Quantity and Quality: The Need for Culturally Authentic Trade Books in Asian American Young Adult Literature

I walked into Borders bookstore to buy a birthday present for a friend of mine who is also a public school teacher. I wanted to purchase some Asian American children's trade books for her classroom library. To my dismay, this huge bookseller was limited in its supply of books representing the Asian American experience. Outside of the recent Newberyaward winner, Kim-Kira (Kadohata, 2004), Asian American children's literature was not visible or easily available. I scoured the shelves before soliciting help from a salesperson who pointed out a handful of folktales and a couple of books about the internment of Japanese Americans. There were an even smaller number of books representing the contemporary experiences of Asian Americans. Adding insult to injury, the salesperson shared with me how much she loved The Five Chinese Brothers (Bishop & Wiese, 1938), a book that many consider to be an affront to Asian Americans and which has been deemed by scholars to be racist and inauthentic (Cai 1994).

This incident clearly illustrates an important point about Asian American trade books today. In spite of the fact that there are more than 12 million Asian Americans in this country, only a small percentage of the children's trade books published focus on this group. For example, Lee (n.d.) of Lee & Low Books stated that only 1.5% of all children's books published in 1997 were about Asians and/or Asian Americans and Bucher & Manning (2006) reported that out of 5000 books published in the year 2002, only 91 were by and about Asian Americans (39). The lack of books focusing on this group presents particular disadvantages in the classroom setting. Because few titles exist, children gain little exposure to Asian Americans from the books they read in their classrooms. In addition, teachers may lack awareness of whether or not Asian Americans are portrayed accurately in the books they choose. As a result, students may be denied the opportunity to see into this culture through books; thus, they are denied windows into other cultures. Furthermore, children who are themselves Asian American are denied the opportunity to see themselves mirrored in books.

Lost in the Literature: A Paucity in the Classroom of YAL by, for and about Asian Americans

Research tells us that using multicultural children's literature is effective and beneficial (Banks, 2003; Cai, 2002; Bishop, 1992; Lindgren, 1992). Such literature can play an important role in classroom instruction. It provides reading materials and serves as springboards for critical thinking. These trade books supply students with images, ideas and models. In the absence of, or preferably in conjunction with, real-life role models, books can be a powerful tool for promoting cultural understanding. Cai (2002) suggests that multicultural literature is a means of achieving the goals of "diversity and equity in education" (13). He suggests that reading about diverse perspectives enhances multicultural awareness which enables us to recognize things like power and privilege, which may otherwise be invisible to some people. Bishop (1994) contends that multicultural literature is a "vehicle for socialization and change" (43). Scholars and researchers advocate for multicultural children's trade books; but, questions remain about the extent to which teachers are actively selecting and using these books in their classroom practice.

We know that students disengage from education when they see little congruence between home and school (Montecinos, 1994). We also know that teachers play a powerful role in shaping the learning environment, which includes the selection and employment of trade books. Bishop (1992) states, ". . .

the book choices teachers and others make have potential consequences for children. If literature is a mirror that reflects human life, then all children who read or are read to need to see themselves reflected as part of humanity. If they are not, or if their reflections are distorted and ridiculous, there is the danger that they will absorb negative messages about themselves and people like them" (43). In spite of such research supporting a multicultural approach-an approach that nurtures and favors the representation of heritage languages and cultures-many classroom teachers continue to teach from a one dimensional perspective, inadvertently overlooking the voices of marginalized groups and/or people of color.

There appears to be a disconnect between what we know and what we practice in the classrooms in terms of multicultural children's literature. We know that pedagogy based on mainstream American values "will, of course, continue to privilege those who feel most at home in the classroom" (Finders 1997 119). According to Heath (1983), common classroom practices support white, middle-class values; as a result, students who do not fit this mold often feel disconnected. In order to better serve our students, we need to bridge what we know with what we do in the classrooms. One solution could be to select and employ high-quality, authentic literature, especially multicultural children's literature. All students will benefit from learning about multiple perspectives. Practitioners have a great deal of power in regard to the selection and use of multicultural literature.