Here’s a new guest post from David H. Burton, author of the steampunk fantasy novel Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure.
Let me start by saying I’m a father of three boys.
It’s hard to find books for them.
Extremely.
On top of that, two of them are reluctant readers.
I struggle with it every time I set foot in the bookstore or library. I wish I could say that even my avid reader was easy to buy for, but no. He reads the same books over and over because he has trouble finding books that appeal to him.
Percy Jackson? Yes. Harry Potter? Definitely! Hunger Games? No. Kane Chronicles? No. Anything other than HP or PJ? Pretty much, no.
Now, let’s add one more dimension to this.
My boys have two dads. Yes, you read that right. My same-sex partner and I adopted three little boys (brothers) about four years ago. It’s a nice story. One I love to share.
When we adopted them, we searched for books that had two dads. It was a bit of a struggle. We wanted them to learn about the diversity of families, but in particular we wanted the books to reflect families that were similar to our own.
Fortunately, we found a book titled And Tango Makes Three - a lovely tale based on a true story of two male penguins that paired up at the Central Park Zoo in New York. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it no matter what your family make-up is. It’s important for children of all family backgrounds to read it.
I did get somewhat lucky with Sarah Prineas’ The Magic Thief. In it, the main character has two caregivers (for lack of a better term) that are both males. And their interactions are akin to a same-sex couple, even if they’re not. There’s another book you should go read. It’s wonderful!
Unfortunately, we’ve struggled to find anything further that captures their attention and is reflective of our family make-up. Particularly as our boys have gotten older.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want all the books my children read to have LGBT elements. That would be ridiculous, but it would be nice to have one here and there that they can identify with. And it doesn’t have to be the focus of the story either, just even a passing mention would be something.
I do have to say that it was nice that Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was gay. It certainly made for an interesting part of our dinner conversation at the time, but I found it bothersome that it was never mentioned in the book itself. It was more of an after-thought.
So why wasn’t it mentioned? Why wasn’t it included in the story?
And that’s when my children’s novel began to change.
When we adopted the boys, Scourge had taken a completely different form, one in which the main character was female, had a mom and a dad, and had one sibling.
It changed significantly after that.
First, I made the main character a boy. It seemed that was what my boys were drawn to: male protagonists.
Second, I introduced two dads. It wasn’t a difficult change - they’re minor characters. But I felt it important to make that change. And why not? Why couldn’t a mainstream story with a fantasy/steampunk slant have two dads in it? And I didn’t want it to be an afterthought. It was going to be right out there where you couldn’t miss it. I could be alienating a whole demographic who wouldn’t want to read it - I’m fine with that. And my boys would back me up in a second.
Third, I paid attention to my boys’ interests. What captured their attention? What about certain games and books engaged them? What elements ensnared them?
Last, and by far the most interesting change, was in the dynamics of the siblings themselves. The story went from two to six siblings, and the interactions of my boys had a huge impact on the development of the characters. The little nuances between them, things that I’d forgotten from my own childhood, made their way into the story - a glare here, a tongue stuck out there, sibling rivalry, spats, and yet also the tight bond that holds them together, the strength of the bond that got my boys through the foster system.
I learned so much from them and the novel took a different turn - one I hadn’t expected. And I love where it’s gone! It’s a much better story.
It was only natural that I chose to dedicate the book to my boys. They were the best thing that ever happened to us - and that’s reflected in almost everything in our lives, including my writing.
Be sure to check out David’s novel Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure on Wattpad or find him at davidhburton.com.