Lestari’s novel could be set in any country with characters from any background ... I would not read books written by white authors. My goal was to address the reading practices I developed ...

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" scribbled beneath her in white ... to read the next few sentences until I vowed to read at least a chapter a day until I was finished, lest I let another book ...

“I told her I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” Dias said ... where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters.” ...

PERTH, Australia — In 2014, I decided that for the entire year, I would not read books written by white authors ... country with characters from any background; her ideas about modern lives ...