Monthly Recommendations discussion
2017 Topics
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March: Own Voices
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Wild by Cheryl Strayed: grief, depression, mental illnessThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
I do believe Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi qualifies. Homegoing
I have just finished it and I am completely blown away! I know the book got a lot of attention last year when it came out, but I still feel it should be mentioned. It IS that good as they say.
Does anyone intend to include which #ownvoice category the books they recommend belong to in their blog post or video? I was wondering about that re: my own post.
Mod
Do you mean specifying if it's own voices for race, LGBTQIA+, mental illness, etc? Yes, we encourage you to do that, I think it would be very helpful! Since the topic is kind of self-explanatory, saying something like "it's about a character who is ___" should be enough.
Mod
It's by no means a comprehensive list (if you have more sources, please share!), and remember that mistakes happen. If you say something wrong, correct it if you can, apologize if you're sorry, and remember it for next time. <3
Trina (Between Chapters) wrote: "Heather wrote: "Does anyone intend to include which #ownvoice category the books they recommend belong to in their blog post or video? I was wondering about that re: my own post."Do you mean spec..."
Yes, that's what I meant. Thank you, Trina, for clarifying. I'm working on my post now and have several titles in mind. :)
I can't wait to see everyones recommendations!
Hi everyone! I'm currently in the middle of a startup competition, and we have a (hopefully) great idea to support Own Voices books from all over the world.We would really appreciate if you could answer (and maybe share?) this survey to help us better understand this problem we're trying to address.
https://goo.gl/forms/CGVFwoOzgNmNGGQN2
I'm not sure if this is appropriate to post here; if it isn't, I'm sorry, and I will gladly delete this comment.
Thank you so much!
Mod
We would really appreciate if you could..."
We have a thread for introductions and sharing channel, blog, and other things that would be great for information like this. No worries, but that thread is focused on sharing that information. I'm glad you did share this information with the group! :D
I'm sad to say that I don't think I've read enough #OwnVoices to actually make a list, but I can't wait to see what everyone will recommend, as it is an area I'd love to explore some more in.
Ooooo! This is a great topic. Yes Yes Yes
Instead of making a list this month, I'm going to be reviewing two "own voices" picture books on my blog. I started today with Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie: http://wp.me/p5Tcfi-2FSIt is interesting to listen to him talking about this book, and the lack of picture book representation for Native Americans in particular, in this video from Book Expo America 2016: https://youtu.be/oR9jnh66nyA
The second picture book I'm hoping to review this month is Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson, a wonderful story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II.
Mod
See our recs on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPtH...
See our recs on Kayla Rayne's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9j9...
We also direct you to some websites that promote diverse and own voices books, and some BookTubers who have focused on recommending own voices books before. Hope you find some great books!
I used just the own voices books I've read since doing the own voices book tag, so that I don't keep talking about the same books all the time. Haha.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baZVV...
Mine includes some older stories, but this is what I came up with!http://www.pinespalmettos.com/2017/03...
Mod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGX_G...
This is one of my favourite topics! So many great recommendations all around. Here is my list:http://www.everywordadoorway.com/mont...
xxx
Monthly Recommendations
Books mentioned in this topic
Homegoing (other topics)More Happy Than Not (other topics)
Six of Crows (other topics)
If I Was Your Girl (other topics)
The Hate U Give (other topics)
More...
What is Own Voices?
Own Voices (commonly seen on social media as #ownvoices) is a term that refers to books that have a diverse main character and the author of the book is also part of that same diverse group.
Examples:
Latinx main character + Latinx author = own voices
Main character who is deaf + author who is deaf = own voices
Gay character + straight author = diverse, but NOT own voices
For more information and examples, please see: http://www.corinneduyvis.net/ownvoices/
We haven't done a Diversity topic before because we do not want to treat diversity like something that can only be mentioned one month of the year. We hope diverse and own voices books will be included in any month's recommendations, regardless of the topic! However, with recent conversations in the book community, readers are looking for diverse and own voices recommendations more than ever.
The reason we are emphasizing own voices books instead of just diversity is because when an author writes about a marginalized group they aren't part of, there is more chance of it being poor representation or containing microaggresions toward the group it is trying to represent. Of course, own voices novels run the risk of this too, no one story will represent every person in a group (which is why MORE own voices books are needed!).
We also encourage you to remember that diversity includes race, sexuality, disability, chronic illness, mental illness, religion, socioeconomic status, body type, and much more. You may choose to focus on one of these groups, or a mixture of as many as you want. If you are part of a marginalized group, you could choose to recommend all books that you felt represented you.
If you have any questions about if a book is own voices, feel free to ask below and maybe another group member will know. Please do not force an author to tell you if their book is own voices, as not everyone may be open about parts of their identity online.
Examples:
Edited to add: Here are some helpful sources with information on language that can be considered harmful toward marginalized groups.
Disability & mental illness terminology - http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2016/07...
LGBTQIA+ terms to avoid - http://www.glaad.org/reference/offensive
Understanding Transgender terms and pronouns - http://www.glaad.org/reference/transg...