Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: Alan Gratz, Angela Burke Kunkel, Aron Nels Steinke, Barry Deutsch, black panther, Booki Vivat, Christina Soontornvat, Claribel A. Ortega, Daniel Jose Older, Debbi Michiko Florence, Isabella Kung, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jennifer Ziegler, Kelly Yang, Kyle Lukoff, Lamar Giles, Laura Zarrin, Martha Brockenbrough, Mike Jung, Mitali Banerjee Ruths, Molly Knox Ostertag, Mónica Mancillas, Raina Telgemeier, Sarah Darer Littman, Sarah Mlynowski, scholastic, Shirley Ng-Benitez, Suzanne Kaufman, Tracey West, Tracy Nishimura Bishop, Valerie Bolling, Veera Hiranandani, vicky fang, Yamile Saied Mendez

Black Panther Graphic Novel Joins Scholastic Book Fair "Segregation"

Scholastic's response to parent criticism over bookfair content is to remove "diversity" books as standard, including Marvel's Black Panther.

Published Mon, 23 Oct 2023 10:47:16 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Comments

Last month, Bleeding Cool reported that conservative parent groups in America were switching from complaints to public libraries about books with racial, gender or orientation, to complaints about book fairs, with the graphic novel series Heartstopper being initially targeted. Scholastic is the vast provider of these, with 120,000 across US schools. It is also the reason that it is the biggest graphic novel publisher in North America, by far,

Earlier this month, librarians posted that Scholastic had a new policy that would allow schools to opt out of providing diverse books at Scholastic book fairs, as a result of such campaigns, and in the light of an organization called BRAVE Book Fairs, whose website claims to tell "The Dangerous Truth Behind Scholastic", and that "Just like Disney, Target & Bud Light, Scholastic has succumbed to an agenda that has led them to flood our schools and libraries with books that promote dangerous and anti-Biblical ideas. Many of their books appear harmless, boasting bright and colorful covers with kid-capturing titles masking ideas like gender fluidity and the LGBTQIA+ agenda on the inside."

Scholastic's response, an optional diversity choice includes books and graphic novels with ethnically diverse, LGBTQ characters, as well as those that cover immigration and racial issues. The Mary Sue reported this story, bringing it to many people's attention, as well as reporting that some of those who opted for diverse books, received such items later than the rest of the material, three days into the book fairs they were holding.

Graphic novelist Molly Ostertag stated that she was invited to speak at a Scholastic Graphix party, and chose the opportunity to object to this policy. She posted her words online, saying;

"I'd like to talk more about my book, but there's something else I feel the need to discuss tonight. I recently learned that Scholastic is self-censoring which books it sends to book fairs, based on local bans and vague state laws around book content that are meant to intimidate. This means that many books from Black and brown authors, books about racial history and racism, LGBTQ stories, disability, activism, and other quote-unquote controversial topics are not making their way to the schools where they are the most needed. I've had some internal conversations to try to understand the reasoning for this policy. It seems to be a good faith effort to protect teachers and librarians, and I understand the reasoning, but I feel the need to stand up tonight and say that I think this is a grave miscalculation. It doesn't come across as anything but an attempt to compromise with, frankly, fascist laws. So I am entreating Scholastic, specifically the Book Fair division, to stand up for your authors, your books, and most importantly, the kids we make these books for. Because books are, very literally, lifelines. There are a million examples – I'll talk about one. Trans and nonbinary children have an elevated suicide risk – with over 50% attempting, according to the HRC – for the simple reason that they cannot imagine a future for themselves. When we send books that depict that future, we are sending a lifeline. I know. I've gotten the emails. From parents, from kids, about how they carried a certain book like a talisman. How it was a friend when they had no friends, and safety when they were not safe, and an escape from a life that was otherwise unbearable. When you allow a single school official to make a choice, whether out of bigotry or fear, and sever that lifeline – when you make it easy for them to do – it is very literally a matter of life and death. A battle is being fought over the content of children's books in America. It is not a battle we have started or chosen. It is being waged by a very small, very loud group of bigots who understand a truth we all know too – books and the ideas they contain are POWERFUL. This battle is being fought, but it is not even close to over, and I can't see Scholastic's recent fair policy as anything but a capitulation."

