Who's a Liar?

Recently I joined Susan's Color Me Brown challenge. I became so excited looking for YA books by authors of color or featuring main characters of color, and now have a HUGE stack of books for the challenge in my closet.

Due to recent conversations about the cover of Liar by Justine Larbalestier, I feel that this challenge has become even more important. I applaud authors like Justine Larbalestier and Paul Volponi who showcase characters of diverse races. And while I admire Justine, I must say, "Shame, shame" to Bloomsbury for choosing not to put a Black girl on the cover of a book about a Black girl.

Bloomsbury's response was that they believed the character was lying about her race. I don't believe that at all. What? Are we back in the days of Imitation of Life? I understand that a compulsive liar would be an unreliable source for most things. But race? Come on!

I have wanted to read Liar for sometime now, and I still plan to read it to support Justine. Why should she be hurt by a publisher's unwise decision?

But honestly people, we need to prove publishers like Bloomsbury wrong. Books featuring characters of color on the cover can and do sell.

I urge you to join in Susan's challenge. If challenges are not your thing, read and review a book by Mitali Perkins, Coe Booth, Walter Dean Myers, Paul Volponi, or Justine (among many others). Let's show them that in the YA community we celebrate and appreciate diversity and hopefully Justine will get the paperback cover for which she is hoping. One that reflects the book.

Thank you so much Justine for speaking up. I'm sure it was not easy to speak out against your publisher's decision; however, your efforts are not in vain.

For more more thoughts on this, be sure to check out Colleen Mondor's post. In her post, she includes contact information for those who wish to express their disappointment to Bloomsbury. Be sure to also read posts by Editorial Anonymous and Taste Life Twice.