I don't read enough of the seriousPHD type of stuff about childrens lit (I don't subscribe to those $$ scholarly journals) but I think it would be fascinating to take the census data you have and do a comparison to the actual books being published over, say, a five year period. What indeed would it show about childrens lit, YA lit, adult lit? Right now, we do have a variety of books out there; I see your question as being, should there be more?

And, of course, there is all the urban/street/grit lit, as highlighted in the recent SLJ, which is very popular, has many titles, is addressing what you are talking about, but talk about a genre getting no respect!

Writers write what they know, and I dare say that explains why, for the most part, in mainstream publishing we see middle class/upper middle class depicted; and there has always been a read about the rich escapist literature. So one answer, for libraries and bookstores, is to not reject the small/independent presses and street lit just because of the bad words and violence.

One problem I have with some books is that its too touristy, for want of a better word. While Mary Pearson does a kick ass job with Lorelei Street, I've read others which reek of "you think being poor is cool", or somehow less money = more integrity, or it may be less money but its still a middleclass mindset, and rarely gets into the less money = they just turned off the water and what do you do now? Zarr also does an awesome job of capturing the flat out desperation of paycheck to paycheck families.

Look at the so-called Gloucester Pact teen girls. Chances are, when we see the YA book inspired by this, and we will, it will have a middle class sensability to it, regardless of the class the teens are actually in. Will that belief that having a child that young is desireable be conveyed in a YA book?

Word.
Wow.

You're eloquent when you're ticked off. This is exactly what I've wanted to say for awhile. Thanks.

Valid points, Colleen. I still think that the situation is better than it was 30 years ago (as you said), but it's true that there aren't tons of books being published about families who struggle economically. I think that a lot of this is due to what Liz said, about who is writing the books. You have to be fairly well off to be able to afford to write children's books - it certainly doesn't pay well for most people. And that makes it hard to write about being poor with much authenticity.

But I also wonder if part of this is about what kids want to read (your point about "why do kids continue to want to read them?"). If your family is clinging to middle class by their fingertips, and you constantly head your parents worrying about money, and you aren't sure how or if you'll be able to afford college, you might not want to read about that. It might be enough to live it. I'm thinking of MotherReader's book club, where a bunch of the girls weren't interested in realistic fiction that reflected their own experience. They read to escape.

I agree with you that there should be more books that reflect the true experience of kids from lower to middle income families. But I certainly don't think that you need 58% of literature to be like that. I think that if kids want to read about other lives then their own, that's their business. It would be great to provide more books that DO reflect the experiences of kids, so that the kids who want to read them can read them. But I personally don't like to tell kids what they should or shouldn't be reading, if they are finding something that engages them.

I agree quite strongly with what Liz and Jen said, specifically "You have to be fairly well off to be able to afford to write children's books." That in itself creates a vicious cycle--you write what you know, and what you know is middle- or upper-middle-class and above; and then, only the upper-middle-class (and above) kids maybe feel that writing is even a career option for them; while the less-well-off kids see it as a nice, far-off dream but a dream for someone else, something unattainable.

On the other hand, not every YA story can be Stand and Deliver or To Sir With Love, or we'll all die from saccharine poisoning. I don't think I can offer an answer other than what's already been said--more choices, more stories.

But I will add this--more stories about INDIVIDUALS and fewer stories about TYPES might help. I tend to think of a lot of series books as focusing on a type of character rather than on a fully-rounded individual; characters the reader sees as subject almost entirely to social factors rather than characters who go through their own individual struggles in very particular circumstances. I'm not sure if that made much sense, but anyway...a few thoughts.

Thanks, Colleen. You've nailed it. I agree with Jen that we may not to have a one-for-one match between Census data and published titles, but we definitely need books that go beyond a broad stereotype with predictable plots.

Another piece of this puzzle goes beyond "validating" the type based on repetition (if you see/hear/read the same thing 5 times it must be real/true ...). It's how we represent human relationships. We could do with a little less catty and judgmental and a lot more empathetic and selfless.

As others have pointed out, kids do want stories to escape, but there are different ways to escape. It doesn't always have to mean being rich, bratty, popular, or having magic powers. We can't forget the kids (like reluctant readers) are looking to CONNECT with someone, either. Which brings us back to your points!

Liz, I love your concept of "touristy" for many of the books dealing with the poor. I think of this a bit as "Little Women" syndrome - "we ate our baked potatoes for breakfast but loved each other so we were fine!" (I adore that book by the way and think it is rightfully a classic, but you get my point.)

I'm not saying that there need to be books where the economic circumstance is the whole point - Alexie's book is as much about fitting in as it is about poverty. But it should be in more of the stories than it is. I often read a book and have no idea how the characters live other than the fact that there are multiple cars, swimming pool, etc. (They are sort of like "Dick and Jane" in that regard - parents are mysterious creatures who appear on occasion and pay for everything but no one knows how.)

An example of a book that I think does a great job is "Season of Ice" by Diane les Bequets. The father goes missing (presumed lost in the lake) but because of the onset of winter they can't search the lake - so have to wait to spring. In the following months you have the protag wondering if her father left them, she also starts a romance and has to quit school to work as there is no insurance money without a confirmed death. The economic situation is surely part of it, but not all of it and I liked that alot. I liked that there was more than an emotional consequencce of her father's disappearance. (Because emotion is always only part of a parent's death.)

How often do we know how the bills get paid in these fictional worlds? (And isn't it interesting that in a classic like "Little Women" we knew all along about the financial burden of a parent being off at war.)

I see your point Jen and I agree that escapism is a key part of all reading, for every age. I guess I'm wondering why there has to be so much and why it has to be so extreme.

And I love what you say about individuals Sarah - that's the biggest reason why Alexie succeeded so much.

One writer who does this beautifully that I forgot to mention in my own post is Holly Black. Her books are not about the characters' economic situations, but they inform the characters quite directly.

Class is such an important aspect of life for everyone, no matter where you fall on the scale between wealth and poverty, and it does seem to be ignored by many writers, not just of YA literature but most kinds of literature. There seems to be more novels and stories that consider class as a concern in "mainstream" adult realism books, for some reason, perhaps because people may think it a concern for adults more than children, though it's something children are experiencing nonetheless. We have an impoverished vocabulary for understanding class and what it means and what it looks like on the ground in America, and I think this makes it an invisible aspect of our character and the way it defines our lives. I think it's difficult to write about class concerns in any kind of literature, not just YA literature, because it has more often than not been a hot button issue that no one wants to talk about, even those readers from the lower rungs of American society who don't want to be considered poor but middle class "just like everyone else".

What you say about kids from the working and lower classes needing to see examples of their lives in literature, and examples of people from their worlds making literature, being important, so that they have touchstones to know they can do this too, that it is not a practice and art or way of being and living only for people of a certain class is true. I think it's also true, that it's important for readers from the middle and upper class sectors of society to read about people whose lives are not like their own, whose lives are largely invisible (until it's time for another presidential election when the useless poverty tours begin, and are shuffled away and hidden from sight soon after). Perhaps then there will be readers who may find their way into the narratives of the lower and working classes in order to change the harder stories lived out in those realms, hopefully for the better.

So much of your comment is exactly what I was trying to say Christopher - thanks for this. It's perfect.