This was made public after Scholastic issued their own response to the story, saying,

"There have been a number of misconceptions that we want to clarify about how we have created a path to host Scholastic Book Fairs, even as schools and educators in the U.S. navigate restrictions imposed on them by state legislation and local policy. The biggest misconception is that Scholastic Book Fairs is putting all diverse titles into one optional case. This is not true, in any school, in any location we serve.

"There is now enacted or pending legislation in more than 30 U.S. states prohibiting certain kinds of books from being in schools – mostly LGBTQIA+ titles and books that engage with the presence of racism in our country. Because Scholastic Book Fairs are invited into schools, where books can be purchased by kids on their own, these laws create an almost impossible dilemma: back away from these titles or risk making teachers, librarians, and volunteers vulnerable to being fired, sued, or prosecuted.

"To continue offering these books, as well as even more high interest titles, we created an additional collection called Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice for our U.S. elementary school fairs. We cannot make a decision for our school partners around what risks they are willing to take, based on the state and local laws that apply to their district, so these topics and this collection have been part of many planning calls that happen in advance of shipping a fair.

"We don't pretend this solution is perfect – but the other option would be to not offer these books at all – which is not something we'd consider. There is a wide range of diverse titles throughout every book fair, for every age level. And, we continue to offer diverse books throughout our middle school fairs, which remain unchanged. All children need to see themselves in stories and it is extremely unsettling to consider a world in which they don't. Scholastic's commitment remains unshakeable to publish and distribute stories representative of ALL voices."

Raina Telgemeier is one of the best-selling comic book creators in the world. In North America, she is second only to Dav Pilkey. Her graphic novels, often examining traumatic times in high school life, sell in the multiple millions, and she is one of Scholastic's best-selling authors of all time. She joined many others, including Scholastic authors, to protest against this change, writing on Instagram;

"Like so many others, I'm disappointed and dismayed to learn that Scholastic Book Fairs has defended its 'Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice' program, which effectively allows schools to opt in or out of carrying diverse titles in its fairs, and creates a segregated and censored environment from its authors all the way to its readers. Today, I'm standing with my fellow authors and illustrators to ask my publisher, @scholastic, to desegregate its Book Fairs. Children seeing themselves in books is not optional, and marginalized creators writing about their lived experiences need to be fully accessible to all readers. The banning of books has become a cultural catastrophe, all the more reason for the largest publisher of children's books to take a stand and push back against it.

"I can't stay silent on this issue, and I encourage you to join me in supporting organizations like We Need Diverse Books (@weneeddiversebooks), PEN America (@penamerica), and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (@cbldf)—all of whom are helping to fight censorship on the ground level. Together, we can be loud and we can affect change. There's a link in my bio to the official author statement, which has already been signed by 400+ creators. Fellow author and illustrators, you are welcome to add your name to the list if you feel moved to do so. Thank you for listening, sharing, and acting!"

This is a list of the 65 Scholastic-published books that schools and libraries can choose to exclude as a part of this option, including many that might have been thought of as rather uncontroversial books. Such as a Black Panther graphic novel from Marvel and Scholastic.

