Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros by Sherry Garland * Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North by Patricia C. The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl by Ann Turner My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl by Ann Rinaldi * I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl by Joyce Hansen * A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. (Books written by women of color are marked with an asterisk). Of the 43 books originally published as a part of this series, only 8 were written about girls of color and only 5 of those were written by women of color. What I found was disappointing, though not unexpected. I was curious about how many of the Dear America books were about girls of color. The Dear America series and its multiple spin-offs have a combined 103 books, over 75% of which center white main characters.

Reflecting on the Dear America series, which was widely popular when I was in elementary school, I now recognize limitations I had never noticed.

While I believe that accurate portrayals of history are essential, I have discovered that many stories are left out. It was not until I learned about critical comprehension while taking a class on young adult literature that I began to realize how many books were written with white children as the audience. By Colby Mayer (Furman University Education major)

Color me dark by patricia c mckissack