Doing Something
A moment in the library at Ferguson, Missouri.
If you’re like me, you’ve been deeply sad and angry about the things that have been and are happening in Ferguson, and all the things in our country that we now refer to just by saying the name of a neighborhood. And you feel frustrated and helpless, too, and wish here was something you could do.
I can think of four things.
1) Take a deep breath and admit that racial bias is real, and that it hurts people daily.
2) If someone of color says that he or she has experienced racial bias, believe it. They are the experts. They know.
3) Try to read, write and publish more books that feature children of color. If we are going to see each other as real people, and not caricatures built of fear, we need to start young.
4) Donate some money to the Ferguson Library. This small library has stayed open when schools and other public services shut down. They are trying to buy “healing kits” for the kids in the community, to help them deal with the traumatic events all around them. If there is every a community that needs a safe, calm place where minds and hearts can meet (is there ever a community that doesn’t?), Ferguson is it.
More about the library here.
Read MoreThe Cats Are Coming!
Saber-Toothed Cat by Sarah L. Thomson–the latest in the early reader series Ancient Animals.
The latest title in the Ancient Animals series has been published! Check out Saber-Toothed Cat. If you know a newly independent reader (think first or second grade) who loves dinosaurs, this would be a perfect introduction to a wider and wonderful world of prehistoric creatures.
Read MoreTug of War
Detail from Hokusai Manga
Historical fiction is a balancing act–better metaphor, a tug of war, accuracy pulling hard on one side and accessibility on the other. If you make your characters talk like they actually did four or five centuries ago, you will quickly lose readers who don’t have the patience to mentally translate. For example, here’s a snippet of Meriwether Lewis’s diary from his expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He’s presumably writing and spelling more or less as he spoke:
…this may in some measure assist us to account for the heavy dues which are mor remarkable for their freequency and quantity than in any country I was ever in— they are so heavy the drops falling from the trees from about midknight untill sunrise gives you the eydea of a constant gentle rain.
And that’s just from 1803, and the man is speaking/writing English. If you’re trying to go farther back historically and farther afield geographically, it gets harder and harder to make your characters sound comprehensible.
On the other hand, if you make your characters talk like today’s teenagers, they just sound ludicrous. I knew I had gone too far in that direction when one of my writing group participants told me that my ninjas sounded a bit like her Yiddish-speaking relatives.
And the thing is, you don’t actually know if you’ve kept your balance until the thing is published and you get reactions from readers. That’s when you discover if accuracy had yanked you so far off into Meriwether-Lewis-land that nobody can understand you, or if accessibility has pulled you flat on your face.
Read MoreBack To Regular Life
Next sabbatical reading?
Not that a life spent researching Japanese demons and plesiosaurs is all that regular, but anyway, the sabbatical is over.
Too bad. It was an intoxicating experience to be able to read for hours at a stretch, the way I used to be able to read (now that I think about it) in childhood. It’s surprising that, as a writer, I could forget how mind-blowing it is to bury yourself in a fictional world, not to be dragged out for anything less urgent than lunch (hey, I like lunch). Thank goodness for this reminder. I may have to schedule mini reading-sabbaticals more often.
I realized something, though. I read realistic fiction, fantasy, humor, autobiography, award winners, and regular everyday books…but what I did not read was anything where the main character is not white. This is disheartening. I’m a fan of children’s literature, reasonably well-read in the field, alert to new trends…and to find books with a character of color, I must go deliberately searching for them. Most readers don’t do that. And then the fictional world reflects and reinforces the world inside our heads, where minorities are not just minorities–they are nonexistent.
So I’ve got Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk To Water on the list. Anything else I should add?
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly