Books should be mirrors, windows, and doors, says Brooklyn author and activist Zetta Elliott. With those metaphors in mind, the former Black Studies teacher has embarked on a no-holds-barred literary mission: advocating for more multicultural books about kids of color.
Since 2000, she has been busy creating and self-publishing close to 20 of her own amazing kids and teens books about diversity, because she wants to fill a huge literary gap — more than 90 percent of children’s literature published in the US features only white youngsters as main characters, despite the fact that minorities make up 37 percent of the population. Surprisingly, the gap exists even here in New York — the most diverse city in the nation!
As a writer who prioritizes social justice over popularity or profit, Elliott’s activist spirit got fired up when she first noticed that striking imbalance. And, as a woman of color, she felt compelled to write about people and places that were near and dear to her heart: her black neighbors and the bustling Brooklyn community she loves.
“So, I write about magical things happening in my own neighborhood, with a cast of diverse kids,” she quips, and she delights in conjuring up her fun-loving protagonists: cool girls and boys of color, who take part in fantastic adventures, while learning new things about Brooklyn and New York. Some stories — about current events — help kids deal with scary stuff they see and hear around them.
Elliott teams up with talented artists who illustrate her tales. Even adults enjoy her “organic” historical fantasy narratives.
The author’s first Spanish-language books were recently published, and she says she’s grateful she can share them with refugee children being held in detention here in the US.
Elliott, 43, teaches free writing workshops in her Prospect-Lefferts Garden neighborhood, close to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Prospect Park, where her novel “Dayshaun’s Gift” (illustrated by Alex Portal) is set. In the story, Dayshaun wants to spend Saturday morning playing his new video game. But his mother has other plans: she volunteers at a nearby community garden, and that means her son has to volunteer, too.
When he puts on his grandfather’s grubby old gardening hat, something unexpected happens — the hands of time turn backward and Dayshaun finds himself in the free black community of Weeksville during the summer of 1863! While helping the survivors of the New York City Draft Riots, he meets a frail old man who entrusts him with a precious family heirloom. But will this gift help Dayshaun find his way back to the 21st century?
Elliott hopes all of her curious young readers — no matter their color, ethnicity, or religion — will learn to embrace diversity and say, “Hey, that’s someone like me!” or “That’s someone who doesn’t look like me but likes doing the same things I do!”
Last month, during “The Brian Lehrer Show” on NPR, she was invited to talk about the dearth of multicultural titles in the marketplace. She told listeners why she felt books are like mirrors, windows, and doors.
“When a black girl says, ‘I want more mirror books,’ she’s really saying, ‘I need to see myself!’ ” she said. “Kids of color are hungry for these stories, but rarely get to see themselves making magic.”
Like Marley Diaz, 11, who hails from New Jersey. The avid reader was featured on the radio show, and she was tired of reading books at school about “white boys and dogs,” so she decided to build a collection that she could donate to a village primary school in Jamaica.
Elliott discussed Marley’s mission: to collect 1,000 books that feature black girls.
“What Marley understands is that all children want a mirror — to open a book and see themselves reflected in the story and illustrations,” she explained. “I incorporate Brooklyn history and New York City landmarks to make the magic seem real — and relevant to urban kids.”
Elliott also said she was taken aback when some neighborhood schools she had visited told her: “We really love your books, but we don’t have that demographic.” It was as though you have to have minority students in order to have those books in your school, she said.
“Without mirror books, children begin to feel invisible, unimportant, and they can lose their interest in reading,” Elliott says. “It’s equally important for kids to have books that are windows, letting them look into other worlds. When white children see themselves over and over again, they don’t develop the ability to relate to people who are different than them. That’s a real handicap in a global society.”
The problem seems to lie with the gatekeepers of traditional publishing: the sellers, marketers, and reviewers of books. Remarkably, the percentage of books by or about people of color was only 14 percent in 2014, according to Lee & Low Books, Inc., the largest publisher of multicultural books in the US.
Kids need to experience the rainbow that is life, knowing and realizing that others are basically the same as them, with the same wants, needs, and desires. They should read books that encompass the full spectrum of humanity, and stories that convey important and timely messages. Books should teach all kids to celebrate diversity — our differences and similarities.
Some of Elliott’s stories empower young girls of color.
“My young adult novels deal with the way girls handle power. They wish they could control the circumstances in their lives, but once they do become empowered, they’re forced to sacrifice certain relationships — and they need guidance,” she explained. “As a black feminist, I’m trying to expose the specific challenges black girls face — like sexual assault — while also providing models of community that can step in when families fail to support young people.
“I would also like young readers to engage differently with history. To see themselves as shapers of history and not passive consumers of historical narratives that marginalize, distort, or erase people of color. I hope young readers come away from my historical fantasy books feeling closer to the past — feeling that it’s relevant to the way we live our lives today. I write magical stories because I want to feed their imagination — without new dreamers, this nation is lost.”
Although she’s not a parent, Elliott has worked with urban kids for more than 25 years, and says, “I have two beautiful nieces who get lots of books from me!”
Tammy Scileppi is a Queens-based freelance writer and journalist, parent, and regular contributor to New York Parenting.
You can purchase Zetta Elliott’s books on www.zettaelliott.com, Amazo
For more books helping kids understand the world around them, check out www.readbrightly.com/books-to-help-kids-make-sense-of-current-events.
