In this article, The Atlantic interviewed many experts to discuss the trajectory of messages in young adult literature, which has become more politically progressive.

The report referenced the CCBC’s research about marginalized identities in children’s books, stating that in 2015, approximately 14 percent of works in youth literature in the U.S. were concentrated on characters that weren’t white. In 2017, this number rose to 25 percent.

KT Horning, the director of the School of Education’s CCBC, provided The Atlantic with some background on these numbers.

“We have found, however, that the increase in the number of books about people of color is due to an increase in white authors writing about diverse characters … It does not mean that we are seeing more books by people of color,” Horning tells The Atlantic.

The CCBC is an examination, study, and research library of the School of Education which specializes in literature for children and teens.

To read more on this topic, check out the entire report for free on this The Atlantic web page.