I have this Superfan named Michael. It's always nice to know someone out there reads--and loves--my books. He took upon himself the task to make my books easily available to others. He had to special order my new book, Minority of One from his local Barnes and Noble because they don't carry it. And then, he persuaded them to obtain copies and put them up for sale. He spent several weeks having meetings with people at his local B&N to get them to give the books more than just a listing in the catalog.
Here they are, Pull, Being God and Minority of One, all on a Florida B&N stack among the Top Teen Picks. Even more, he's talking to local kids about the books, especially kids of color. He'll soon be sporting a brand new BABinns fan T-shirt. He'll also have info cards to spread out, in the store and local hang-outs for kids. I'm proud of him, and proud to see that at least in this store, the top teen shelf shows diversity.
This was one of the suggestions from a multicultural discussion at the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) listserve earlier this year. We developed action items and tangible ways to do more to get diversity into the hands of kids. Michael, I salute the work you did. Barnes & Noble, I salute you for giving this a go.
#weneeddiversebooks
1 comment:
Wow! What author wouldn't be thrilled to have Michael for her top fan. His enthusiasm and interest go a long way to show how important it is to have diversity in the literature that kids are reading. I bet Michael is more excited about Barbara's books than he is about most others. I hope lots of his friends go into the store and buy all of your books, Barbara!
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