is Important
Because I write about history, I feel it is also important for kids to read about historical events that took place in settings familiar to them. All my books take place (at least in part) in Ohio or Kentucky, places familiar to me. And it is my hope that students who don’t live in my area will find these stories interesting as well.
I applaud my publisher, Calkins Creek, for publishing books some might consider “local news.” and have seen the excited reaction on readers’ faces when they find a mention of a place they’ve been.
In truth, the 1937 flood (recounted in Not on Fifth Street) affected thirteen states along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn’t merely local, even though it wasn’t a big deal in New York or California.
Local Stories to National Issues
In Like a River, I wrote about the Sultanadisaster. The Sultanaexploded in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing nearly 1,800 people (more than would die on the Titanicin 1912). A huge news story, right? Not really.
April of 1865 was a month filled with important news. Our nation’s bloodiest war ended with Lee’s surrender to Grant. A week later, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
The front page of the Cincinnati Daily Timeson April 29, 1865 told about the Sultanadisaster in a small article. It also mentioned John Wilkes Booth’s death three days earlier and the arrival of Lincoln’s funeral train in Cleveland. Most East Coast newspapers didn’t mention the Sultanaat all.
Not only was the story crowded from the news by the host of other important stories, but the victims of the Sultana were not from the East Coast. They were almost entirely enlisted men from Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. (Nearly 800 were from Ohio.) It was not considered a story of national interest and I find that sad.
I firmly believe that readers can be interested in a story that takes place in a place they’ve never been, and I knowthey love seeing a place they have.
I hope we will see more books that are diverse in location as well as ethnicity.
