Who Tells Whose Story? #WNDB (Blogiversary Musings)

Technically, I’ve been blogging since 2008, but there were a few years of starts and stops. But not only is October the month of my first blog post but it’s also my favorite month, so there you go. Sometimes arbitrary isn’t so arbitrary. Of course, usually it is.

Anyhooo… For the rest of my blogiversary month, I’m posting about some stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past year. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts if you want.

who tells whose story?

I’ve written about this a couple of time. There are some books that are clearly #WNDB books. Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older and The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds, for example: racially diverse characters, POC authors, story lines set in diverse places with stories blending the rich cultural aspects of real people. Or The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle: gay author, a wonderful portrayal of gay main character that doesn’t feel contrived or stupid coming of age in a real- feeling world.

And look at these pictures? Am I crazy or are authors just more attractive than other people!

But what about stories of diverse characters in bland otherwise colorless worlds? Or written by non-marginalized (i.e., white, cis, male) authors. These can be great stories, too. I’m currently reading a Japanese story written by a white author that I’m really enjoying (The Monster on the Road is Me by J.P. Romney), or think about Soundless by Richelle Mead or The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson. I use these as examples because they are great books. I think the decision is easier if the authors are assholes about their subject matter. But these books show detail and consideration only achieved by research and experience. But do they count as diverse? They certainly aren't #ownvoice books.

And what about “diverse” authors that write white characters like Danielle Paige, who wrote the excellent Dorothy Must Die series? ... is that half a #WNDB sticker? ::sigh: Comment below on this because I love to hear other people’s thoughts on this. Here are a couple of my other related posts.

Link: What Makes a Diverse Book 

Link: My Diverse (but not too diverse?) Little Free Library  

Related Posts:

  

All pictures obtained from Google Search. I don't own anything!