#WeNeedDiversityInBooks

As many of you may already know, prejudice is an underlying theme in my Ærenden series, and plays a part in why the villain chose to kill the former King and Queen. We like to believe we've surpassed our biases, that we're too educated for race and culture variances to be issues any longer. We've made progress, but we still have so far to go. Too often, we criticize people because they're different, because we don't fully understand their lifestyle, or because we don't agree with the choices they've made. But variety is important for our survival, and it's important for our humanity. That's why I chose to highlight this issue in my books, and why I've chosen to participate in the We Need Diversity in Books campaign.

Too many of our prejudices are learned from childhood. So much of our alienation of others, and the feelings of alienation in ourselves, is propagated by media, by the television and books we read. When we do not allow for diversity in our fiction, we promote diversity as an abnormal occurrence in real life. We spread this injustice, this untruth and by doing so, we create prejudice.

It's time to put a stop to it. This weekend, help me do that. Help me promote diversity through social media. After all, we may be different, but when we share one voice, we can be heard.

We need diversity in books. We need truth in fiction. We need your help.

Kristen

For more information on the diversity campaign, please visit http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/

The quote below is from http://elloellenoh.tumblr.com/post/83943971246/we-need-diverse-books-campaign

Recently, there’s been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children’s literature. The issue is being picked up by news outlets like these two pieces in the NYT, CNN, EW, and many more. But while we individually care about diversity, there is still a disconnect. BEA’s Bookcon recently announced an all-white-male panel of “luminaries of children’s literature,” and when we pointed out the lack of diversity, nothing changed.

Now is the time to raise our voices into a roar that can’t be ignored. Here’s how:

On May 1st at 1pm (EST), there will be a public call for action that will spread over 3 days. We’re starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral.