The saying “kids don’t read anymore” was ancient when our grandparents were using it. But ask any book store who their most consistent and passionate customers are and they’ll tell you it’s adolescents and teens, often dragging their reluctant parents along on regular shopping trips. And ask any big book retailer which category sees consistent year over year growth in sales, and they’ll tell you it’s usually ones that cater to kids in elementary and high school (while the sales of genres aimed at their parents are usually either flat or sag from one year to the next).
So odds are you have an avid young reader or two on your Christmas list this year. But what do you wrap to put under the tree for them? Harry Potter used to be the tried and true heavyweight champion of young adult literature, but whether it’s the relentless march of time or the controversial remarks of his creator J.K. Rowling, the lustre has worn off the Boy Who Lived. So what can parents look for to satisfy their desperately hungry young readers? Harry and J.K. may be old news, but young Rick Riordan has you covered with a generation of new authors and new adventures ready to step into the void.
Best known for his Percy Jackson series, Riordan has penned dozens of other books popular with young readers (generally aimed at kids between eight and thirteen). In 2016 he partnered with his publisher (Disnety-Hyperion Publishing) to create Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint that brings attention to a handful of promising new names in the field of young adult fiction. Names from across the globe who might otherwise be ignored. Names mining various cultures and mythologies for their inspiration.
Take Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, for example. In it young heroine Min must fly to a distant planet to clear her brother’s name of a crime he didn’t commit. Not only does Min own a spaceship (shouldn’t that top all of our Christmas lists?), but her and her family possess the magic powers of the fox. It’s fantasy, science fiction and mystery all wrapped into one and it draws heavily on Korean mythology for its inspiration.
Then there’s Tristan Strong Punches A Hole In The Sky by Kwame Mbalia. In his first book, seventh-grader Tristan discovers a world where ancient African gods are locked in savage struggle with African-American deities. But amidst all that Tristan must find the god Anansi to save both the divine and the mortal world from a race of new planet killing monsters.
Or you could try J.C. Cervantes’ The Storm Runner, where a disabled and painfully lonely boy discovers he is related to powerful and ancient Mayan gods. And soon the boy who had no friends and who was mocked for his challenges holds the key to survival for both humans and gods alike.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, with over a dozen titles available and a handful more being published every year.
The signature of Rick Riordan Presents is both the diverse authors it offers and the diverse mythologies it draws from. The inspirations range from Korean, Indian, Cuban and Mesopotamian myths to Navajo legends and American folklore. Following suit, the books heroes reflect an equally diverse range of ethnicities. There is plenty of representation for every demographic, including ones that have been ignored for years. Any kid can find a hero that looks just like them in these books.
Or a villain.
Riordan is quick to dismiss the idea that any of these authors are mere ghost writers, writing books based on his ideas, notes or outlines and slapping his name on the cover. He offers advice to the burgeoning young authors, edits their stories here and there and writes an introduction for each title. But after that all intellectual properties-and success-belongs to the writer who invested their time and heart into the book.
With J.K Rowling and Harry Potter fading into the background, young readers are hungry for new voices and new heroes. While the young adult genre is experiencing a lull in sales, over 50% of kids still admit they enjoy reading every day (more than their parents, according to some of the same studies). Don’t be surprised to see that number go up following a year full of lockdowns and school closures.
In fact, part of the current dip in YA sales could very well reflect a shifting change in demographics that has largely been ignored by educators and publishers alike. Demographics hungry for characters that look like them.
Rick Riordan Presents looks to fix both.
(The world is filled with evidence of shifting social and ethnic appetites. Everything from movies and television to politics-where a growing number of leading characters and elected representatives are straying from the traditional heterosexual white male mold-reflect a rabidly changing world).
No one will ever be as big as Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling were, but Riordan has done a good job moving into the space they vacated. And he’s bringing along a new generation of storytellers and voices with him. Storytellers and voices he can one day hand his torch to after he sets his pen down for good. And the authors he’s shepherding now will likely pay that forward one day themselves, ushering in new authors of their own for the children of the world to enjoy.
And isn’t that kind of what Christmas is all about?
Image www.rickriordan.com
