BOOK REVIEW: I’ll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Lorna Duncanson, Programme Co-Ordinator at Seven Stories, reviews I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson (Walker Books)

Jude and Noah are twins, best friends and co-conspirators. They love, hurt and compete with each other in the way that only siblings can. They divide up the World between them to trade and bargain against each other. They share a love of art with their mother, but for Jude it’s an interest and a release and for Noah it’s his passion and his escape from a place he doesn’t quite fit in. We share both Jude and Noah’s stories, their truths, their shared and splintered lives, moving back and forward between ages 13 and 16 when their World came crashing down around them and there was nothing they could trade to change it back.

I’ll Give You The Sun is about art, the beauty of creation and identity, about accepting how others see us but more importantly about accepting, understanding and liking who we are.

It’s about family and all of the familiar, broken, unspoken complexities which come with that. The binds between family members which are obvious, transparent and easy and the hidden ones, the ties to family no longer with us, the complex relationships with people who think they see us and think they know us, until they don’t. The way we try to be something we’re not or who we think they want us to be, until we bury who we really are so deep that even we start to forget.

It’s about loss and grief and love, about the possibility of love and all the emotions that sneak up on you and take you by surprise. When you don’t release what you had until it isn’t there anymore. Love that catches you unawares and changes everything and the love that hurts, that leaves you exposed and vulnerable. The kind of love and loss that drives you to the point of madness and the overwhelming grief that changes you forever and how we put ourselves back together.

Jandy Nelson broke my heart in this book, she put me back together but I’ve forever left a piece behind with Jude and Noah. It’s beautiful and heart-breaking and hopeful and perfect.

Lorna x

Author Q&A with Samantha Van Leer

We are incredibly excited that Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer will be joining us this June to celebrate the launch of their latest collaboration Off The Page.

Samantha Van Leer is a sophomore at Vassar College majoring in psychology with a minor in human development. She co-wrote the number 1 New York Times bestseller Between the Lines, the companion to Off the Page, with her mother, Jodi Picoult.  Jodi and Samantha have four dogs: Alvin, Harvey, Dudley, and Oliver, for whom the prince in their story is named.

We asked Samantha your questions – read on to find out what she said!

If you could have written any book already published what would it be and why?

Dr. Seuss’ books. I imagine after the 20^th book in that kind of rhyme, you could speak casually in every day language rhyming. You could really freak some people out.

 If you could collaborate with anyone other than your mum who would it be?

My best friend Katie. We have the most insane childhood memories. It’s actually pretty incredible we’ve lived this long. I’ve always wanted to write a book with her help, recounting our early days together, and the wild adventures we went on.  

 Whose idea was it to start writing together?

I came up with the idea for the book while daydreaming in my 8^th grade French class. My mom had just gotten home from tour that day, and I told her my idea. To my surprise she asked me if I wanted to write the story with her.

Are any of your characters based on real people?

Many of our characters relate to people we know in real life. Delilah is named after one of our donkeys and Oliver is named after one of our dogs; however, the animals and book characters do not share similar personalities…There is also a teacher in Off the Page named Mr. Elyk, which is Kyle, the name of my brother, spelled backwards. And Ms. Brown, a teacher in Between the Lines, is based off the exaggerated characteristics of one my high school teachers.

What was the last film you saw that really made an impression on you?

I just recently re-watched a movie from my middle school days called Sky High. It is honestly so hilarious, even as a 19 year old. There are so many superhero puns worked into the dialogue, and the overall concept of a high school for superheroes is hilarious; definitely one of my favourites.

If you were invisible for a day what would you do?

My dad doesn’t believe in ghosts, and I do. I’ve tried convincing him before and always end up incredibly frustrated. If I were invisible for a day, I would haunt my dad and scare him half to death, by writing on the mirror and knocking over vases, anything to make him finally accept my argument and believe in the spirits.

Didn’t spot your question? Come along and ask it in person on June 3rd or tweet us @7stories. Click here to find out more about Jodi and Samantha in a brilliant interview with @abackwardsstory

Click here to book your tickets for Off the Page with Jodi Piccoult and Samantha Van Leer – tickets include a copy of Off the Page, and the event will be followed by a book signing with Jodi and Samantha.

Don’t Miss Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer this June!

We are very excited to announce that we are hosting an event with best-selling author Jodi Picoult this June alongside her daughter and co-author Samantha Van Leer!