The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez
All Are Neighbors by Alexandra Penfold
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Alma's Way: Junior's Lost Tooth by Gabrielle Reyes
Battle Dragons: City of Speed by Alex London
Battle Dragons: City of Thieves by Alex London
Because of You, John Lewis by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Big Nate: Payback Time! by Lincoln Peirce
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
Booked (Graphic Novel) by Kwame Alexander
Change Sings by Amanda Gorman
City of Dragons: Rise of the Shadowfire by Jaimal Yogis
Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #2: Bloodmoon Huntress by Nicole Andelfinger
Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #3: Puzzle House by Peter Wartman
Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros
Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez
Freestyle by Gale Galligan
The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown
The Girl With Big, Big Questions by Britney Winn Lee
Her Own Two Feet by Meredith Davis
Our World in Pictures, the History Book
Home for Meow: Kitten Around by Reese Eschmann
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
I Am My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams by Tanisia Moore
I Am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges
I Color Myself Different by Colin Kaepernick
Into the Heartlands: A Black Panther Graphic Novel by Roseanne A. Brown
JoJo's Sweet Adventures: The Great Candy Caper by JoJo Siwa
Justice Ketanji by Denise Lewis Patrick
Karma's World: Daddy and Me and the Rhyme to Be by Halcyon Person
Karma's World: The Great Shine-a-Thon Showcase! by Halcyon Person
The Loud House: No Bus, No Fuss by Shannon Penney
The Loud House: Old Friends, New Friends by Daniel Mauleon
Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling
Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo
Mommy's Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) by Bellen Woodard
Nuestra América by Sabrina Vourvoulias
Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang
Pedro and the Shark by Fran Manushkin
Pets Rule: My Kingdom of Darkness by Susan Tan
Pets Rule: The Rise of the Goldfish by Susan Tan
Picture Day by Sarah Sax
Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Reina Ramos Works It Out by Emma Otheguy
Remarkably Ruby by Terri Libenson
Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
She Dared: Malala Yousafzai by Jenni L. Walsh
Speak Up! by Rebecca Burgess
Sports Heroes Lebron James
The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson
That Girl Lay Lay: It's Time to #Slay by That Girl Lay Lay with Kwyn Bader
That Girl Lay Lay: Positive Vibes Only by Andrea Loney
Thunderous by M. L. Smoker
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat
We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome by Bryan Collier
When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai
Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez
Who Was the Greatest? by Gabriel Soria
You Are Enough by Margaret O'Hair
You Are Loved by Margaret O'Hair

And the following statement was offered by many authors and illustrators, now numbering over fifteen hundred.

"We, the undersigned authors and illustrators, are asking Scholastic Book Fairs to discontinue their "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice" program and include those books with the other books in their fairs. As authors and illustrators, we cannot stand by while some of our books are offered to readers, while other works are separated and deemed as possibly dangerous to children.

!While the Scholastic trade division does publish many diverse books, the fairs division must follow that through and commit to actually getting those books to kids. The books separated for optional exclusion are almost entirely written about or by people of color or the LGBTQIA+ community. Deciding that the subject matter of these books might go against a state's law capitulates to the idea that these books are not suitable for children. That is harmful, and wrong.

Putting diverse books in a separate, optional collection is a form of censorship that cannot be supported. All children deserve to see themselves in books so that they can become engaged and empowered readers. Children also benefit from reading about others with different experiences than their own. Authors from marginalized communities need the same opportunities as other authors to succeed and shine.

We are asking Scholastic Book Fairs to find another solution—one that does not compromise the integrity of the product they provide, which is access to diverse books for all kids. Accommodating and making it easier to concede to book banning cannot be the answer. In times of trial, we need to work and fight for people who want to do the right thing, not defer to the oppressors. Scholastic Book Fairs should be using their clout to fight book banning and support the teachers and librarians who are also fighting for access to books for their kids. Simply, there has to be a better way.

Signatures include Scholastic authors and illustrators, Tracey West, Vicky Fang, Mike Jung, Christina Soontornvat, Isabella Kung, Molly Knox Ostertag, Daniel José Older, Booki Vivat, Martha Brockenbrough, Suzanne Kaufman, Jennifer Ziegler, Valerie Bolling, Debbi Michiko Florence, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Sarah Darer Littman, Claribel A. Ortega, Aron Nels Steinke, Sarah Mlynowski, Lamar Giles, Angela Burke Kunkel, Laura Zarrin, Tracy Nishimura Bishop, Kyle Lukoff, Alan Gratz, Shirley Ng-Benitez, Veera Hiranandani, Raina Telgemeier, Barry Deutsch, Mónica Mancillas, Yamile Saied Mendez, Kelly Yang, Mitali Banerjee Ruths, and over two hundred more.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!