This morning, the American Library Association announced that When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is the winner of the Newbery Award (actually, Random House announced it first on Twitter, but that is another story). A little review, because many of us vaguely remember, the Newbery is given to “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year.” The rules state that the intended age range of the book must be anywhere up to age 14 and the book respects their “understanding, ability and appreciations.” So no books on getting into college.
When You Reach Me caused quite a stir last year among kids and adults for its clever writing and plot. What I’ve found interesting, and it’s ironic I’m writing about this on Martin Luther King Day, is the discussion about race in When You Reach Me. Julia, a character in When You Reach Me is described as having non-white skin (“cafe au lait”) without any discussion of her racial background or any racial epiphany in the book. The book isn’t about race and doesn’t purport to be about race. Is that a flaw? Colleen Mondor wrote about this on her blog Chasing Ray and she links to other discussion posts. My personal opinion is that non-white people and characters have no obligation to represent their race. There are times to discuss race issues and those discussions are enriched by participants (real or fictional) from various racial backgrounds. But literary life is fantasy and romance and history and science fiction, you name it, and a plot doesn’t have to stop or even artfully include a race moment because of the presence of a non-white character.
It may be that the discussion is prompted by putting When You Reach Me under the Newbery microscope, but it caused me to think about my own friendships. How much in our everyday lives do I talk about race with my Asian, Latino and black friends? Not that much. We’ve had the big discussions at times, and will again, and there are gentle jokes thrown back and forth (I can’t count how many times my husband has heard “you are such a white boy”), but we’re are all struggling with similar issues: the economy, our kids starting to drive, and the fact our memory seems to be on permanent vacation. If we’re talking about Koreans or living some place where you are the only person of your race (growing up Korean in Alabama a few decades ago was an experience), I will probably mention my friend Jackie. But if we’re talking about Jackie, I’ll tell you about her incredible energy and her ability to laugh at herself, and maybe somewhere in the conversation, I might mention that she is Korean. And that is what Dr. King talked about when he had a dream, that we judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
I want to read books about racial issues, both fiction and non-fiction. Many aspects of our lives contain a racial element that can be a part of a discussion or plot in a book, small or large. But, I also think that racial characters should be in books and absolutely nothing done with the fact of their race because it is irrelevant to the plot. The distinguished contribution that Rebecca Stead made to American literature wasn’t intended to be about race relations, so she shouldn’t be knocked for not expanding on it in her book.
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There are so many of us cafe au laits out there who normally function without talking about our race or breaking into our “culture mode.” We’re just American.
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I agree with you. I also think it would not be authentic for a white 12 year old in the late 70s to randomly have a discussion with her frenemy about race. Her reaction to the deli owner’s behavior is spot on for what is really a fairly sheltered 12 year old’s experience with race.
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