A Blog on Searching for Blogs!

Since I have spent the last 4 hours looking for information about Teaching Minorities using YA Lit. and have been very unsuccessful I thought it might be a good time to write about it. It is interesting in these times of revamping the educational practices a dictated by NCLB and with the pushes in American Public Schools to close the achievement gap between students of different ethnic backgrounds that there would be more information devoted to my chosen topic. While I won't give up the search it is interesting that finding good sources has become analogous to finding good literature that is not only relevant to young adult ethnic minorities, but also interesting and focused on them.
I have gone to large bookstores and perused the YA shelves for books that were written by minority writers for a minority audience. While, I think they were there, somewhere, they weren't in anyway highlighted to be found easily by the novice YA Lit. reader like myself. Why is this? Why aren't these texts available? Why aren't they easy to pick out? Were they in other parts of the store? If they were why weren't they with all of the other YA texts? If I was having such trouble let's consider the young adult reader. Does this person just say, "I'll just read this..." and move on? The YA texts on the shelves were categorized largely in two categories, Fiction and Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Now where do I find YA texts that are for a particular ethnic group? Should I be? Should fiction be for a particular group or should young adults cease to separate themselves and be open to all the of the stories of their peers? Is it really necessary that a Hispanic male read stories containing a Hispanic protagonists?
I think that the answer is obvious but I don't think that the current way that these texts are or are not displayed is loyal to the feeling that all readers need to read stories that contain characters that are similar to them. What does a young Black female read? Or what about the Chinese boy? Where are the stories about them?

On Preparing Teachers with Knowledge of the Literature of Minorities

1972 NCTE Annual
Business Meeting
in
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Background Activities of recent years
have indicated growing awareness among English teachers that
a study of American literature must include the literature of racial and ethnic minorities of America. Teachers have revised courses to reflect this belief; the National Council of Teachers of English itself has adopted a policy refusing to advertise as "American" literature any anthology which does not include the literature of American minorities.
Even greater emphasis can be given to this concern by having it
reflected on nationally used standardized tests of literature. Be it therefore Resolution Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English express to the major testing services its
continuing belief that questions about American literature should require the examinees to demonstrate knowledge of the literature of racial and ethnic minorities in America.

http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/lit/107431.htm NCTE Resolution (1972)

So, this is my dilemma. Finding the texts, finding the sources for info has become my Jones-ian quest. I won't wear the hat....and I will be staying away from whips, but the quest is in front of me nonetheless. So come with me and let's dive into the
pool of YA Lit and find where teachers are to get the texts necessary to appeal
to all of their students that will entice and create a thirst for reading that
will enlighten their lives.

I step down from my soap box for now.