Skip to content
Pragmatic Mom
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Policies
    • Media Kit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright
    • KidLit Blogroll
  • My Book Lists
    • My List of Lists
    • Multicultural Books for Children: 60+ Book Lists
    • #OwnVoices
    • Summer Reading Lists for Middle School Kids
    • Asian American Children’s Books
    • African American Children’s Books
    • Arab American Children’s Books
    • Latinx American Children’s Books
    • Native American Children’s Books
    • LGBTQIA+ Children’s Books
    • Diverse Books for Kids
    • Best Books for Kids
  • Education
    • STEM/STEAM
    • Math
    • Social Studies
    • Art Projects for Kids
    • Applying to Art School
    • Applying to College
    • Book Club for Kids
    • 70+ Free Educational Games
  • Controversial
    • Sexual Misconduct in Children’s Book Publishing #MeToo #TimesUp
    • Rethinking & Examining Dr. Seuss’ Racism
    • Blood Feud over YA #BloodHeir
    • Tulsa Race Massacre: What They Don’t Teach You in History Books
    • The Chinese Exclusion Act – What They Don’t Teach in History Books
    • Segregation in California Schools: What They Don’t Teach in History Books
    • SCBWI Minnesota Racist Illustration and Gaslighting Response
  • My Books
    • My Book Announcements
    • Origami French Fries: Activity for THE TRAVELING TACO
    • Book Announcement: A Place to Call Home! {and a new title …}
    • FOOD FOR THE FUTURE makes Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction!
    • Cover Reveal of my latest picture book … FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!
    • Picture Book Announcement! BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
    • We Sing From the Heart gets a few stickers!
    • Book Announcement! Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist
    • Kirkus Reviews My Newest Picture Book: THE TRAVELING TACO
    • We Sing From the Heart is a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner!
    • We Sing From the Heart gets a few stickers!
    • WE SING FROM THE HEART wins California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
    • WE SING FROM THE HEART is Orbis Pictus Recommended Book
    • WE SING FROM THE HEART is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
    • Dorktales Podcast: Simon Tam, Hidden Hero of History
    • Food for the Future Wins Nautilus Silver Book Award
    • Food for the Future makes Mass Book Award Long List!
    • FOOD FOR THE FUTURE Makes Green Earth Book Award Long List!
    • Food for the Future is a finalist for 2023 INDIES Book of the Year!
    • New! Food for the Future Activity and Discussion Guide!
    • FOOD FOR THE FUTURE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!
    • ‘Food for the Future’ selected for Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best books
    • Scholastic Purchased CHANGING THE GAME!
    • Starred Review for FOOD FOR THE FUTURE from School Library Journal!
    • Sumo Joe makes Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list!
    • How To Coach Girls wins Silver Award!
    • Posts on My Books
  • My Book Events
    • My Book Events
    • I’m Signing Books at ALA 2025 in Philly!
Menu
We Need Diverse Books

Joseph Bruchac YA GIVEAWAY

Posted on April 30, 2014May 17, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

Have you been following the brouhaha on Twitter: #WeNeedDiverseBooks ?

This is what went down:

“Last week, BookCon announced their event’s lineup of blockbuster kid lit panelists. Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, Rick Riordan, and Lemony Snicket, four white men, will be starring as luminaries in the field for this event.

Even the invited panelists have begun raising important questions, as Rick Riordan tweeted the following:

from BookRiot

Not surprisingly, there were many angry posts about this:

Blindingly White: BookCon, John Green, and Knowing When It’s Time to Speak Up

Readers Deserve Better Than BookCon

 

And BookCon responded but not in a satisfactory way despite a backlash of negative publicity:

A Close Reading of BookCon’s Statement

 

“Recently, there’s been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children’s literature. The issue is being picked up by news outlets like these two pieces in the NYT, CNN, EW, and many more. But while we individually care about diversity, there is still a disconnect. BEA’s Bookcon recently announced an all-white-male panel of “luminaries of children’s literature,” and when we pointed out the lack of diversity, nothing changed.” From Vamos y Leer
With your help, we can get the word out to the publishing industry.

 

Here’s how you can participate

On May 1st at 1pm (EST), there will be a public call for action that will spread over 3 days. We’re starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral.

For the visual part of the campaign:

  • Take a photo holding a sign that says “We need diverse books because ___________________________.” Fill in the blank with an important, poignant, funny, and/or personal reason why this campaign is important to you.
  • The photo can be of you or a friend or anyone who wants to support diversity in kids’ lit. It can be a photo of the sign without you if you would prefer not to be in a picture. Be as creative as you want! Pose the sign with your favorite stuffed animal or at your favorite library. Get a bunch of friends to hold a bunch of signs.
  • However you want to do it, we want to share it! There will be a Tumblr page that will host all of the photos and messages for the campaign. Please submit your visual component by May 1st to weneeddiversebooks@yahoo.com with the subject line “photo” or submit it right on our Tumblr page here and it will be posted throughout the first day.
  • Starting at 1:00PM (EST) the Tumblr will start posting and it will be your job to reblog, tweet, Facebook, or share wherever you think will help get the word out.
  • The intent is that from 1pm EST to 3pm EST, there will be a nonstop hashtag party to spread the word. We hope that we’ll get enough people to participate to make the hashtag trend and grab the notice of more media outlets.
  • The Tumblr will continue to be active throughout the length of the campaign, and for however long we need to keep this discussion going, so we welcome everyone to keep emailing or sending in submissions even after May 1st.

