138 librarians and booksellers responded to my unscientific but informative poll last week, and here are the results:
25% said, "A Kid/YA book with a brown, black, or Asian face on the cover is RARELY bought or borrowed by white kids unless I push it."Discouraging at first glance, isn't it? No wonder people with an eye on the bottom line are tempted to whitewash. But after listening to the conversation, I have several theories, further questions (i.e, do we need fewer or more faces on covers?), and ideas I'll share tomorrow. For now I invite you to leave your thoughts and reactions in the comments.
37% said, "A Kid/YA book with a brown, black, or Asian face on the cover is SOMETIMES bought or borrowed by white kids unless I push it."
38% said, "A Kid/YA book with a brown, black, or Asian face on the cover circulates or sells THE SAME as other books, depending on buzz and reviews."