McKinney, acknowledged on Twitter that she asks others to read her work to ensure she’s not unwittingly including homophobic tropes. Nor do they cast themselves as unimpeachable: one of the most vocal critics of “Heir,” author L.L. They have a perspective that most in the industry don’t have. They work to flout commonly-held views, calcified by privilege. Nor is it about whether I, other white reviewers, or the still overwhelmingly white publishing industry think she wrote a racist book.įellow authors of color, who’ve made it their mission to ensure that young people read diverse and inclusive books, called Zhao out for her storylines. This isn’t about whether Zhao intended to write a racist book. The dust storm of controversy, parsing individual passages, misses the point.

I’ve been reviewing children’s and young-adult books for more than a decade now, and I think Zhao made the right call. They maintain Zhao made the correct choice to withdraw the book in response industry critics, who included the co-founder of the We Need Diverse Books organization. “Heir” was targeted, they say, by inaccurate claims of racism.įor others, including some high-profile authors of color, “Heir” was flawed from the get-go, with unacceptably racist passages. Amélie Wen Zhao’s publishing story is all about your lens.įor some, the debut young-adult author’s fantasy novel Blood Heir, slated for a June release before Zhao pulled it last week, fell victim to overzealous political correctness and censorship.

Amelie zhao blood heir