Diverse Literacy Resources

Book Order Diversity

When we talk about diverse literacy resources, we are talking about many things. But there are still some things we aren't talking about. We talk of genre -- action, adventure, humour, mystery, historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy. We talk of different kinds of texts, like books, magazines and periodicals, graphic novels and comic books, joke books and even bathroom readers with factual information delivered in small manageable chunks. We can talk about e-books and apps and blogs and tweets.

Within all this, we can diversify into special education, and talk about materials that consider autism, downs syndrome and physical ailments like that of Meg in Jean Little's "Mine for Keeps". We can talk about the blind protagonist in the novel "Light a Single Candle."

We can talk about materials diverse in different cultural or religious backgrounds. We can ensure that First Nations people and Native Americans are represented. We can talk about any ethnic cultures we want; Arabic, African American, Somalian, German and Caucasian. Diverse resources we can talk about might consider a variety of family dynamics that include nuclear families, extended families or single parent families.

But when we talk about diverse literacy resources, there are some things we can't talk about. We can't talk about texts that reflects my neighbour's experience. At eleven years old, her father announced he was transgendered and had been dressing in lingerie for years. And by the way, he was having a sex change and would no longer be her father. School became a horrendous environment for her to navigate -- and the solution that was decided on was not to talk about it. Nor could she read about other children who shared similar experiences. It was interesting to hear that she wasn't reading much after that. Co-incedence or not?

We can't talk about texts with inclusion -- I mean seamless inclusion of differing abilities because when we talk diverse texts we tend to talk about texts that centre and revolve around the protagonist's dis/ability. Do we know that we tend to diversify through magnification? Are we talking about it? Are there authors who seamlessly weave diverse students among the pages?-- A protagonist passing by a boy with a blue backpack, and girl patting her guide dog or walking into the office where Ms. Lark and Ms. Tailor are having a meeting with the principal to discuss the placement of their daughter?

When we talk about diverse literacy resources, are we talking about the book order diversity that reflects only that which is saleable and safe and passes the censors so that the texts and materials can appear in the book orders? The same book orders that so many schools use to raise funds? Is book order diversity actually diversity? Can we talk about diverse literacy resources that reflect our students, and not necessarily our own views of the world?  Book order diversity just isn't that diverse.