I never had any intention of writing a story for middle graders. But when my beautiful niece Sonakshi asked me to please write her a story about unicorns I couldn’t say no.
So I wrote a story about a girl with her name and her appearance.
It ended up being the most fun I’ve ever had writing.
It was only afterwards I realised that when I was a child, every book character I knew was Caucasian. The only Disney Princess who looked like me was Jasmin. And guess what? She’s the ONLY princess whose story is actually about the MALE HERO and even named after him. To my dismay she was a side character. I mean, talk about the subconscious messages being sent.
I couldn’t even find a hero in my skin colour to dress up as for costume day at school. I felt like a fraud dressing up as a white character. I shouldn’t have felt that way, but as a child, I did. The biggest part of my body, didn’t look like anyone from popular books for movies or even anime.
I am not out on some big multicultural agenda. You won’t find that much about culture in the stories. They are more about fantastical quests and inner journeys.
I don’t want race to be at the forefront of these stories. I just want kids to see that ALL kids with names like them and faces like them can be a hero in a story. Their race is a part of who they are but its not ALL of who they are.
They should be able to read an exciting story about someone who looks like them. Because otherwise, the message we send is that social diversity doesn’t matter in books and tv and movies. It sends the message that only white people can be heroes in these mediums. This is slowly changing but it takes all of us to work together to make it better.
So this is my contribution into the sphere of heroines in children’s literature. To make the industry more representative of the people we see in real life.
You’ll find these books are NOT heavy on race discussion, innuendo or subtext. They ARE heavy on courage, wit, strength and integrity. These kids just have faces and names representative of real life.
So I hope you enjoy these novels. I am a new author and would love to hear from you!
So I wrote a story about a girl with her name and her appearance.
It ended up being the most fun I’ve ever had writing.
It was only afterwards I realised that when I was a child, every book character I knew was Caucasian. The only Disney Princess who looked like me was Jasmin. And guess what? She’s the ONLY princess whose story is actually about the MALE HERO and even named after him. To my dismay she was a side character. I mean, talk about the subconscious messages being sent.
I couldn’t even find a hero in my skin colour to dress up as for costume day at school. I felt like a fraud dressing up as a white character. I shouldn’t have felt that way, but as a child, I did. The biggest part of my body, didn’t look like anyone from popular books for movies or even anime.
I am not out on some big multicultural agenda. You won’t find that much about culture in the stories. They are more about fantastical quests and inner journeys.
I don’t want race to be at the forefront of these stories. I just want kids to see that ALL kids with names like them and faces like them can be a hero in a story. Their race is a part of who they are but its not ALL of who they are.
They should be able to read an exciting story about someone who looks like them. Because otherwise, the message we send is that social diversity doesn’t matter in books and tv and movies. It sends the message that only white people can be heroes in these mediums. This is slowly changing but it takes all of us to work together to make it better.
So this is my contribution into the sphere of heroines in children’s literature. To make the industry more representative of the people we see in real life.
You’ll find these books are NOT heavy on race discussion, innuendo or subtext. They ARE heavy on courage, wit, strength and integrity. These kids just have faces and names representative of real life.
So I hope you enjoy these novels. I am a new author and would love to hear from you!
