can you hear me?

It’s hard to write when you’re unsure of your audience. Who needs to know about the representation of blacks in Canadian children’s literature? If I write a traditional scholarly paper and submit it to an academic journal, it’ll be read by a handful of people. If I post an informal essay on my blog, then anyone who searches online for Canadian children’s literature will be able to find this data. But how do I reach the powers that be and/or the general public in Canada?

• My examination of middle grade and young adult novels by or about blacks published in Canada since 2000 reveals a curious preoccupation with slavery.  Of the 26 novels I was able to find, 9 are written by black authors and 17 by white authors; 3 of the 9 black-authored novels are on the subject of slavery; 2 are set in contemporary Africa, and 3 are set in the Caribbean (2 are contemporary, 1 is historical).  Only 1 novel is set in contemporary Canada, and judging from the cover, it is unclear whether this black-authored book features a black protagonist (I Have Been in Danger by Cheryl Foggo; 2001).

1. I Have Been in Danger by Cheryl Foggo (Coteau Books, 2001; MG)
2. Mella and the N’anga: An African Tale by Gail Nyoka. (Sumach Press, 2005; Grades 3-7 / Ages 8-12)
3. Letters to My Mother by Teresa Cárdenas (Groundwood, 2006; YA)
4. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic Canada, 2007; Ages 9-12)
5. Old Dog/Perro Viejo by Teresa Cárdenas (Groundwood, 2007; YA)
6. Blue Mountain Trouble by Martin Mordecai (Scholastic Canada, 2009; Grades 5-7 / Ages 10-12)
7. My Name is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom by Afua Cooper (Kid Can Press, 2009; Grades 5-9 / Ages 10-14)
8. My Name Is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom by Afua Cooper (Kid Can Press, 2009; Grades: 5 to 9/ Ages: 10 to 14)
9. Between Sisters by Adwoa Badoe (Groundwood, 2010; 14 and up)

• Of the 17 novels written by whites, 10 are historical novels set in the era of slavery (ETA: 1 novel is set in 1960); 6 are set in Africa (5 contemporary, 1 historical), and one contemporary novel (Jakeman by Deborah Ellis; 2007) is set in the United States.

1. If I Just Had Two Wings by Virginia Frances Schwartz (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001; 9-12)
2. Our Canadian Girl: Rachel #1 A MIGHTY BIG IMAGINING by Lynn Kositsky (Penguin Group Canada, 2001; 8-12 years)
3. Our Canadian Girl: Rachel #2: The Maybe House by Lynn Kositsky (Penguin Group Canada, 2002; 8-12 years)
4. Our Canadian Girl: Rachel #3 Certificate of Freedom by Lynn Kositsky (Penguin Group Canada, 2003; 8-12 years)
5. Secrets in the Fire by Henning Mankell; illustrated by Annie Connie Stuksrud (Annick, 2003; Age 11+)
6. Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton (Annick, 2004; Grade 9+)
7. The Heaven Shop by Deborah Ellis (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004; ages 12+)
8. Our Canadian Girl: Rachel #4 An Elephant Tree Christmas by Lynn Kositsky (Penguin Group Canada, 2004; 8-12 years)
9. The Freedom of Jenny by Julie Burtinshaw (Raincoast Books, 2005; Grades 6-9))
10. Send One Angel Down by Virginia Frances Schwartz (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2005; MG)
11. Last Days in Africville by Dorothy Perkyns (Dundurn Press, 2006; MG)
12. Jakeman by Deborah Ellis (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2007; MG)
13. Rise of the Golden Cobra by Henry T. Aubin, illustrated by Stephen M. Taylor (Annick, 2007; Age 11+)
14. A Desperate Road to Freedom: The Underground Railroad Diary of Julia May Jackson. (Dear Canada) by Karleen Bradford (Scholastic Canada, 2009; Grades 4-8 / Ages 9-13)
15. Broken Memory: A Novel of Rwanda by Élisabeth Combres. Translated by Shelley Tanaka (Groundwood/House of Anansi, 2009; Grades 5-8 / Ages 10-13)
16. Shadow of the Leopard by Henning Mankell (Annick, 2009; Age 14+)
17. Crossing to Freedom by Virginia Frances Schwartz (Scholastic Canada, 2009; Ages 9-12)

What does this tell us about the way black children figure in the (white) Canadian imagination?  In these 17 novels, black youth appear as fugitive and/or former slaves or as impoverished Africans grappling with violence and disease.  Why is it so difficult for authors of any race to situate black teens in contemporary Canada, and what effect does this erasure have on young readers? Are such manuscripts being rejected by Canadian publishers in favor of stories set in more “exotic” locales, or do they not even exist? What could explain this silence from writers in the black Canadian community? In the US, women writers are responsible for the majority of black-authored MG/YA novels. It’s hard for me to name any contemporary black female authors in Canada—there’s no Canadian equivalent of Edwidge Danticat or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Zadie Smith (novelists under 40). So perhaps the lack of MG/YA novels has something to do with the larger absence of black women from the Canadian literary scene…