Meet internationally best-selling author Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer at their only North East event, held at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle.

Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including Between The Lines and new YA novel Off the Page, co-written with her daughter Samantha Van Leer. Join Jodi and Samantha as they discuss their critically acclaimed books, how they work together and answer your questions.

“Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.”   — Boston Globe

Following the success of Between the Lines, Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, have teamed up for their second young-adult novel, Off The Page.  Off The Page is a tender and appealing romantic YA novel filled with humor, adventure, and magical relationships. A witty commentary about life, Off The Page is a stand-alone novel as well as a companion to the authors’ bestseller Between the Lines, and is perfect for readers looking for a fairytale ending.

Jodi Picoult grew up in Nesconset, New York. She received an A.B. in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. Her previous novels include House Rules, Nineteen Minutes, My Sister’s Keeper, Keeping Faith, The Pact, and Mercy. Jodi’s novels are translated into forty languages in forty countries. Three have been made into television movies and My Sister’s Keeper was released as a major motion picture starring Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin in summer 2009. Jodi lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.

Samantha Van Leer is a sophomore at Vassar College majoring in psychology with a minor in human development. She co-wrote the number 1 New York Times bestseller Between the Lines, the companion to Off the Page, with her mother, Jodi Picoult.  Jodi and Samantha have four dogs: Alvin, Harvey, Dudley, and Oliver, for whom the prince in their story is named.

Booking essential. £16 per person, includes event ticket and a copy of Off The Page.  Followed by a book signing.

Click here to book your ticket – but be quick, this event will sell out fast!

Have You Got Your Tickets for Insurgent Yet?

Have you got your popcorn ready? The wait is nearly over, Tris and Four are finally back in cinemas on 20th March in Divergent sequel, Insurgent. Caution: spoilers ahead!

The Divergent series, based on the bestselling YA book series by Veronica Roth, is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago where society has been split into groups based on their personality. These five groups (or factions) are made up of Abnegation for those who are selfless, Amity for the peaceful, Candor for the honest, Erudite for the intelligent and Dauntless for the brave or anyone else who enjoys jumping off tall buildings and transporting themselves via zip wire. On her official testing day, our heroine Tris discovers she is Divergent, someone who doesn’t fit clearly into any faction, and must keep it a secret for fear of what the authorities would do if they knew.

If you thought Divergent was exciting and action packed then I’m happy to tell you its sequel doesn’t disappoint. Insurgent kicks off exactly where Divergent left us; Tris and her friends are on the run from Erudite leader Jeanine after their previous battle at the Abnegation settlement. Making her way through the factions, Tris struggles to cope with her guilt in the aftermath of Will’s death while realising there are more secrets behind the factions than she originally thought. What’s Marcus up to, what really happens to the factionless and what is Jeanine planning with her serums and simulations? War is coming and Tris needs to step up the challenge if she wants to survive, save the people she cares about and, if she finds a spare moment, get her love life in order.

I absolutely loved Insurgent and cannot wait to see what they do with the film. Roth’s dystopian world totally captured my imagination and I couldn’t put the book down for fear of what was going to happen to Tris and Four. Tris couldn’t be a better replacement for those of us who are missing Katniss’ struggle against the Capitol in The Hunger Games.  And if you aren’t completely shocked by the ending, I’ll eat my hat (please don’t hold me to that!)

It looks like it’ll be a long wait until Allegiant Part 1 comes out next year. If you can’t get wait that long to get your Dystopian book fix, why not try reading Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines and Scott Westerfield’s Uglies?

See you in the cinema queue!

The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth…

Whether you love it or hate it, there is no escaping that Valentine’s Day is here again and we can’t help but wonder how our favourite couples would be spending the day…

We asked you to name your favourite lovers from YA fiction, and you didn’t disappoint. From Bella and Edward (we still can’t get over that they called their child Renesmee…), the Katniss / Peeta / Gale love triangle (office opinion is split over whether a man whose only skill is to paint himself like a tree is acceptable boyfriend material) and Magus and Alec, we love them all.

Eleanor and Park (Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell)

We love this realistic teenage love story and how Eleanor and Park find each other despite their awkward quirkiness; the way they help each other to navigate the crazy world of high school, dysfunctional families and a blossoming teen love is passionate and makes our heart burst.

