New Groups Aim To Get More Latinx Stories To Young Readers
Children don't often get to read stories by or about Latinos. The American book publishing industry remains overwhelmingly white, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, which found only five percent of books published for young readers are by or about Latinx people. But several new groups of writers, editors and agents are trying to increase Latino representation in children's literature. They're working in different ways, and have their own stories to tell. I spoke to a few of them — and got some reading recommendations, too.
LatinxPitch for Kid Lit was created by a team of 12 established and up and coming authors. A few weeks ago, they held their first Twitter event for writers and illustrators to pitch their ideas for picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, young adult books and more; everything from a fictional account of a farmworker girl to a story described as "feminist Motorcycle Diaries + Magic." One writer offered a "Cinderello tale with Samba flair," another pitched a graphic novel about a girl who dreams of becoming Chile's first gold medalist in weightlifting.
There were 1.5 million impressions of the #LatinxPitch hashtag that day. More than 160 agents and editors offered "likes" to the tweeted pitches, and requests to see the writers' work. One acquiring editor at Little Brown Books for Young Readers "as a Peruvian American, I felt seen so thank you to
