Did you hear it? Did you hear that there is an own voices YA book coming out next year featuring a Native Hawaiian character? Did you hear that there’s another book with a Native Hawaiian character coming out at the same time, only that this book isn’t written by a Kanaka Maoli?
Did you read it? Did you read it when Kirkus Reviews released their bold statement the other day, saying they will capitalize “black” in future articles, only to state they will capitalize “white” too in the same breath?
Did you see it? Did you see Good Morning America’s Bookclub discuss Kevin Kwan’s books (Crazy Rich Asians etc) with book club members on their show, only that the readers they invited were mostly white? Did you feel anything at all?
Do you feel it? Do you feel the rage, the disappointment, the sense of being hurt?
Representation matters. Saying you will listen and educate yourself and reflect isn’t enough; actions speak louder than words. For now I’m feeling hurt because society and marginalized groups deserve so much better. Asians do not only exist during May. Claiming you’re capitalizing “white” because you can’t pretend whiteness doesn’t exist tells me that you haven’t understood power imbalance at all. Picking a “minority book” written by a non-own voices person means you’re taking away an important opportunity for own voices authors. Representation matters and matters and matters and matters and matters.
On a side note: I’m not blaming the invited book club members only (don’t kill the messenger after all), but it doesn’t mean they’re guilt-free. Yes, they had to go through an application process to get on the show. But just like Angie Thomas said, what good is a voice if you don’t use it? I’m using my voice right now because it’s painful to see how Asian readers were left out in the discussion round. The women could’ve used their voices to ask why GMA has made so many promises on boosting own voices but has yet failed this community through misrepresentation again. They could’ve used their voices to simply decline the invitation.
Sorry if you came here expecting to read an opinion piece on american dirt. This book is a disgrace. It’s currently the book with the highest ratings on goodreads of this year so far. It’s insensitive, it profits from real people’s pain and it’s tone-deaf.
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Dear Uneducated Professor, I don’t care if you thought you were being funny or not. I was sitting in your Zoom class in ear, nose and throat medicine today and you were giving a lecture on the connection between the olfactory organ and the brain, how the sense of smell and our memories and emotions…
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Okay, this title sounds way more dramatic than it actually is. I love Bookstagram, even though I don’t think I ever intended to make it my main platform in the long run. As a person who had been an active book blogger in her past life and who has only started using Bookstagram recently (kind…
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Hello Friends, This is the first time I’m doing a monthly wrap-up & it would be a lie to say I didn’t feel at least a little bit giddy writing it. Here’s a little wrap-up of what happened in my life life/book/blog-wise. Hope you’ll enjoy my little collage of moments! My life in blogs 1.…
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I loved this post, Tessi! You’ve written so cleverly here. I didn’t hear about the Crazy Rich Asians event. That is so upsetting. I loved that novel so much because it showcased Asian identities from across the continent. I know so many people felt really seen when those books came out. They deserved to be there.
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Thank you so much Emily! I always appreciate your thoughtful comments and it’s truly outrageous how mainstream society still doesn’t get it. I didn’t even like Crazy Rich Asians that much but it was so important for the Asian community, and not paying attention to it is pure ignorance. We just deserve so much better
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It’s so infuriating to watch how all these big organisations/companies are trying to showcase their “representation and inclusivity” to the crowds only bc they’re afraid of any kind of backlash but still don’t understand what it really means.
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Hi Tessi!
This is a great synthesis of some of the most recent disappointing occurrences in the publishing world. What I love about your post is that you strive to point out that these events don’t happen in isolation, rather that they are a product of a flawed industry (and a flawed world) that pervasively disregards and excludes voices of color.
On another note, I think that the news regarding the Native Hawaiian story being written by a white person is particularly frustrating given the lack of knowledge in the US about the annexation of Hawaii and how mainland colonialism has affected Hawaii. Such ignorance certainly played a part in allowing this book to come to fruition, though that in no ways to excuse it.
To more Own Voices reads in the future,
-Mary
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Mary! Thank you so much for stopping by, it means a lot to me to read your comment. It’s so frustrating to see that after all these times, the publishing industry (and dare I say mainstream society) still doesn’t get it. There are so many missed opportunities and the fact they don’t even acknowledge their flaws is absolutely disheartening (GMA for example only posted a quick sorry in their stories and started following a few Asian bookstagrammers which in its entirety was very lame and performative). And yes with Hawaii! It’s bad enough that so little about Hawaii’s annexation is being taught in school (or rather glorified), it’s even worse when non-own voices people feel “entitled” to give these stories a voice by profiting from real people’s pain. I love how we can have this conversation though, and I’m feeling very hopeful for the future!
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It’s currently the book with the highest ratings on goodreads of this year so far.
NO FUCKING WAY, WHAT UTTER GARBAGE
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Right??? People are trash these days😭
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