A College Girl's Guide to Representation

By: Emma Flowers

I never quite got to see myself in the world as I am. Although I’m white, and there’s plenty of that in books, I’m also autistic and queer, and I've come to terms with not being the most traditionally feminine woman. As a kid, I was an outsider. Autism made me “stubborn,” queerness made me “sinful,” and diversity wasn’t a word often heard in school. Books were my escape, but even in their pages, I knew I didn’t resemble the heroes I admired. It was a reminder of how alone I felt in an already unkind world.

Today, diversity is emerging as part of the solution. Although slow and sometimes flawed, it’s a welcome break from stories of protagonists slaying queer-coded villains. While I can’t speak for everyone, I can speak on two things the literary world often overlooks when portraying identities outside their own: genuine storytelling and normalization of diversity.

When I was younger, my first taste of “diversity” was The Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. The first Percy Jackson books, while not the most racially diverse, explored neurodiversity, linking ADHD and dyslexia to hidden powers. It presented being different in a way I didn’t expect. These children weren’t meant for the ‘normal’ world I found myself stuck in—they were meant for something more. It gave me hope that maybe I was meant for more too. Maybe my autism meant I was better at something than the other kids. Maybe I wasn’t some sort of failure just because my brain chose wiring set A instead of the norm, set B. It was like magic!

Riordan aided the path to greater diversity by focusing on one essential thing: telling good stories. Percy Jackson is beloved not because he is the son of Poseidon or has ADHD, but because he’s an earnest, hilarious goofball who told the Greek gods to pay their child support. Heroes of Olympus brings an even more diverse cast: Leo is Mexican with survivor guilt, Piper is Native American, Hazel is black and died in the 1940s, Nico is Italian and Will Solace is his boyfriend. Labels don’t define these characters; they’re individuals, and their identities are woven seamlessly into their world.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer was another favorite of mine as it depicted multiple countries and their cultures, such as China, America, France, and the fictional futuristic Lunar Colony. Each of their leads is inspired by fairy-tale heroines, with Meyer’s Snow White stand-in, the fairest character in their world, being depicted as a Black girl, Winter Hayle. The titular character Lihn Cinder is also in a lovely mixed-race relationship with the Chinese Emperor Kai. Although there is discourse around the book's quality, it was still a good early start and had many positive examples of interracial relationships.

Since then, so many notable names have arisen, representing not only different cultures and races but also sexualities. Traci Chee was an author I read in high school. Her bestselling trilogy The Sea of Ink and Gold not only depicts characters of color, like Sefia the dark-complected main character, but queer characters as well in the later books. The Children of Blood and Bone by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi is set in an African fantasy setting. The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana is inspired by Desi culture. So many different races and faces have joined the literary world, and I can’t help but think it is beautiful.

Many of these books have now adapted themselves to new mediums. The Wrath and the Dawn is a duology by author Renée Ahdieh. The A Thousand and One Arabian Nights retelling is a webtoon comic now, Shahrzad’s beautiful tan face standing bold among the hundreds of pale-faced leads on the platform. In the latest screen adaptation of the Percy Jackson books, Annabeth is now black and Percy is blonde. Are they the same as their book descriptions? No, but their spirit is there, and that’s what fans adore! Heartstopper is a comic about two boys in love, and it’s now become a British TV show. The ratings are mixed, but when have we seen a gay couple at the forefront of a TV show?

Diversity isn’t new. It’s always existed, and that’s what people often forget. We’ve always been different. The Greeks were gay, and humans have always been different colors. My gods, people act as if minorities are some kind of discovery! Isn’t it strange that it’s taken us this long to figure this out? One day, I hope books will overflow with characters of every label, and those labels will simply become another aspect of a diverse world.