Baltimore BookFest #WeNeedDiverseBooks Panel Recap

Last week I volunteered to live tweet the We Need Diverse Books panel at the Baltimore Book Festival last Friday. I’m a huge supporter of the campaign as the topic is so important for my family–and for you, my readers. As you recall, I had the honor of representing the campaign at the Bloganthropy Awards this summer. I haven’t been to this festival in a few years because it usually coincided with the National Book Festival. This year the Bmore Book Fest was moved to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and the weather was gah-geous! I thought it was a great location for the festivities.

The Baltimore Book Festival truly has a festival feel. There’s a bunch of booksellers, talks and panels on diverse topics, food tents (turkey leg, anyone?), food demos, and plenty of kid friendly activities. Not to mention people selling wine, beer, cocktails, and coffee. You an easily spend an entire day there.

(LtR) Ellen Oh, Karen Sandler, Caroline Richmond, Justina Ireland

I had briefly met Ellen Oh at Book Expo America but she was mobbed. I hope she doesn’t think I’m stalking her. I just love the We Need Diverse Books movement and want to help as much as I’m able. On the panel were:

• Ellen Oh, President of WNDB and author of The Prophecy series
• Karen Sandler, Facebook Manager of WNDB and author The Tankborn Trilogy
• Caroline Richmond, author of The Only Thing to Fear (which just released this week!)
• Justina Ireland, author of Promise of Shadows and Vengeance Bound

It was a great discussion and my thumbs couldn’t tweet fast enough to catch all the tidbits! I’ll try to put together a Storify about the panel once the kids are in bed tonight. In the meantime, you can do a twitter search with both the #WeNeedDiverseBooks #BBF2014 hashtags.

I found myself nodding at everything the panelists said. I grew up with a lack of diverse books and I’m doing my darndest to make sure my kids have access to diverse books. But not everyone is in an environment where that is possible or they don’t know where to find diverse books or understand why their community needs them.

I was also thrilled to learn about Caroline Richmond’s new YA novel The Only Thing to Fear who has a biracial protagonist. She said she wanted to write books that her daughter (who is biracial) could identify with. Even though her daughter is only 7 months old, I’m glad that authors like Caroline are realizing the need for books featuring biracial characters. I can’t to read it and pass it along to Sophia when she’s old enough!

I had to my selfie with Ellen Oh because my friend Pam of The Unconventional Librarian requested it. So happy now, PammyPam?

Have you read any of these authors’ books? I’m not usually a YA reader, but I’m going to get a copy of Caroline Richmond’s book.