Monday, May 8, 2017

Debbie have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake

Debbie have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake


I received a question about The Continent by Kiera Drake. Due out in January from Harlequin Teen, heres the synopsis from Amazon:
"Have we really come so far, when a tour of the Continent is so desirable a thing? Weve traded our swords for treaties, our daggers for promises�but our thirst for violence has never been quelled. And thats the crux of it: it cant be quelled. Its human nature." 
For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire�a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two "uncivilized" nations remain perpetually locked in combat. Most citizens lucky enough to tour the Continent do so to observe the spectacle and violence of war, a thing long banished in the Spire. For Vaela�a talented apprentice cartographer�the journey is a dream come true: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve upon the maps shes drawn of this vast, frozen land. 
But Vaelas dream all too quickly turns to a nightmare as the journey brings her face-to-face with the brutal reality of a war shes only read about. Observing from the safety of a heli-plane, Vaela is forever changed by the bloody battle waging far beneath her. And when a tragic accident leaves her stranded on the Continent, Vaela finds herself much closer to danger than shed ever imagined. Starving, alone and lost in the middle of a war zone, Vaela must try to find a way home�but first, she must survive.

Sounds awful, doesnt it? People who live in "the Spire" covet the opportunity to watch people on "the Continent" engage in bloody violence. Those two "uncivilized nations" on "the Continent" cant help it. It is their nature.

Theres a lot of people tweeting about it. From what I glean, one of the "uncivilized nations" is described in ways that suggest it is Asian and that the other one is Native. If I get the book, Ill be back.

Updating on Nov 7, 2016 to add the Storify I did on the response to criticism of Drakes book:

by Debbie_Reese
41 minutes ago

A Native Perspective on Response to Kiera Drakes THE CONTINENT

Subtitle
  1. I started to see conversations about Kiera Drakes The Continent on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The next day, I started a thread about what I was seeing.
  2. My remarks, as the title for this Storify indicate, are from a Native perspective. For those who dont know who I am, Im tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo. Im a former schoolteacher and assistant professor in American Indian Studies. Ive got a PhD in Education, and a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. I have research and professional articles in a wide range of books, journals, and magazines. I bring all that to bear on the analyses I do of childrens and young adult literature.
  3. debreese
    Debbie Reese@debreese
    If you follow YA twitter, you likely know that people are talking about Kiera Drakes THE CONTINENT. Some use the hashtag #TheContinent.
    2 DAYS AGO
  4. By then, Id gotten some questions about it from readers of my site. Based on those questions, I did one of the "Debbie--have you seen" posts about it:
  5. Thumbnail for Debbie--have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake?Debbie--have you seen CONTINENT by Kiera Drake?
    Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in childrens and young adult books
    AMERICANINDIANSINCHILDRENSLITERATURE
  6. debreese
    Debbie Reese@debreese
    The ways Drake depicts Native and characters of color is why people are talking about her book. My copy of #TheContinent is in the mail.
    2 DAYS AGO
    REPLYRETWEETFAVORITE
  7. debreese
    Debbie Reese@debreese
    Based on what Ive seen in screen caps and excerpts, I am likely to agree that the book is a wreck.
    2 DAYS AGO
  8. What I saw, specifically, were Justina Irelands photographs of passages in her ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book.
  10. ...I mean, this isnt a great leap of logic here... https://t.co/qJ0fsCaNqa
    ...I mean, this isnt a great leap of logic here... pic.twitter.com/qJ0fsCaNqa
    JUSTINA IRELAND@JUSTINAIRELAND
    �
    4 DAYS AGO
  11. Justinas "great leap of logic" was about Drake using "Topi" as the name of the Indigenous nation. Change that letter T to an H an youve got Hopi. The Hopi Tribe is a federally recognized sovereign nation in Arizona.
  12. Feeling preeeety lucky the one black dude was the groundskeeper right about now. https://t.co/YmOiu06eey
    Feeling preeeety lucky the one black dude was the groundskeeper right about now. pic.twitter.com/YmOiu06eey
    JUSTINA IRELAND@JUSTINAIRELAND
    �
    4 DAYS AGO
  13. Justinas critique drew a lot of attention, with a lot of people condemning The Continent based on her critique. There were, of course, a lot of responses from people who said those who hadnt read The Continent, or, who hadnt finished reading it, shouldnt say anything at all about it.
  14. That response reminded me of work I did on Martina Boones Compulsion, so I shared links to my review of it and an especially powerful comment.

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