Introducing our End-of-Year Retrospective series

So. Let’s face it. We kinda missed a lot this year. Life happens. And these days, the children’s literature news cycle has the shelf life of egg salad (which is still better than the latke shelf life of national political news).

But a lot happened this year, and it’s worth re-visiting some of it. Both because it’s worth it to analyze things, even late, and also, because it’s worth it to identify patterns that repeat themselves over and over.

Over the next two months, we’ll be exploring, analyzing, and discussing various 2018 headlines (and non-headlines). From TEDx Talks to CCBC stats, from reviews we missed to discussions about shame, we’ll cover a wide range of topics. We can’t and won’t hit every single thing we missed; rather, we’ll try to combat the frenetic pace of the news by recognizing patterns of thought and behavior, which sometimes get lost in moment-to-moment conversations.

Stay tuned; our first post will be this upcoming Monday (December 10). This post will be edited to compile links to the series as we post. We look forward to engaging--and re-engaging--with you on some of the happenings of 2018.

-Allie Jane Bruce and the Reading While White team

POSTS IN THIS SERIES

PART I: A Response to “Artists Mustn’t Fear the Social Media Call-Out Culture”, a TEDx Talk by Nora Raleigh Baskin by Allie Jane Bruce

PART II: False Victimization and White Aggression: David Lubar’s Public Facebook Discussion Following Baskin’s 2018 TEDxTalk by Guest Blogger Sarah Hamburg

Not recommended: It's Springtime, Mr. Squirrel! by Elisa Gall

The Benefits & Limits of Diversity Audits by Jenna Friebel

What To Look For In Data About Diversity In Publishing? by Guest Blogger Amy Koester

What About Shame? by Nina Lindsay