Book of a Thousand Days and writing outside my culture

In 2004 I started writing a book that would become BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS. For some time I'd wanted to reimagine the Grimms Brothers fairy tale "Maid Maleen" but had every intention of creating a fantasy world like others I'd written before: inspired by a kind of old Northern Europe, like the lands of the fairy tales I adapted and that of my ancestors. I was afraid of cultural appropriation, careful not to march into someone else's culture and try to colonize it with my own stories. While I loved reading books that weren't all just white people, I felt that, as a white person, it wasn't my place to tell stories that took advantage of other cultures. I would stick to places and cultures to which I had a direct inheritance.

But when I was working on BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS, my parents moved to Mongolia for two years. As I researched the land and the history, the story I'd begun and the Mongolian landscape and history slid together so perfectly, I couldn't bear not to let the story be what it wanted to be. I got over my fear, tried to come from an open place of love and respect, and wrote the story.

The original cover was a photograph of a headless girl (as was all the rage in those years--Female Torsos 4EVAH) so you couldn't see from the jacket that the main character (and all the characters in the book) looked like Mongolians of our world. But the book is filled with illustrations. While this book never hit any best seller list, it did well and received some lovely recognition from awards, state lists, and reviews.

When it went to paperback, my publisher gave it a new jacket. My publisher was great about this. They sought out a Mongolian-American model for the shoot and did a really lovely job, I thought. I've always been more of a fan of paintings than photograph covers, but I was happy with this one.

Given the decent release the hardcover had had, everyone expected the paperback to make a big splash. It did pretty well, but nothing like the expectation. Looking over royalty statements years later, all of my paperbacks have outsold their hardcovers (usually doubled or more) except for this one. The only one with a person of color on the cover.

When I did book signings where the store would have stacks of books on the table before me, I'd notice that the photograph covers with white girls would significantly dip down or disappear, but this beautiful book's stack remained tall. When people shopped by cover, they passed this one over.

When I visited schools, school librarians who told me they had large Asian populations in their student body said they wanted the paperback specifically. They knew representation matters. That those students who were of Asian descent would be happy to see someone who looked somewhat like them on a cover, leading a story of her own. 

But with that assumption also came the other side. That schools with large white populations in their student body wouldn't be interested in the book. That stories about someone who looks Asian isn't for everyone (i.e. white people). It's niche.

I was sorry for this. I feel that this book is my best work. I felt really honored that I got to tell Dashti's story. But at that time, I never considered that my experience was considerably different than it would have been if I'd been an Asian author. A Mongolian-inspired fantasy book written by a white woman is still much more likely to be accepted and read by white readers (who make up 75% of the US) than an Asian author writing the same.

This should have been a logical conclusion for me. I certainly had first hand knowledge with how we tend to honor the stories of men over women. That men's stories are universal and women's stories are niche. A man can write an important work of art that involves relationships. The same book by a woman would be condescendingly called "chick lit" and recommended only to other women. This is a reality that I've seen over and over and over again.

But I don't have first hand knowledge about the experiences of a person of color. While I was worried that it wasn't my place to write about another culture and I hesitated to offend or get it wrong in the writing, I didn't think about the after publication part. How as a white woman the path would be largely paved for me. I believe that white readers would have been more likely to purchase this book if instead of a Mongolian-American on the cover there had been a skinny white model in a ballgown. But those same white readers were more likely to purchase a book with a Mongolian-American model on the cover written by a white author than one written by an Asian author.

The same way adults are more likely to give a boy a book about a girl if it was written by a man than if it was written by a woman.

Books can and should be both mirrors and windows. Both are precious experiences. If we're only reading books written by those of our own experience, race, religion, gender, we're missing so much of the world.

I hope we're getting over this often-unconscious biases. But in the meantime, allow me to recommend some wonderful books by Asian-American authors in a by-no-means comprehensive list. And please add your own recommendations. I'm sure I'm forgetting so many of my favorites and there are so many I don't know yet!

For young readers:

Ling and Ting books by Grace Lin
Alvin Ho books by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Middle grade: 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time by Lisa Yee
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung

Young Adult:

Serpentine by Cindy Pon
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Prophecy by Ellen Oh
Does My Head Look Big in This by by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (technically for adults but with a dual young/old narrator)

graphic novels:

Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi
This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Comments

[Anna]

I tend to pass over any covers with photographed models because they interfere with my mental picture of the main character and I just don't find them as aesthetically pleasing, and I know a few readers who share that preference. But this post still makes quite a valid point. We need to take steps away from these biases. I know that I still have them even though I'm trying to become more aware of them these last few years, so I appreciate the list of Asian-American authors!

(While it's not the type of cover I like, though, the model on the paperback actually looks quite similar to how I pictured Dashti.)

[Ennagirl]

I love Dashti on the cover! She looks great!

[Ennagirl]

Oh, and I loved both Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and A Single Shard. I'm going to check out Kira-Kira soon. We have the same preferences when it comes to books!

[cindy]

thank you for this post and the rec list, shannon.
those biases are real and it is hard. i have also
personally dedicated myself to reading more
broadly, inclusively, and being more conscious
of my choices.

[Casey]

I just want to add praise for Jenny Han as well. I LOVED "To All The Boys I've Loved Before," but I also fell for "The Summer I Turned Pretty."

[Cheryl]

I love the covers with painting/ art better than photographs as well.
This is a great post.
This book and Goose Girl are actually tied for my favorite books that you have ever written. (And I love your other books as well!)
This book is fantastic.

[adena]

Since Book of a Thousand Days is my favorite book by you I'm glad to hear it's one of your favorites too. I love how so much is focused on the relationship between Dashti and Saren and how they grow and change together.

