OwnVoices and Asian Identities Represented in Young Adult Fiction

Authors

  • Abigail Lance Simmons University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2022.1104

Keywords:

Asian, teen, ownvoices, author, young adult

Abstract

            The term OwnVoices has been used since 2015 by librarians, publishers, and others to indicate that a book’s protagonist and its author share a marginalized identity. However, conversations about who can or should write literature with diverse subjects are not new. The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of OwnVoices through an analysis of young adult books published in 2018 and 2019. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center provided data about the books for young people published within the time frame. Books by authors and/or about characters described by the CCBC as Asian were analyzed in greater detail. In all 247 books were of interest, which included those that had an Asian author, an Asian protagonist, or both. This analysis seeks to use descriptive statistics to better understand the OwnVoices label.

Downloads

Published

2022-10-20

Issue

Section

Works in Progress Posters