Multiculturalism at the Hop

This week's Hop question asks "What are you reading now and why are you reading it?" This is an interesting question for me this week as I've chosen a book I might not normally read. I'm reading One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. I saw this book listed as the winner of the 2011 Coretta Scott King Award. 

I decided to give it a try because looking at my books read in 2010 I realized I had read few books with multicultural themes and especially few with African American characters. I read some Native American authored books and some Asian-American themed books. And I did read The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (realistic fiction/historical fiction type of book) and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (fantasy/romance) which have women of color for protagonists. The Help had some great black female characters. It is easy for me to just go with the flow...read books that readily appeal to me because I easily identify with white characters. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But this year I want to continue to push beyond my known world with my reading.

One reason for this is that I'm tentatively thinking about Youth Services Librarianship. Of course, I want to be familiar with books that all children/teens might like. But I also want to be familiar with books which might particularly reach out to kids with backgrounds unlike my own. Not to mention I want to know more about my country's heritage concerning race and the array of different cultures that make America what it is. So, here I am consciously reading One Crazy Summer. I'll let you know how it goes when I finish!