 

On May 2nd, the second part of our campaign will roll out with a Twitter chat scheduled for 2pm (EST) using the same hashtag. Please use #WeNeedDiverseBooks at 2pm on May 2nd and share your thoughts on the issues with diversity in literature and why diversity matters to you.

 

On May 3rd, 2pm (EST), the third portion of our campaign will begin. There will be a Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to put their money where their mouth is and buy diverse books and take photos of them. Diversify Your Shelves is all about actively seeking out diverse literature in bookstores and libraries, and there will be some fantastic giveaways for people who participate in the campaign! More details to come!

I hope that you will take part in this in any way you can. We need to spread the word far and wide so that it will trend on Twitter. So that media outlets will pick it up as a news item. So that the organizers of BEA and every big conference and festival out there gets the message that diversity is important to everyone. We hope you will help us by being a part of this movement.

Joseph Bruchac YA GIVEAWAY

Colby Sharp of the Nerdy Book Club inspired me to purchase two copies of a beloved diversity book from an independent bookshop and do a giveaway. I choose Joseph Bruchac’s latest dystopian action-adventure page-turner, Killer of Enemies. I’m reading it now and it should be on the short list for a Printz award! If your child likes dystopian action adventure with a strong girl heroine like The Hunger Games, then please give his young adult thriller a try!

Joseph Bruchac is on MY shortlist for children’s and YA authors who deserve to be famous but probably aren’t because they are people of color. He’s written more than 120 books for kids and adults across a wide range of genres from picture books to easy chapter books to YA. And all are excellent. Why isn’t he more well known?

Please enter to win! I’ll be selecting two winners!

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

Years ago, seventeen-year-old Apache hunter Lozen and her family lived in a world of haves and have-nots. There were the Ones—people so augmented with technology and genetic enhancements that they were barely human—and there was everyone else who served them. Then the Cloud came, and everything changed. Tech stopped working. The world plunged back into a new steam age. The Ones’ pets—genetically engineered monsters—turned on them and are now loose in the world. Lozen was not one of the lucky ones pre-C, but fate has given her a unique set of survival skills and magical abilities.

She hunts monsters for the Ones who survived the apocalyptic events of the Cloud, which ensures the safety of her kidnapped family. But with every monster she takes down, Lozen’s powers grow, and she connects those powers to an ancient legend of her people. It soon becomes clear to Lozen that she is not just a hired gun. As the legendary Killer of Enemies was in the ancient days of the Apache people, Lozen is meant to be a more than a hunter. Lozen is meant to be a hero.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We Need Diverse Books

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.

 

My books:

We Sing From the Heart picture book cover reveal of The Slants Simon Tam

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Cover Reveal: Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime!Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

  • Junior Library Guild Gold selection
  • Massachusetts Book Award Long List
  • Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
  • Starred review from School Library Journal
  • Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
  • 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
  • Green Earth Book Award Long List
  • Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

cover for Sumo JoeChanging the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes by Mia WenjenAmazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me

The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship: An Insider’s Guide

How To Coach Girls by Mia Wenjen and Alison FoleyAsian Pacific American Heroes

12 thoughts on “Joseph Bruchac YA GIVEAWAY”

  1. Barbara Mojica says:
    April 30, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    Glad to do my part…

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 1, 2014 at 7:50 am

      Hi Barbara,
      Will meet you at 2pm today then on Twitter! Looking forward to it!

      Reply
  2. David Ryan says:
    May 1, 2014 at 12:44 am

    Well, sign me up. I’m all for diversity in books.

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 1, 2014 at 7:51 am

      Yay David! See you today at 2pm EST on Twitter. Use #WeNeedDiverseBooks to find the party!

      Reply
  3. Ann says:
    May 1, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Great project! We do need diverse books!!! I will help promote this and looking forward to day three!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 1, 2014 at 8:11 pm

      Hi Ann,
      Thanks so much for your support!!

      Reply
  4. Maria Gianferrari says:
    May 1, 2014 at 12:33 pm

    Go, Mia!! I love this campaign. It is so important, and I love the grass roots angle.Is there any way to participate if you don’t have twitter, tumblr (or a cell phone)?

    This is one of my favorite campaign photos: nicolayoon.tumblr.com/post/84429892196/theres-a-social-media-campaign-going-on-right-now

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 1, 2014 at 8:11 pm

      Hi Maria,
      One way would be to leave blog post comments on Book Riot’s posts.

