Bunches of Updates

This seems a good point to take a look at some of the further coverage of the Scholastic saga and their request that author Lauren Myracle change the lesbian moms of one character into a mom and a dad. The company will now carry the book (with moms) in its middle school book fairs, though not its elementary school ones.

• Change.org, who led the charge against Scholastic with an online petition and several talks with Scholastic executives, brought us the good news that Scholastic changed its initial decision not to carry the book in any of its book fairs.
• School Library Journal, which first broke the story, also gave us an update after the company reversed its decision.
• Brett Berk, aka “The Gay Uncle,” interviewed Myracle for Momlogic. She told Berk:
  

  The whole point was to have a cast of main characters that reflect the diversity of today’s elementary schools. The moms’ lesbianism is incidental. It’s not a plot point or the source of some big lesson in the book. Just like there’s a half Asian girl, an African-American girl who lives just with her dad, and a Muslim girl who wears a headscarf, there’s a girl with two moms.

  Note: The main characters are in elementary school. As Berk said, “Anyone with even an iota of expertise in how kids work (like, perhaps, one of the biggest youth publishing and distribution companies in the world) knows that the last thing a 6th to 8th grader wants to be associated with is anything having to do with 5th grade. Duh!”

• Lesbian mom Liza, who is the co-chair of her school’s Scholastic Book Fair, wrote of her disappointment in the company, and did a separate piece that got picked up by Kansas.com.
• The uproar even caught the attention of Conan O’Brien, who gives it a mention at about the 4:20 mark in this episode.
• The news also made it across the pond, where the U.K.’s Daily Prophet Guardian covered it.
• Last, but far from least, Myracle gives us an update at her own blog. She writes:
  

  Scholastic is going to include Luv Ya Bunches in its middle school book fairs! And Milla’s two moms have been invited, too! They will be there chatting about books and giving kids cupcakes, and it will be a big happy party. As for Milla, she is so proud. She just can’t stop smiling. I mean, imagine being a kid with same-sex parents and going to a book fair and not finding one single book that reflects the kind of family you have. It would be lonely-making, yeah? But Milla, she’ll see herself now. AND Mom Joyce AND Mom Abigail. And her other buds will see her family, too, and they’ll be like, “Oh, yeah, cool. Now pass me a cupcake, sister.”

  She also thanks her publisher, Abrams, for all the support they have shown her and her work.

  As it happens, last spring I interviewed another Abrams author, Erica Perl, about her book Chicken Butt!, which was illustrated by none other than Henry Cole, who also did the drawings for And Tango Makes Three and The Sissy Duckling, both beloved of LGBT parents and their children. Small world. I also did a few short reviews of other new, non-LGBT Abrams books for kids: one, two, and three. Let’s support the publishers who support inclusion!

I’ve had a few people ask what they should now do when the Scholastic Book Fair comes to their schools. My sense is that boycotting would have limited effect. The Fairs are just too huge. Also, Scholastic has made a move in the right direction, even if they have not yet included the book in elementary school fairs. The last thing I would wish is to annoy them so much that they decide not to carry Myracle’s book at all. That would not be fair to her—and this is her livelihood we’re talking about here.

At the same, time, I think we can keep the pressure on and engage them by asking the Fair reps if they are carrying Myracle’s book and/or any others with LGBT families and characters. If not, ask if they can provide those requests as feedback to Scholastic, or contact the company yourself. Tell all your friends, LGBT and not, to ask, too.

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