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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Saturday Spotlight - Reading In Color

Hey guys! Welcome to another Saturday Spotlight, where I'm shining a light on a new blog that deserves some attention. Today we have a great blog that is all about multicultural YA fiction. And so as to be thematic, I've brightened up the interview with different colors. :)

Name: Ariana
Nickname: Ari/MissAttitude
Blog Name: Reading in Color
Blog URL: http://blackteensread2.blogspot.com/



Tell me a bit about yourself.
I'm a half Black, half Latina sarcastic sophomore in high school who (besides loving to read) loves dancing, listening to music, politics, hanging with friends and just having fun.

When and why did you start your blog?
I started this blog on the 4th of July (totally unintentional really, I just had nothing to do that day). I started Reading in Color to review YA multicultural fiction. I saw a serious lack of book blog reviews featuring poc (people of color) for teens and I wanted to change that. I wanted to read books about people who looked like me (AAs, Latinas) as well as spotlight books by people who were different from me and seriously underrepresented in the teen book blogging world (Asians, Native Americans).

What is your blog all about? Any cool features you want to share?
My blog is all about reviewing books about Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, African Americans, girls, guys, LGBT teens. Fiction that isn't always spotlighted.
What you won't see on my blog: an excess amount of reviews of books with white main characters (maybe a few), there's enough of those blogs out there. A cool feature I have is Male Monday. I started Male Monday because I realized that I don't really read many books about guys so I wanted to make a more deliberate effort to change that. Male Monday is when I review books about guys of color.

What are some of your favorite genres and/or books currently?
My favorite genres are historical and realistic fiction. Currently, some of my favorite books are Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith, Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, the Hoopster by Alan Lawrence Sitomer and Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos.

Do you have a review system? If you do, would you like to explain it for us?
I don't really have a review system. Just a 1-5 rating scale. In a good book I always look for no spelling/grammatical errors, good plot and setting, good characters and character development and a good beginning and ending. Humor and sarcasm always helps. :)

Any tips or advice for those starting or thinking about starting a blog?
Something I would advise new bloggers (even though my blog is barely 1 month old) is to network. Email fellow YA book bloggers or leave comments on their blogs. All the people I reached out to had very useful tips and advice. Some even added me to their blogrolls which helped me get more viewers. Best of luck to all new bloggers!

I just really, really want to stress that it's important to read books about people other than yourselves. if you don't feel comfortable reading about a book about someone totally different from yourself, start small. for example,if you're a gay Native American teen try reading about a gay Latino teen I love my fellow YA book bloggers, but I would really like to see more diversity in the books they read and review. There are some great challenges and websites out there to help get you started (Color Online, worducopia). Also if you want suggestions feel free to email me willbprez@aol.com or leave a comment on my blog.

Contest Alert!
Ari is going to be holding some fabulous contests starting today, so make sure to keep an eye out for that post on her blog!


Thank you Ari for donating some time to answer these questions! Please check out Ari's blog and leave her a comment (or 10!).

Are you a new blogger too? Or just getting back into the swing of blogging? Do you want to be featured on my blog? Shoot me an email at bittahsweetharmony@yahoo.com.

The Neverending Shelf is doing a similar type of spiel over at her website. So check it out to find out about a different blogger!

20 comments:

  1. This blog souns good! I like that she reviews about books with no white-character!

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  2. I love how she is promoting multicultural fiction--it definitely needs more lovin'.

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  3. Come pick up your award! http://lafemmereaders.blogspot.com/2009/08/top-commenters-award.html

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  4. Great spotlight. Reading in Color is a great blog. I love Male Monday.

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  5. The blog sounds great! As a teacher I'm always looking for books for all my students and to push my students to read what they don't know. I'll definately be following this one.

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  6. Ari writes great reviews and now there are loads of great books you can win--go there NOW!

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  7. Great Spotlight! Thanks again Kristen. I'm going to go check out Ari's blog now :)

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  8. I think her idea is really cool to focus on multicultural books. I will have to check out her blog.

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  9. Ooh and thanks for telling us about her contest. =]

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  10. I love Ari's blog. She's a great writer! She is also featured from time to time on the blog Color Online, and it's always a treat!

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  11. That's such a great idea! Thumbs up to you Ari!

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  12. Thanks for bringing her blog to my attention. Love it.

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  13. I am a new author and I would like to get your review of my new fantasy book. It has just been released on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.

    Synopsis: On their way home from baseball tryouts, Brad Colby and his two sons are involved in a terrible car accident that leaves six-year-old Pete in a coma. When Pete awakens, the family is crushed to learn that he is paralyzed.

    Meanwhile, Pete’s eight-year-old brother, Jason, has been having powerful dreams that lead him to a mysterious realm known as DreamWorld. Jason discovers that all of his desires can come true in DreamWorld, but the time is fast approaching when he will have to choose between his two worlds.

    And when more devastating news strikes at the heart of the Colby family, Jason and Pete set out on a desperate attempt to find the Gateway to DreamWorld and save their family. With time running out on their dangerous path, will Jason and Pete’s fear of the Unknown keep them from reaching the paradise of their dreams?
    Brenda Estacio

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  14. Heh I have been in this blog before, it's great!

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  15. Ooo, this blog looks good. I'll definitely have to check it out!

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  16. I always love finding new bloggers!

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  17. Sounds great I'm gonna have to check her blog!

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  18. I actually never gave much thought about characters etnicity, I live in a community where white people are the minority, So I always took diversity for granted.
    Thats one interesting blog!

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  19. Thanks for spotlighting Ari. I try to keep up with this girl but she is just everywhere. :-)

    For more multicultural lit, please come Color Online. We host monthly quizzes, giveaways and contests. Easy ways to win books with POC to add to your to-be-read piles.

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