Clarke and Bellamy (The 100 by Kass Morgan)

Clarke the feisty and reluctant leader of the space delinquents is understandably torn between Wells and Bellamy – but then who wouldn’t when faced with two hot heroes? Betrayal, sacrificial love and steamy kisses this is another love triangle we’ve loved watching unfold.

Bella and Edward (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer)

Whether you are Team Edward or Team Jacob we can’t get enough of the angst ridden passion between Bella and Edward as their unstoppable love for each other overcomes death, vampires and werewolves!

Katniss and Peeta and/or Gale (Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)

Katniss has the pick of the best in Hunger Games! Who would you give your heart to? We love Katniss and her stoic, loyalty to both Peeta and Gale but who can deny that Gale is the man?  Strong, silent and stubbornly committed to Katniss despite watching her complicated feelings for Peeta unfold on national television.

Lena and Ethan (Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl )

Who doesn’t LOVE a forbidden romance? Our winners hands down, Ethan and Lena cannot be together because, just like Bella and Edward, they’re incapable of getting carried away without a tragic death! So no love, marriage and babies are pretty significant obstacles – but not for this determined couple.  Dubbed Lethan we applaud their commitment!

Magnus and Alec (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare)

Alec sharing his first kiss with Magnus the brooding High Warlock of Brooklyn has got to be worthy of a passionate salute for Valentine’s Day.   Not only that but we love Magnus casually saving Alec’s life and their secret dating against a backdrop of prejudiced Shadowhunters… oh and a complicated, emotional tie between Alec and his adopted brother Jace. We can’t get enough of the tension in this classic YA romance.

Margo and Quentin (Paper Towns by John Green)

Our heart is with Quentin “Q” Jacobsen in Paper Towns as his lifelong crush on neighbour Margo grows into a rather one sided, fully-fledged love.  But does he just love the idea of her? We love how this emotionally fuelled story of discovery for Quentin demonstrates the pitfalls of first love and how idolising your crush can lead to stark and painful revelation when the reality does not live up to the dream.

Can’t spot your favourite couple? Tweet us @7stories and #loveYA

BOOK REVIEW: Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan

We are feeling the love in the Seven Stories office this month and Jenny Rohde (@glocparty), Learning and Participation Assistant  was inspired to review Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan, published by Egmont Books.

Marly’s Ghost is David Levithan’s modern-day retelling of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The story begins in the run up to Valentine’s Day. Ben has lost his girlfriend Marly to cancer, and as the holiday approaches he is bitter, angry and lashing out at those around him.

As you would expect from a retelling of A Christmas Carol, Ben is visited by Marly’s ghost, and then by three spirits who take him on journeys through Valentine’s Days past, present and future, in order to challenge his attitude and alleviate his grief.

The book made for an unusual reading due to the familiarity of the story- it is ingrained in the collective cultural psyche- even if you haven’t read the book, you’ll know the story. This made the text a little predictable (though still enjoyable).

Those who read it soon after reading A Christmas Carol (or choose to compare the two novels) will notice it is a very close rewriting of the original text. This makes the language a little unusual for Levithan, who is known for his modern and believable teenage dialogue. For this reason, Levithan fans may be divided on this one. However, it is not without other trademarks of his novels- his LGBTQ characters come in the form of Tiny and Tim, whose Valentine’s Day celebrations even challenged my grumpy cynicism.

Just as Levithan has retold the prose from A Christmas Carol, Brian Selznick has reimagined the illustrations. The drawings are dark and sketchy, with lots of cross hatching- they look like etchings, mirroring the originals by John Leech. My favourite illustrations are the chapter headings- each starts with a small, simple drawing of a tree and a bench.  As you progress through the book the tree grows, its leaves fall, and grow again. The bench is worn and broken, and fixed again, echoing the emotional journey of the characters. This is simple but effective.

I found this an interesting read, as just as A Christmas Carol was written at a time when Christmas traditions were being examined, Valentine’s Day in the UK is becoming increasingly celebrated and commercially important- so it was interesting to read a book written in the USA where Valentine’s Day is already so established as a holiday (if only a commercial one).

The book is an enjoyable read, with a good balance of magic and realism and some loveable characters.

Happy Valentine’s Day all- I hope your day is free of well-meaning ghosts and full of books!

Jenny x

Creating Coraline

Maxine Davies(@glueandyarn) is a young reviewer for the Cuckoo Review. Maxine attended our Creating Coraline event with Mark Shapiro this November, find out what she thought!

Mark Shapiro is Head of Entertainment and Brand Marketing at Oregon-based LAIKA, the studio responsible for this year’s stop-motion hit, The Boxtrolls, and 2012’s zombie comedy, ParaNorman (not to mention Wes Anderson’s charming Sony Xperia advert with the mobile robots!) Mark was appearing as part of the Bradford Animation Festival; the fact that a representative of such a reputable studio was able to visit our tiny little city (and Newcastle is very tiny in comparison to Mark’s home city, Hillsboro) is a tribute to the impressive reputation that Seven Stories have built for themselves in the nine years that they’ve been active.

Held in their beautiful attic, the event was incredibly cosy, with guests on cartoonish sofas and floor cushions, books hanging from the sloping ceiling and fairy lights wrapped around wooden beams. Seven Stories truly is a magical building (the room was even complete with a life-size Gruffalo!) and is worth visiting for their various exhibitions alone.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing for me on the evening was learning how Coraline was marketed. LAIKA sent out short making-of videos that were circulated on social media by other directors, writers and industry professionals in order to create a buzz (and it worked, because I went to see Coraline in 2009 having seen a video on Tumblr of one of the costume makers knitting a tiny sweater). They also sent out wooden boxes to bloggers and filmmakers which contained artefacts used in the film and themed miniature items found on eBay with little to no explanation of what they were about, knowing that this would provoke curiosity and make people talk (the Amelié lover in me was thrilled at the sheer prospect of this).

It was surprising to learn just how much work goes into making a stop-motion film; with animators taking a staggering 24 frames per second, there is an incredible amount of cranking, measuring and minute adjustment in order to make sure the action is fluid. LAIKA appear to have a particularly innovative staff who have novel ideas about how to represent what’s on screen, including using pink-dyed popcorn for cherry blossom(!) and part of a dogs’ toy for the centre of a flower.

Mark assured us that LAIKA have some exciting new projects coming up in the future, however, he couldn’t tell us too much information, other than to say that the studio enjoys taking on projects that some might consider impossible to convey through stop-motion film. Though I was already a fan of both the book and the screen adaptation of Coraline, I firmly believe that the event would have proved engaging for anyone who enjoys thinking creatively, or is simply interested in the magic of film, and will definitely seek to explore other events hosted by Seven Stories in the future.

The exhibition that the Creating Coraline event ran alongside, Moving Stories: Children’s Books from Page to Screen, runs at Seven Stories until April 27th 2015 and is well worth checking out if you’re interested in the process of adapting a story for film or television (or even if you just want to have an Alice in Wonderland style picnic on the floor)!

Maxine

What is it like to be a debut YA Author?

Debut author Leo Hunt’s book Thirteen Days of Midnight will be published next year. Leo discusses how he got here and what it feels like to be a debut author of YA fiction.

I am an author you’ve never heard of. Don’t worry, I don’t mind- my first YA novel, Thirteen Days of Midnight, won’t be available until next year, and outside of a handful of people in the publishing industry, nobody has read the final draft. If you enjoy young adult fiction, and perhaps want to write some yourself one day, I thought it would be of interest if I told you how I came to be in this position, and how it feels now I’m here.

I wrote the first draft of my novel when I was 19, during my first year of university. It wasn’t the first novel I’d started, but it was the first novel that I’d ever finished a draft of, and although it was rough I felt the story had potential. This initial draft was 120,000 words, which I knew was too long, and over the summer of 2011 I cut 20,000 words to create a second draft. At this point, in my second year of university, I decided to start looking for an agent.

Literary Agencies are very important for authors, because major publishing houses will not normally read manuscripts that arrive without representation by an agent. Agents act as a combination of talent scout, editor, negotiator, manager, and hopefully friend. Representation is highly sought-after, and agents can receive upwards of 200 queries a week. These are daunting odds, and your submission needs to be as good as you can make it, because you have to impress your potential agent in a very small amount of time. I was rejected by 18 agencies before I found representation. I met my agent when she was presenting a careers talk at my university. Afterwards I grabbed the chance to speak to an agent in real life and gave her the pitch for my novel. She asked me to send her the first 50 pages, and then a few months later asked for the full manuscript. Six months after that I was signing a contract for representation by her agency, one of the most memorable days of my life.

I worked intensively with my agent for around two years on the manuscript. She made several suggestions as to why it was not yet suitable for mainstream publishers: the novel was too long, overly adult and violent, and the protagonist wasn’t likeable enough. After two more drafts to correct these issues, the novel was 64,000 words, almost 50% shorter than the initial draft. In March 2014 my agent offered this manuscript to various publishers, and we were lucky enough to encounter immediate interest.

By the end of this summer I had publishing deals in five different countries, and began working with my UK and American editors simultaneously on a new draft of my novel. With their expert help I rewrote significantly, and the novel as it stands is now 77,000 words long, since material was added to flesh out certain plot points. I’m currently combing through mockups of the pages to look for grammar errors or logical flaws that we missed on previous edits. Proof copies of my novel will be produced in December, which I’m looking forward to enormously.

I’ve spent over four years of my life working on this novel, and at times it felt depressing and interminable, like I was wrestling a python into a duffel-bag. I no longer have the freshness and enthusiasm for the idea that I did at 19, when I wrote those first pages, but I can say I’ve ended up with a stronger story than I ever imagined. Although signing the deal with my publisher was very exciting, I think the most important moment during the past four years was signing a contract with my agency, because the biggest hurdle facing aspirant authors is lack of representation. Querying agents could have a post all of its own, so it’s worth reading extensively on the subject before you do so.

And how I feel now?

Being an author pre-publication feels like standing in front of an open window, holding a cage with an exotic bird inside. You hatched the bird from an egg and raised it, and until now it was all yours, but you’re about to let it fly away and you can’t imagine who the bird might meet or what they’ll think of it. All you can do is open the cage door, and hope.

Leo

BOOK REVIEW: Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

Seven Stories Bookseller Fionn (@fionnjamin) reviews Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky, published by Disney-Hyperion

Even at the tender age of twelve, Grayson knows something is not right. Being brought up by her Aunt and Uncle as a boy – no less than a brother to her cousin – Grayson has burdened for too long a harrowing secret.

She is not a boy. She is, and always has been, a girl.

Sent on a spiral of losing friends and making them again, Grayson is thrown many challenges on her route to becoming herself.

Namely, the school play.

Why shouldn’t someone like Grayson play the lead role? The lead, female role? And why shouldn’t she make friends with one of the most popular girls in school? Why shouldn’t she be accepted?

That’s the thing, she can.

From personal experience I can say how fantastic this book really is. Displaying someone of such a young age as so sure of herself, so driven to not lie anymore, and so ready to be brave and honest to the world is really to be applauded for Ami Polonsky.

As we witness Grayson growing into a young adult, we grow closer to her not just as a character but as a person as well. We really start to feel for her and root for her in a way that is uncommon in many Young Adult books. The love for stigma we have as readers is fulfilled in this moving and revealing novel.

The truth of the matter is, being transgender is not an all-uncommon thing. It is actually estimated that 5% of the population is transgender, which would mean around 3 million people in the U.K. identify as trans*. Does this figure shock you? Because I must admit it shocked me.

This novel is ground-breaking for children’s literature. As someone who is very much in to LGBT* lit, I have only ever read two other YA novels which have trans* protagonists, and neither of them have any patch on Gracefully Grayson. It is a novel not to be missed by anyone, transgender or cisgender (the opposite of transgender), gay or straight, male or female.

I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on the hardback of this book when it comes into the Seven Stories bookshop. Until then, I’ll keep on talking to anyone who will listen about how amazing it truly is.

Fionn.

Diverse Voices – A Discussion with Jake Hope

A guest blog post by Jake Hope (@jake_hope), Diverse Voices chairing judge and Reading Development and Book Consultant. Jake talks about the importance of the Diverse Voices Top 50 Book List and why this should lead to discussion about how these books make us feel.

People can react and respond to the same situation in hugely different ways. Sometimes a fear of things that are different can lead us to feel cautious and apprehensive, at other points that very difference can be exciting and invigorating, showing us different ways to think and feel.  One of the exhilarating things about reading is that it can offer us a risk free way to inhabit other minds and to encounter worlds that are different to our own.

By exploring not only what keeps people apart, but also what brings them together, the Diverse Voices list does this with great success.  The titles for teenagers are some of the most exciting.  As some have commented, they do not offer neatly packaged morals, but rather raise questions and encourage readers to think around subjects, considering what it means to be a part of the rich and varied communities and cultures that make up our world.

