Diversity - or more properly, the lack thereof - in kidlit has been a hot topic in our corner of the blog world lately. Some of the discussion has focused on historical fiction and its insistence on focusing on particular periods, especially slavery and the Holocaust.
Which is why this paragraph from recent non-kidlit reading caught my eye:
"To the 613 mitzvot counted by the rabbis, [Emil] Fackenheim added one: Thou shalt not grant Hitler a posthumous victory... Part of the obligation of this commandment rests with Holocaust remembrance, but it can go too far. We can read only so many books... Of those that have Jewish content, what percentage should be about the Shoah? Ten? Fifty? At what age should children be taught about these horrific events?... If the child cannot respond and later feels that she already knows all about it, the impact of remembrance is lost."It's from Unsettled: An Anthropology of the Jews, by Melvin Konner.