      Reply
  5. Esperanza Gailliard says:
    May 2, 2014 at 5:01 am

    Harriet Jacobs wrote the book Incidents In The Life of A Slave Girl. We read this book in our homeschool last year. I could barely put the book down. I absolutely loved this book!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 5, 2014 at 9:32 am

      Hi Esperanza,
      Thank you for your wonderful book recommendation! Adding it to my list!!!

      Reply
  6. Deceptively Educational says:
    May 11, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    Thanks for raising awareness and putting out the call to action. I’m glad you shared this the After School Linky!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      May 14, 2014 at 5:05 pm

      Hi Deceptively Educational,
      It’s a cause dear to my heart! I’m happy to support it because getting more diverse books into the hands of kids can change lives forever!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Looking for something? Search here.

I’m Mia Wenjen!

Mia Wenjen Pragmatic Mom

Hi, I’m Mia Wenjen. Nice to meet you!

I blog excessively about diverse children’s books (picture books through middle grade). I am also the co-founder of Read Your World Celebrates Multicultural Children’s Book Day on Jan 25, 2024, our 11th year!

I’d love to chat with you. Let’s connect! PragmaticMomBlog (at) gmail (dot) com or through my social media handles.

Free Blog Updates in your Inbox (RSS feed)

Monthly Newsletter with Subscriber Only Giveaways in your Inbox

My Linktree (click for my links & socials)

my linktree

My Websites

  • How To Coach Girls
  • I Love Newton
  • Mia Wenjen (My New Author Website)

Camp Cody: Overnight Camp in New Hampshire

Read Your World LGBTQIA+ Books Save Lives Merch!

https://www.pragmaticmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Read-Your-World-FINAL-Merchandise-Video.mp4

Purchase Read Your World Merch

LGBTQIA+ Books Save Lives Merch.

Buy it here!

Search Amazon

Find Children's Books

Newton Children’s Book Festival 2025

Newton Children's Book Festival 2025

Get My Books Signed or Inscribed through my shop (click to purchase)

Mia Wenjen signed books

Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime! (click to purchase)

Cover Reveal: Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime!

We Sing From the Heart (click to pre-order)

We Sing From the Heart picture book cover reveal of The Slants Simon Tam

FOOD FOR THE FUTURE (click to purchase)

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng

CHANGING THE GAME (click to purchase)

Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes by Mia Wenjen

SUMO JOE (click to purchase)

Sumo Joe cover reveal

Asian Pacific American Heroes (click to purchase)

Asian Pacific American Heroes by Mia Wenjen

GNOMES & UNGNOMES: Poems of Hidden Creatures // I have 3 haiku poems (click to purchase)

GNOMES & UNGNOMES: Poems of Hidden Creatures 3 haiku by Mia Wenjen
Read Your World is Multicultural Children's Book Day

ClothingRIC- A Premium Coupon Website!

ThingsFromMars- The Wondrous World of Wacky Gift Products!

How to Get Kids Reading

  • Multicultural Books for Children: 60+ Book Lists
  • Getting Kids to Love Reading
  • Summer Reading Lists for Kids By Grade
  • Summer Reading Lists for Middle School Kids

Heim Nest Kid Mattress Exclusive Deal

Heim Nest Kid Mattress

AdvancedWriters.com is an expert writing service which helps students with academic writing.

educational toys

CEX.IO is a versatile crypto exchange platform where users can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies, as well as access resources and tools to learn how to trade effectively.

MyPaperDone.com
is surely one of the best when it comes to paper writing assistance.

My Custom Essay
will guide you through academic life.

Essay Writing Services

If you ask "write my essay", Topessaywriting can help you with paper writing

TranslationReport can help you to choose the best translation service

If you are looking for the most trusted essay writing service, check this article about best essay writing service reviews at Econotimes

educational toys from dhgate stores

Assignment Writing Services Offer Assignment Assistance In UK Based Company 50% Discount Students

Playing at online casinos can be an exciting and rewarding experience, and you can find the best options at casinoszondercruksonline.com. 

For those seeking a safe and reputable gambling experience, the Meest betrouwbare buitenlandse casino lijst is an invaluable resource.

Archives

Categories

The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship (click to purchase)

The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship: An Insider’s Guide

HOW TO COACH GIRLS (click to purchase)

How To Coach Girls silver award winner

Archives

I’ll be sharing WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED MY KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

HOW TO COACH GIRLS book trailer by Mia Wenjen & Alison Foley

https://youtu.be/j74M0bBxrGg

Recent Posts

  • Sumo Joe turns 6 Years Old and 6 book GIVEAWAY! June 11, 2025
  • 7 Interfaith Picture Books & GIVEAWAY! June 9, 2025
  • Read Your World Summer Flash Sale! June 6, 2025
  • I’m Signing Books at ALA 2025 in Philly! June 4, 2025
  • Food for the Future: Half Moon Miracle in the Sahal June 2, 2025

Categories

© 2025 Pragmatic Mom | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT