Over the years, the sprawling windows that line the wall of the King Street Library have been the backdrop for various visitors, all bringing with them lessons and stories for an audience of ACHS students. Sporting lavender hair and a spunky confidence, meet the newest visiting speaker: Ellen Oh. 

Oh is a Korean American author who is best known for her work on a select number of young adult and middle grade books such as “Finding Junie Kim,” “A Thousand Beginnings and Endings,” and “Spirit Hunters.” Along with this, Oh is also one of the founding members and the CEO of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books.

On Oct. 23, ACHS and Hammond students had the opportunity to speak with Oh face to face, learning more about her process as a writer as well as her intentions with her nonprofit. The first part of the visit involved Oh speaking with Hammond Middle School Librarian Khris Hutson about her career, followed by a Q&A with the audience and finally a book signing. Students could also enter a raffle to get a copy of her newest book, “The House Next Door.”

Despite beginning her career as a lawyer, Oh began writing professionally after noticing an underrepresentation of authors and characters of color within the children’s book industry. 

“I wanted to go and find the books that I could have my kids read, and I saw that there was hardly any change from when I was young,” said Oh. “[Books I found by Asian authors] wouldn’t fill up a bookshop. So I was like, ‘I’ll write the books that my kids will read.’”

However, Oh’s writing journey was not easy. When working on her first book, “Prophecy,” Oh went through three agents before getting the chance to work with an editor. 

“It was just a terrible experience and really destroyed my confidence,” said Oh. “I really felt like I should give up. But ultimately, [‘Prophecy’] meant a lot to me, and I just felt like I had to tell it, and eventually it did get picked up.”

“Prophecy,” was ultimately published in 2012 as the first installment in her “Dragon King Chronicles” trilogy, a young adult series that takes inspiration from traditional Korean folklore.

Since then, Oh has published numerous middle grade and young adult novels of a variety of genres, including fantasy, realistic fiction and horror. While Oh often tells the stories of Asian characters, she remains diverse in her storytelling.

“I like writing books with Asian characters because that’s my comfort and I know those kids best,” said Oh. “But I also write diversely. I’m going to show the world in my books and I think every writer needs to do that.”

However, despite all of her efforts, Oh still saw a huge gap. So, in 2014, inspired by a Twitter hashtag of the same name, We Need Diverse Books was founded. As a nonprofit, We Need Diverse Books seeks to promote literature that is inclusive.

“For the kids who haven’t ever seen themselves in books, representation is so important,” said Oh. “Knowing that there are stories about you in a book is one of the best validations for kids who have felt marginalized their entire life.”

Oh also explained how better representation benefits all children, not just the specific group it focuses on.

“For white kids, for cisgender kids, it’s really important for them to read books about kids that are not like them, because that’s the only way sometimes that they can learn empathy,” said Oh. “Sometimes it’s the only way for them to actually meet people that are different from them, because in this country, there are literally pockets of places where it’s all white or it may be an all marginalized community … so books are the only way to share the diversity of life.”

We Need Diverse Books lives up to its title, donating diverse books to children across the country as well as providing resources to educate parents, librarians and teachers on inclusivity. The nonprofit also offers internships, mentorships, grants and many other programs that all work to uplift the voices of authors of color. In addition, they focus on roles inside the publishing industry, an aspect that Oh ensured wouldn’t get overlooked.

“We thought it was really important to diversify the industry from the inside out,” said Oh. “So we had these internship programs that really invited young people of color to join the industry, be editors, be publicists, be marketing people, and join publishing.”

Since its founding, We Need Diverse Books has donated over 100,000 books to children across the United States, assisted in the sale of over 4 million books, and supported over 140 interns. Notable authors they have supported include Angie Thomas, author of “The Hate U Give,” Yamile Saied Méndez, author of “Furia” and Angeline Boulley, author of “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

On a national scale, We Need Diverse Books’ initiative is in correlation with larger trends. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and featured on the website of We Need Diverse Books, children’s books written by people of color published in the U.S. increased to 43% in 2023, a stark contrast to the mere 8% in 2014.

Along with raising awareness about inclusivity within literature, We Need Diverse Books works to educate people about book bans, an issue that has overtaken the national conversation in recent years with over 10,000 instances of book bans occurring in the 2023-2024 school year. In 2023, Oh’s book “Finding Junie Kim,” the story of a young girl who faces racism from her peers but learns to find her voice, was banned in Florida. Oh explained in her talk how “Finding Junie Kim” was banned due to its inclusion of mental illness.

“There are groups and organizations that are driving the book bans because ultimately they really want to get rid of education,” said Oh. “Marginalized kids seeing themselves makes them better students.”

Oh mentioned how in the past students have questioned why she focuses so much on book bans. To her, there is nothing else as important and necessary to talk about.

“Book bans are literally the reason why everything else happens,” said Oh. “You ban books so that people don’t know or can’t learn about all their other fundamental rights. They don’t know and care about what rights they have to protect the government, to protect climate change, to fight against the government. You ban books because they empower people.”

For many of the students listening to the talk, this was the part that stuck with them the most.

“Learning about the book bans [was the most interesting],” said sophomore Deveneir Dudley. “I thought it was local libraries, but it’s like a statewide thing and it’s really messed up.” 

Dudley also appreciated hearing insight about Oh’s writing process.

“I make music so I like writing poems and stuff,” said Dudley. “One thing I learned from her is that if [I’m writing] something I don’t think I can do positively and continue…, I should just drop it and not waste my time.”

“I think the most interesting part was how she showed the statistics of how [students of color] don’t get as many books as the other kids,” said another sophomore Khaliek Cunningham.

“[I found it interesting] how she was talking about how diversity should be around more schools and how [book] bans are affecting authors,” said sophomore Miguel Diaz Carranza.

For the librarians who organized the event, this student response was exactly what they were hoping for. 

“We were just so excited to have our students have a chance to meet somebody who has made not only such an impact from what she’s written, but also an impact from her advocacy work,” said school librarian Laurel Taylor.

Taylor explained how one of her hopes with the visit was that students could find inspiration in Oh’s work and accomplishments.

“You don’t know how writers become writers if you never meet a writer,” said Taylor. “The next great Ellen Oh might be sitting in this room, but [what] if they never meet anybody that shows them it’s possible? If you don’t see yourself in the books you write, then you don’t know you can be a writer.” 

Oh’s extensive 12 year long career  has empowered countless readers and new authors. However, Oh made it clear that the work is not yet done. 

“There is a massive misinformation campaign happening about book bans and we should all be concerned,” said Oh. “When democracies ban a book, they don’t last as democracies very long. Banning books is banning knowledge.”