Books filled with life’s quirks, kinks, and diversity – #weneeddiversebooks

Diverse books for young readers were plentiful at the Chicago Black Authors tent this weekend at the 2014 Printer\’s Row Literature Festival in Chicago, Il.

We faced a steady stream of interested kids, parents and teachers both Saturday and Sunday.  I had the misfortune of selling out my stock of copies of Pull early on Saturday, but the supply was replenished for Sunday. And, although people listened when I talked about that book and how the hero deals with life in the aftermath of domestic violence that left him and his sisters orphans, teachers and people who work with youth were all ears about Minority of One. The hero is a black, gay teen, but it\’s not the story of a difficult coming out. Instead it\’s the story of his day-to-day life after he comes out to accepting parents. It\’s a hero who happens to be gay, but also has to face other issues. It was also my best seller during the fest with some adults saying they wished they had seen a book like this years ago, especially those dealing with at-risk youth.  Kids of all races had already told me they wanted more books about what high school and life is really like.  That\’s what the independent authors of Chicago Black Author Network are trying to present to them.

Life, with all its quirks, kinks, and diversity.