Young Adult Fiction for Adults discussion

Is anyone else bothered by that term? While I appreciate awesome librarians and writers who try to find/come up with more diverse fiction, the fact remains that the classification is just a misnomer, since it refers often to books about characters that are in fact neither multicultural nor multiracial--they're just one race, and it's not white. I feel like there is a lot of good discussion in the blogosphere about the need to have a YA that shows more of the big picture, and certainly books about mixed race characters and books that feature protagonists of color without a race-based plot are part of it, but I think this may be a case of how the need for such a term (especially an inaccurate one), if it continues to be used much longer, might serve to continue to otherize, rather than close the gap.

Thoughts?

I agree with you, but when publishers commit cover-fail because they somehow believe that a face of color on a book won't "appeal" to a larger segment of readers (so not true BTW), I think it's less a problem about using the term "multicultural" and more about outdated thought processes that continue to otherize.

I have paperback copies of my YA, yes, a "multicultural" novel, "Sun Dance at Turtle Rock" to give to the first five people who will commit to a review. Cody's mother is black, his deceased father white. This is an adventure story involving bears, a rock city and a lost keepsake railroad watch, but it also the story of a city boy, 12, visiting his white grandfather in the Allegheny foothills and finding both prejudice and acceptance from the all white residents. And there is also a good share of humor provided by his white cousin, Jem, and her little brother Timmy. This goes over big with both boys and girls and has been used in classroom discussions across the country.

I took note of the complaint about a novel being called "multicultural" when the protagonist is "just one race and it is not white." One of our grandsons has Irish,English Dutch, African American and Hispanic roots. We don't think of him as anything but a beloved grandchild. However, this is what the U.S. population is trending towards--multiracial--and it can't happen fast enough.

Re the giveaway copies of "Sun Dance at Turtle Rock," cited above, contact is patcosta@rochester.rr.com