I
write YA and MG science fiction and fantasy. In fact, I’m supposed to be
finishing up the last touches for the paperback edition of a YA space opera
right now.
Instead,
I’m editing an anthology. And I’m ok with that.
The
project started with a simple question on facebook: Any recommendations for YA
science fiction or fantasy with a female MC, without a romantic subplot?
It
was harder to answer than it should have been. Friends brought out a lot of
beloved stories with strong female protagonists… but then remembered. “Oh,
yeah. I guess they do end up together.” “Right, I’d forgotten about that whole
theme.” “Well, it’s not a huge part of the plot, but…”
Not
that these aren’t great books, but it started feeling like it’s not valid for a
young woman to go on a hero’s journey without also finding true love along the
way.
The
conversation turned to look at books for younger readers, and here we ran into
a startling statistic:
According
to a 2011 study of 6,000 children’s books, only 31 percent had central female
characters, and even fewer featured main characters of color.
That’s
of all children’s books, but from our admittedly unscientific review of middle
grade science fiction, it doesn’t seem far off.
A genre that’s supposed to inspire us towards a bright future isn’t making space for half the population’s dreams. Boys go and have adventures, girls are to be defended, or prizes to be won, and the landscape is very, very white.
This
can’t be healthy.
Sally
Ride, first woman in space and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient,
famously said:
“Young girls need to see role models in
whatever careers they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing
those jobs someday. You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Girls need to read stories where any number of possible roles are modeled for them. Just as importantly, boys need to read stories where girls are active participants in adventures. And children of all colors and backgrounds need to know the future includes them.
It’s
time for a bigger universe.
We've got a great collection of 20
stories from amazing authors, ranging from Nebula and Hugo winners to relative
newcomers to the field. 90% of the stories in the anthology are brand new, and
80% have central female characters. We don't have girls who are prizes to
be won or waiting to be rescued. All of our heroines and heroes are on their
own adventure, not a side note in someone else's. Our characters are
white, black, Asian, Latino. Human and robot. Everyone belongs here.
Deborah has a story in the anthology
too! When I asked her to elucidate on why she’s participating, she gave me this
great quote:
A science fiction story is a pathway leading into a possible
future. Let's help our young people along the way. Let's show them that no
pathway is barred to them because of their gender. Let's make our characters as
gloriously diverse as real life and show our young people that they can walk
into whatever future they want.
A Kickstarter campaign is underway to
help finance the publication of this important anthology. So far, backers who
believe in the importance of diversity have committed over $2800 in support of
the project, and the anthology has been chosen as a Kickstarter Staff Pick.
Backers have a number of options, including pre-ordering copies of the 2015 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide,
donating copies to schools or being listed in the back of the print and digital
version of the book as a supporter.
Best,
Corie
Weaver
PlottingSomething.com
DreamingRobotPress.com
*The study is “Gender in
Twentieth-Century Children’s Books: Patterns of Disparity in Titles and Central
Characters.” (http://gas.sagepub.com/content/25/2/197.full.pdf+html) The
results are also discussed in this Guardian article. (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/06/gender-imbalance-children-s-literature)
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