• The Dark Fantastic

• Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games
• By: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
• Narrated by: Janina Edwards

Stories provide portals to other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escapism draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but as people of color seek passage into the miracle, the doors are often blocked. The problem lies not only in children’s publishing, but also in film and television executives tasked with adapting these stories to the visual world. When characters of color appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, making the audience understand that not all lives matter.

The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fan-fiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC’s Merlin, and Angelina Johnson from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.

As an avid reader as a child I didn’t question the world’s I was diving into just as I didn’t question the one I was living in. I am thankful to have listened to this book because now I am better equipped to see the world as it is, AND how we will rebuild it for the future.

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