I would add Laurence Yep to your list. He's written everything from historical fiction to science fiction to mysteries and all of it is excellent. Also Ties that Bind and Ties that Break by Lensey Namioka.

[Ennagirl]

I suggest Andrea Cheng’s Shanghai Messenger and Inside and Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.
I have to say that there’s something special about Lady Saren. I love how devoted Dashti is to her. It reminds me of myself and my best friend.

[Meredith A]

A few books by Justina Chen (her name appears as Justina Chen Headley on the copies I had):

Girl Overboard - a Chinese girl in the US
North of Beautiful - a white girl, but there is a Chinese love interest, and part takes place in China
Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) - a "hapa" (half Asian, half white) dealing with prejudices from both Asians and white people

She has other books, but I've only read these three.

On another note, I just discovered that several of your books are available in French. Weee!! I already have the French version of Princess Academy, and just now discovered The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, Austenland, Book of a thousand Days, and the Ever After High books in French.

My question is: Do you know if River Secrets and Forest Born are also available in French? I can't find those.

[Madysen Holt]

Hi Shannon. I have loved each of the books I've read so far. I wasn't able to put Dangerous down. I tried finding your email, but when I clicked on the link, I wasn't able to connect to it. So anyways, my names Mady and for a high school project my English teacher gave me, we had to pick something to do, along with a mentor. I decided to write a book. So favorite authors popped into my head for a mentor, and I thought of you and wanted to contact you. So if there is any way possible that you could get back to me, that would be amazing. Thank you!!!

[Meredith Abernathy]

Also, I forgot to add, I'm writing my first novel. It's fantasy, but instead of medieval Europe, the time/technology is based on Bronze Age Egypt, and the setting is based on Kenya because I lived there for two years.

Racially, the characters aren't based on any specific peoples in our world. They're "brown," with variations in hair and eye color, except one particular people group with dark hair and skin "lighter than hers." Readers can interpret "brown" however they want, since brown covers a whole lot of skin tones around the whole world. And they can interpret "lighter than hers" however they want.

Too noncommittal on my part? Maybe. But I believe their particular race shouldn't matter that much. It's not the story of a young woman who's East African, or Indian, or South American, etc. It's the story of a person who's herself in her own time and place.

(You'll be glad to know, part of the decision not to make my characters white came from reading all your blog posts about white and male being the default.)

[Ennagirl]

Hi, @Madyson Holt:
Shannon doesn't respond to blog comments. If you have a Twitter account (if you don't, they are very easy to set up), you can try commenting on one of her Tweets and maybe she'll get back to you. But I don't think she gives writing advice often :(
Anyway, just wanted to let you know so you're not sitting around wondering why she hasn't replied.

[Ennagirl]

@Meredith Abernathy, I don’t think that’s being noncommittal. My mom, who happens to be a woman of color, always says that shades of skin don’t really matter, it’s the people who wear the skin that matter. I’ve read books with all sorts of narrators: white, Asian, African-American, Hispanic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or some mixture of two or more. And the truth is, I haven’t ever put down a book because the character was of a different color (I am a half-Asian, half-white Buddhist, btw). If I hate a character, it’s never because of their race or religion.
As a writer myself, I’ve done many variations from the default: Polish Jew, French Protestant, Italian-German atheist, British-Egyptian Muslim, British-Korean Buddhist, Irish Catholic, etc, etc. Before I read Shannon’s posts about diversity, 95% of my characters were either white Americans or Asian-Americans like me. Now I have a truly diverse cast in my books.
Good luck with your story; it sounds cool!

[Ennagirl]

Oh, and I’d like to put in a good word for Grace Lin’s Starry River of the Sky, for readers 8+. It’s a companion novel to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

[Sondy]

I was wondering, Shannon. The German edition has such a gorgeous painted cover with a picture of an Asian girl included. I'm curious: How has that book done? I can't help but wonder if the paperback in the US would do better with that picture. The girl in the photo is beautiful... but somehow the cover doesn't appeal to me as much as the painted cover. I think it's mostly because of the seriousness (which I have to admit is appropriate) in the one. http://sonderbooks.com/blog/?p=28406

[Enna]

I love the cover of the German one. Plus I think it's cool that you wrote a post about translating the book from German to English and vice versa.
P.S. This is Ennagirl, under a new email address. New computer stuff.

[Enna]

Too bad, my parents don’t want me to read Kira-Kira. They tend to oppose my reading anything realistic. (They’d totally freak if they found out about that incident with the school library and a stack of war stories).
I think that’s another form of book discrimination. They have no problem if I want to read a novel about the Bayern-Tiran war in Enna Burning, but they won’t let me read about World War II in Number the Stars. It’s the same concept. War is war.
Sorry for my little rant here, I’m just a little moody because I really wanted to read Kira-Kira.
On the plus side, I’m reading INKHEART by Cornelia Funke!

[Jill]

I wanted to recommend Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada. She is Filipino American, as is her main character in the book. It's excellent.

[Justin Bingham]

Shannon, I apologize for using the blog to contact you. I tried the email link on your contact and it bounced back. I am actually trying to contact your husband, Dean. He was my last mission companion while serving in Costa Rica many, many years ago! (on another coincidence, my son is currently serving in Paraguay). Anyway, I would really appreciate if you could pass on my email from the log it and have Dean contact me. Thanks, Justin Bingham

[Cassie Fox]

Great blog post. After reading it, I had a great discussion with my roommate (who just finished reading Book of a Thousand Days for the first time) about race and gender, including our own unconscious biases and the discrimination that we have experienced as women or the limits that are placed on men because of expectations for their gender. Incidentally, the copy of Book of a Thousand Days that I own (and that my roommate just borrowed) is the paperback.