June 2000

A reader calls for expertise and sensitivity when reviewing materials that represent other cultures

I am writing to voice concern over some of the reviews that appear in SLJ, namely those evaluating books on American Indian topics. I realize that the reviews you print are submitted by practicing librarians who volunteer their service to the journal, and I often find them to be accurate and quite helpful. Several recent reviews, however, have led me to send this reminder of the needfor knowledgeable reviewers, especially when dealing with materials that represent other cultures. My hope is that this letter will find its way back to those reviewers to heighten their awareness of the issue.

There have been several articles and books in professional library literature outlining the need for both cultural authenticity and attentive evaluation of children's books. Your own journal has addressed this topic by publishing "Native American Images in Children's Books" by Naomi Caldwell-Wood (SLJ, May 1992, pp.47-48) and a two-part article by Betsy Hearne subtitled"Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books" (SLJ, July, pp. 22-27, and August 1993, pp. 33-37). Among the excellent books on this topic, Through Indian Eyes (University of California, 1998) by Beverly Slapin and Doris Seale is specifically oriented to the representation of Native American cultures in juvenile literature. Unfortunately, some of the volunteer reviewers that submit material for your journal seem oblivious tothese concerns, or lack the knowledge necessary to address them.

The most recent examples of positive SLJ reviews of books that are inaccurate and unauthentic are the reviews of Ann Turner's novel The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow (Scholastic, 1999) and Kim Doner's picture book Buffalo Dreams (WestWinds, 1999) (both SLJ, February 00, p. 126 and p. 94, respectively). While the perspective of the novelist may be debatable, the picture book blatantly combines the traditions of twodistinct cultures into an offensive, synthetic legend. Conversely, SLJ also frequently prints reviews alerting librarians to the problems with certain titles, such as the review of Michael Cooper's Indian School (Clarion, 1999; SLJ, February 00, p. 130), that point out the stereotypes and biases contained in the book. It is heartening that some of the reviews do point out problems, but the inconsistency leads me to be increasingly distrustful ofSLJ's reviews on books dealing with minority cultures.

I realize that the sheer quantity of books published and reviews submitted makes it increasingly difficult to monitor the qualifications of your many volunteer reviewers, but I urge you to alert your reviewers to the issues raised in articles like thosementioned above. I know that quality of cultural representation in children's literature has come a long way, but we also have a long way to go.

Sean P. S. George
Youth Services Coordinator
St. Charles Parish Library, LA

Our Editor Replies:

I respect and share Mr. George's concerns. Even though SLJ has a highly qualified corps of more than 300 volunteer reviewers, we are always looking for additional librarians with knowledge of specific subject areas and cultures,

in order to provide reliable and accurate reviews.

Reviewing agencies do not have the advantage of consulting paid experts, and cultural accuracy and sensitivity cannot be verified in the same way thatinformation in nonfiction titles can be spot-checked in standard reference sources. Therefore, we must ask that publishers, authors, and illustrators take a larger share of responsibility for accuracy about the cultures represented.

So, I make this plea to publishers: please be aware of stereotypes, generic references, sources, and Hollywood portrayals--and have the books read by experts who can recognize inaccurate or offensive texts and illustrations. As reviewers, we'll do our job, which is to evaluate fiction and nonfiction with Native themes in terms of literary quality, organization, clarity, and quality of illustration--the same criteria that are used for all books--all the while being as culturally sensitive as possible.

If you are confident about reviewing Native materials in the context of other literary criteria, please share your expertise with your colleagues. Review applications can be found at www.slj.com/about/reviewerinfo.asp.

We need you.

Enchanted Runner

Carolyn Stacey could not be more wrong about Kimberley Griffiths Little's Enchanted Runner (Avon/Camelot,1999; December 1999, p. 137). Except for her apt summary of the story, I wondered if we read the same book.

I am a teacher of the middle grades and I have never before read a juvenile book that was so different, so uplifting, and so rich with the culture of our Native Americans. How often do you see a book that deals with Native American children in modern times? Little has written a powerful story that I feel can be related to by children of all cultures.

Kendall is like so many young people trying to find out who he is and why he has the feelings he does--for Kendall, it is his feelings about his mother, his heritage, and about running. I particularly liked his father. He is a positive influenceand a parent Kendall can talk to about his feelings. He also is so concerned that Kendall find out about his heritage, even though it is not the same heritage as himself. In this day of so many absent fathers, what a great message this sends.

Little is also not afraid to explore all aspects of the Acoma culture and its deep religious beliefs. Her book is rich with beautiful language and descriptions that make the area come alive for the reader. The story has an emotional ending thatmade me cry. Rarely has a juvenile book impacted me so much.

Our Reviewer Replies:

Ms. Werk makes some good observations about Enchanted Runner. The story does feature a strong father figure. Kendall, the main character, is part Native American and is in search of himself, as are many young people today. The setting of the story is interesting and the culture of the Acoma is detailed accurately, as indicated in the review. However, a forced theme and a quasi-mystical tone overshadow the positive elements. Many other books include these qualities and treat them with more authenticity. There are countless titles featuring young people on quests of self-discovery. In my opinion, this one failed to distinguish itself.

Quality Wanted, not Quantity

I was so happy to see Ed Sullivan's fine piece "More Is Not Always Better: A young adult librarian speaks out on the sorry state of series publishing" (April 00). I applaud his willingness to state his views and your courage in publishing them. I, too, am appalled at the prices of the series books--brief, frequently boringly written, and advertised to the hilt. Sometimes the catalogs, blitzed to us repeatedly throughout the year, do not even include the names of the authors of the books. No wonder we get the idea that good writing is not valued by some of these publishers.

I also worry that the series books are the main ones I see when I visit schools. No wonder kids think reading is no fun! In my own library system, all too often librarians request that we buy a book solely because they saw it in a catalog. My philosophy is yes, we do have to buy the PokAcmon books because everyone wants them. But when it comes to nonfiction, I want accurate, well-written information. I want someone, somewhere, to have read the book and vouched for it before I spend taxpayers' money.

I also agree with Mr. Sullivan's statement that librarians are fiction-centric. Due to a variety of circumstances in my professional life, a couple of years ago I found myself reading a lot more juvenile nonfiction, and I was stunned at the finequality of much of what is available. There will always be kids who read fiction, but I bet there are a lot more, especially boys, who read only nonfiction. And we should be doing our darnedest to find them the best available.

Editor's note

Baxter writes SLJ's quarterly "Nonfiction Booktalker" column.

A Matter of Fact

While I was going through the April copy of School Library Journal, I noticed a few errors in the review of the video Africa: South of the Sahara (p. 73). The reviewer states, "The native Masai split into two groups and settled in Uganda and Tanganyika. The country of South Africa has a white majority, including offshoots of the former colonial system of Britain." In fact, the Masai are settled in Kenya and Tanzania (Tanganyika is the old name), not Uganda. Also, the country of South Africa has a black majority, and not all whites in South Africa came fromBritain. Some are Dutch (Boers). I was born and raised in Kenya, which neighbors Tanzania to the North.

Our Reviewer Replies:

I apologize for the inaccuracy as well as the lack of clarity of the review. I mistakenly typed "majority" when I intended to say "minority," and I was thinking of the cultural problems (not the people) in South Africa when I referred to the "offshoots of the former colonial system of Britain." My reference to Uganda was incorrect; it should haveread Kenya. The video did use the name Tanganyika instead of the current name Tanzania because it was talking about problems caused by colonial rule and included the fact that the traditional lands of the Masai, originally straddling British-ruled Kenya and German-ruled Tanganyika, were split by an artificially imposed political boundary.