The topic for today: favourite diverse characters.
When you see the word 'diverse', what do you think of? The first thing that usually comes to people's minds is race. But I am not going to pick out 5 books with entirely different races other than white. That's just kind of weird.
So instead I'm gonna list 5 things that make a character different from your usual protagonist and give you some examples :) easy enough? No pictures for today because I am so tired from my 3 days of training!
*edit: after writing my first 3 points I realised the title 'favourite diverse characters' doesn't really cut it haha! I'm so sorry to the Top 5 Wednesdays group for not sticking to the title! Will be changing it to 'diversity' instead.*
1. Race/religion
The first thing that comes to people's minds when it comes to diversity. Race i.e. culture/skin colour, more of the physical stuff, and religion i.e. beliefs and more of the internal stuff.
Most of the books that have characters of different races usually focus so intently on that fact, that the entire book becomes all about the problem.
I seldom read books about eg how a Muslim girl lives in the United States, what she puts up with etc even though I am Muslim myself, because somehow it just doesn't interest me to read a whole book whereby her being different religiously is the only plot of the story. Do I make sense?
Instead, I prefer books whereby a character's ethnicity is normal to the people around her, where at no point of the story does anyone touch on a racial/religious issue.
Some examples: To All The Boys I've Loved Before and PS I Still Love You, by Jenny Han. The books aren't about how Lara Jean Song has trouble coping because she is Asian, blah blah blah. Instead they are about a girl and her love life. Simple.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell also has a Korean boy, and while the author does highlight some of the problems at school that he faces, the book still revolves around a bigger love story.
2. Sexuality
Same with the above ^ I respect books that talk about a character's struggle to be accepted by society because of her/his sexuality, but I love it more when a girl's interest in another girl is normal, a boy's in another boy.
Everything Leads To You by Nina Lacour is one example. Emi works in the film industry: you see all the props and furniture in a scene of a movie? It's her job to make sure it all matches the script. Oh, and she has a girlfriend. One that she's gone back to too many times even after all the times she's hurt her.
Oh yes you should read this book because Emi is so cute! She was my second fictional girlfriend after Tessa Gray.
Other examples: Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius, which I'm currently reading. One of the characters Nico has a crush on this other guy named Martin and his best friend Fallon is trying to help him. Again, this isn't the plot of the book which I love. It's just the side quest.
Also Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, although this one sort of focuses on the sexuality issue in a way?
3. Age
Sometimes I read middle grade fiction, my main reason being because there are no sex scenes or random romance. I get irritated with instalove really easily, because I swear sometimes the 'love' is just too sudden! I personally don't think it takes you only two interactions for you to wanna sacrifice your life for this person. (I'm talking about the Mara Dyer series and Fire and Flood, I can't stand you)
Best way to settle this annoying problem? Read middle grade! Or at least protagonists that are 12 or 13. Most of them focuses on family, like Violet Ink by Rebecca Westcott: a 12-year-old girl has been close to her sister their whole lives, but when she started dating, Izzy feels lost and rejected, distant from her beloved sister.
Or friendship, like The Hidden Summer by Gin Phillips, whereby two 13-year-old best friends sneak off to spend their summers together secretly after their mothers had a fight and told them never to see each other again.
But the best middle grade book I've read so far is Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Read it and you shall know. You definitely want to read it. READ IT.
4. Mental illness
Books with mental illness. Yes, they are abundant. Yes, you may feel like they aren't so special anymore. You may feel like you aren't special. But sigh, you are. Especially because you are reading my blog. I love you so much!
Social anxiety: the main character of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Cath, suffers from this.
Depression: Violet suffers this in All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, after her sister's death.
Books about suicide in general, in case you are interested: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga; I Was Here by Gayle Forman.
5. I don't know what to title this point but characters that aren't human
Yes! They are also characters of diversity. If you realised I only touched on contemporary Young Adult novels. (that's my favourite genre anyway so I think it doesn't matter hehe)
Here may be where the fantasy and magical realism fiction come in. You have the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series by Rick Riordan where we have sons and daughters of Greek Gods; The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, with our beloved shadowhunters and warlocks; even Cinder by Marissa Meyer, with my favourite cyborg Cinder and android Iko!
REMEMBER: DIVERSITY DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN RACE OR RELIGION!
p.s. I only mention books which I've read before :) and these books can easily be found at Popular bookstores, if not, Kinokuniya or the library. Read them okay!
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