Many of these titles have provoked discussion.   Which of them have you read and what are your thoughts and feelings on these?  There are novels like Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts and Crosses’ which was criticised when it was first published as some felt that society had changed and moved on from the split communities that were shown in it.  Looking at modern news do you think that claim is true even now, over ten years after the book was published?

Joe Sacco’s ‘Palestine’ offers a unique insight into the situation in the Middle East and shows some of the difficulties in objective reporting on conflict.  The story is told as a graphic novel, much like Shaun Tan’s excellent, ‘The Arrival’ which looks at migration and what it means to leave home and loved ones behind.  These issues are further explored in the lyrical novel, ‘The Weight of Water’ by Sarah Crossan when Kasienka leaves her home in Poland for England.  They are touched on again, though in a very different way in Benjamin Zephaniah’s ‘Refugee Boy’.

Some of the books like ‘Apache’ have attracted criticism for the way they show cultures with claims they portray negative stereotypes of Native Americans as savages.  Is Siki savage, or are her actions brave and courageous?  These questions are not always easy to answer and some of the thinking around them may not always be comfortable.  That is certainly true of Philip Ridley’s play ‘Moonfleece’, which looks at the way fear can manifest itself through politics and the chilling consequences this can have.  This play made the headlines in 2010 when it was refused a performance space by Dudley Council, can you think why the council might have chosen to do this?  Do you think their decision was a fair one?

Growing up as part of a community and culture can mean we face expectations because of gender – definitely the case in titles like Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Deborah Ellis’s novel, ‘The Breadwinner’.  Likewise faith can lead to expectations upon us and Bali Rai’s ‘(Un)arranged Marriage’ looks at this.  Language itself can cause tensions, and the title of ‘Half-Caste’ a collection of thought-provoking poetry by John Agard is as high impact as the poetry contained within.  This idea of language and difference is used in Steve Tasane’s spine-chilling first novel, ‘Blood Donors’ which is a horror novel with a twist where there’s a secret lurking in basement of a block of flats.  Secrets can sometimes cause a great deal of damage for the people who hold them, this is certainly the case for Mira and her family in Sita Brahmachari’s ‘Artichoke Hearts’.

There are many complexities and sensitivities around some of these books, but all are useful in prompting us to think about our relationship with the world around us.  Whatever some have said about these, we’d welcome your views and your voice as part of the dialogue and diversity of this list and wonder which of these you have read and which appeal to you most?

So many of our thoughts are influenced by the times we live in.  Sometimes it can be easy to think the present moment is a pinnacle of human thought and achievement and that the past has been a sequence leading up to this.  It can be useful to try to think and see beyond the here and now and the experiences that we’ve amassed to better steer into the future.  This can lead to more enlightened thinking and this is where the ‘Diverse Voices’ list is so useful.  It offers us a snapshot of where we are at the present and some of the fight that has been entailed in reaching this, but even the reasons behind its production shows that there remains work to be done in this area.

One of the most exciting things about any list of recommended reads is the opportunities it offers for discussion, debate and spring boarding into wider reading and understanding.  In the case of the 50 books that make up the ‘Diverse Voices’ list, these prompt thinking around children’s literature and publishing, encouraging dialogue around some of the challenges it faces and must reflect in order to respond adequately to the changing context of today’s society.  In this way the list is political and embraces education and societal change, but alongside that, it is hugely important not to lose sight of the fact it is, primarily, reader-focused and that the titles the list is made up from are first and foremost great stories populated by convincing characters from across the globe, that represent a wide variety of countries, backgrounds and cultures.

Diversity is not an exclusive term that applies only to a few, but rather is inclusive and embraces each and every one of us.  All of these books has value and a cultural richness individually, but collectively as a whole they embrace a range of ideas and world views.  The collection’s overall worth lies as much in the thought and discussion of its audience as it does in its curation and we look forward to seeing and hearing how it is used and received.

‘Diverse Voices’ is an apt name for a promotion that highlights books, reading and publishing and also encourages active participation in the critical, reader-led debate that surrounds this.  Any story can embrace a wide range of different readings and interpretations and where one, we would encourage you to read the titles debated and add your own voice and views to the discussions.

Jake