Reading In Color: The Search is Over, but it is not the End

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Search is Over, but it is not the End

I was an avid reader as a young person. I could often be found sitting in my room with my nose in a book drowning out the external sounds as I traveled to places both real and imaginary. As I think back to my favorite books by Charles Dickens classics and my all time favorite mystery series Nancy Drew, I realize that I have no memory of reading about fictional characters that looked like me. It is important that all children see people that look like them in leadership roles, being productive citizens, and especially in books when so much of their education is surrounded around them. Now children’s literature has surely changed much since I was younger and includes more characters that represent ethnicities that can be found around the world. African-American characters are so much more present in children’s books today, but it is often hard to find them in public and school libraries.

At the start of the summer I was determined to find a book series for young readers that would present a character that represented what I was as a child. A girl with brown skin, kinky hair, a spunky attitude, smart, respectful, and possessing self-pride is who I was and still am today. I found several book series’ that I just have to share with you. I hope that you or the young reader in your life will find themselves in the books as well.

After reading this you may say, “Hey, what about books that have black boys as main characters?” Don’t Worry I haven’t forgotten about how important this is for them too. Stay tuned for a blog post about series for boys.

I am not posting my own reviews of the series' here, but I am linking them to Goodreads.com for descriptions and reader ratings.

Happy Reading!