[ISLMA-Share] Book Suggestions

Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association islma at list.railslibraries.info
Mon Feb 6 16:17:09 CST 2017


Full disclosure: No.

However, there have been enough criticism of the racist and ableist
language and coding for me to believe that there must be some truth to the
matter.

*As discussed in the opening paragraph, much of Carve The Mark’s release
has been mired in controversy, with readers objecting to the racial coding
of the Shotet people. Whereas the Thuvhe people – coded as white – are
peace loving, loyal and loving to their families, the black coded Shotet
people are aggressive, seemingly ruled by violence, their language is
described as harsh, they engage in patricide, and force those they kidnap
into a life of brutality and slavery. Cyra’s mother is described as having
hair so curly that it traps her fingers. They are the brutes and enemies of
the other planets. To call this problematic is the least I can do. It’s
hard to overlook this coding (although clearly the publishers did), and is
made all the more uneasy when combined with the eponymous mark carvings.*
Bibliodaze review
<http://bibliodaze.com/2017/01/review-carve-the-mark-by-veronica-roth/>

*Fourth: problematic racial content. Oh yeah, I definitely see where people
are coming from, when they say that this book has some racist content. The
Shotet are portrayed as "brown skinned", aggressive, nomadic people. They
stole Thuvhe children years ago, and the Thuvhe retaliated and stole Shotet
children, but the way the story is told, the Shotet are the "villains". I
mean, given that the first chapter is about Akos's father getting brutally
murdered in front of him, I get why that would be implication. But there
are definitely underlying tones of something problematic here: the Thuvhe,
light-skinned peaceful people, and the Shotet, darker-skinned aggressive
people, are both cliches. And what's more, it seems like most of the Shotet
have very violent currentgifts, whereas the Thuvhe have more passive,
non-violent gifts (like Akos's, or his mother's, or his brother's). *

Anna Kim
School Librarian
Chappell Elementary School
akim6 at cps.edu

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men."


                   -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Follow me on Goodreads <http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3232421-anna-kim>
!


On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 4:06 PM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Have you read it? I seriously didn't pick up on any of that. They all have
> good AND evil in them. It will be a matter of what wins out in the end....
> One scene had two girls/women holding hands and one could only see where
> one begins and one ends in the slight shading of their skin. It was the
> little bit darker one that has the calming effect.
> I just don't see it. But then I see the glass half full....
>
> On Feb 6, 2017, at 3:55 PM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
> Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
> RE: Veronica Roth's *Carve the Mark*. There have been a lot of rumbling
> on social media about the racist undertones
> <http://justinaireland.com/dammit-this-is-a-blog/2016/12/4/the-continent-carve-the-mark-and-the-trope-of-the-dark-skinned-aggressor>
> in the book, specifically in the color-coding of characters
> (black=evil/savage, white=good, peaceful).
>
> Anna Kim
> School Librarian
> Chappell Elementary School
> akim6 at cps.edu
>
> "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men."
>
>
>                      -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
>
> Follow me on Goodreads
> <http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3232421-anna-kim>!
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 1:27 PM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
> Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> *islma at list.railslibraries.info <islma at list.railslibraries.info> writes:*
>> YA Dystopian literature between 2010-2016 (there are lots to choose from
>> I know) with an emphasis on female characters and technology.
>>
>> *Things that might work:*
>> All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Anders (not straight dystopian and
>> more adult than YA, but still might work)
>> Lexicon by Max Barry (more adult, but on our summer reading list)
>> Bluescreen by Dan Wells
>> Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
>> Flawed by Cecilia Ahern
>> The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh O'brien
>> Breaking Sky by Cori McCarthy
>> Starters by Lissa Price
>> Cinder/Lunar Chronicles Series by Marissa Meyer
>> Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
>> In the After by Demitria Lunetta
>> The Program by Suzanne Young
>> Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
>> The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
>> Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
>> Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
>> Reboot by Amy Tinterra
>> Delirium by Lauren Oliver
>> Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren DeStefano
>> When We Wake by Karen Healey
>> The Unidentified by Rae Mariz
>>
>>
>> **********************
>> *Kelly McGorray Roberts*
>> Head Librarian, Glenbard East High School
>> Ph: 630-424-6693 <(630)%20424-6693>
>> Tw: @roberts_reads
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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