Diversity in YA

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, then you know I tend to sneak in some random gifs, from Lee Min Ho to Disney and back. To me these out of place funny little animations add a hint of a smile and a slice of life. 

I live in and go to school in a very diverse city. There are kids from all over the world. You name it, we probably have it. This means that I’ve grown very accustomed to seeing different cultures and different appearances. They are my normal. 

This might actually be one of the reasons as to why I’m so fascinated by the aspect of traveling. I see these people, they have completely different backgrounds than me but they are still just like me in many ways. It makes me crave to see how they were raised. I want to visit their countries of origin. But as usual, the age of poverty strikes and I’m left to read about them instead. So I search for books set in China/Russia/France…. Do I find them? Yes, but rarely.

This is a growing trend I’ve noticed with YA. There is a wide variety of books set in North America and by that I mean America. There aren’t as many set in Canada at all. I would love to read about a paranormal romance set in Toronto, or a summer read set in Nova Scotia. Still there are a few. There are also some books set in Paris, Tokyo, Russia, London and Germany if you like historical fiction. But how about the rest of the world?

Even authors who aren’t from the US, somehow tend to write about the US. The US is obviously a fantastic country with so many scenic and interesting places for authors to set their books. But as the world becomes more open for me to explore, I start to wish that the books I read would also. 

Going back to my diverse surroundings, diversity isn’t that common in YA. There definitely is the occasional person of colour or asian ethnicity but most of the time these things are mentioned in passing. For example, I had no idea that Tobias/Four from Divergent wasn't white. Apparently he has an “olive skin tone” which doesn’t say much and was probably why I didn’t register it.

Then there are characters like Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy) who knows her origins and flaunts it. She is proud of her mother's Scottish and father's Turkish descent. Good for her. I want more Rose Hathaway's.

I also know that Park from Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is Korean, which makes me very happy. This may be partly influenced by the fact that I’m in the midst of a Korean obsession... Anywho... I found it interesting that Ms. Rowell was asked by fans why Park was Korean. It goes back to the lack of characters like Park, so when they appear people are shocked. Here is Rainbow Rowell’s reply.

Diversity is great. It promotes acceptance and love and is an important factor in achieving world peace, since the root of conflict is prejudice and miseducation. Books are powerful tools; they introduce us to opinions, places and people. Maybe you’ve never heard of a certain person, place or thing. I know I’m not the most educated person out there, but we can learn.  

Lets put aside learning for a bit, it’s the holidays after all. Happy Holidays! 

We made that phrase to accommodate for all the different celebrations occurring at this time of year. Why? Because the Earth is filled with people who have some different but equally amazing cultures. So if not for world peace and k-pop lovers then why not in the spirit of the holidays, bring some diversity to YA?

-MARI