Can Autistic Kids Really Be Main Characters
The Editors Do Not Think So. The Author (and Mother) Does.
🎨 Hello!
💙 This article is about the Autism Brothers Books inclusive book series project.
🤷🏻♀️ Can Autistic Children Really Be Main Characters in a Story Book Series?
When American Latina artist, Emily Lupita, submitted her book series idea to a children’s book agent recently, she received a reply that shocked her.
The agent asked, in all seriousness, “Can Autistic children really be main characters in a story book series?”
Emily Lupita has two young sons who are both Autistic, although they are on very different places along the Autism Spectrum. Her sons, Charlie and Archie, are the main characters in her own life, so she never considered that they couldn’t be main characters in a books series.
Emily Lupita replied to the book agent, “Of course they can! They deserve to see themselves represented in the books they read, just like everyone else.”
The agent went on to explain that he was concerned general audiences would not be interested enough in a book about Autistic kids. He told Emily Lupita that Autism is a niche market and even if the story book series is well-written and accompanied by beautiful artwork, there just would not be enough buyers to make the book series profitable.
And for that reason, the agent would not represent the book.
👩🏻💻 Doing It Anyway
Emily Lupita was determined to prove this agent wrong. Even though Autism is still misunderstood throughout the world, recent advocacy movements in the United States and other progressive countries have increased neurodiversity education, including Autism awareness. However, Emily Lupita knew it was also important to consider the book agent’s advice because he is an expert in his field.
So, she knew she needed to add in additional topics to the book series in order to make it more marketable to general audiences.
Emily Lupita drew inspiration from her own life experience when creating these additional topics for her new book series. Emily Lupita is an award-winning poet. Her writing prizes include the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Gold Medal in Poetry, the Atlanta Review International Publication Prize, and the Scratch Short Story Award.
Her poetry has been published in journals including Poetry International, North American Review, International Poetry Review, and in the anthology Poetic Voices Without Borders 2. She currently has thirty-nine creative writing publications and eight academic publications, plus three grant-funded artwork books.
Emily Lupita is also a life-long watercolor artist and had a career in international education before transitioning to becoming a full-time mother and caregiver to her two Autistic sons.
She traveled extensively before having children, including seven years living and working abroad in countries such as Japan, Mexico, Wales, Ecuador, Turkiye, and Spain.
🎨 Creating Autism Brothers Books
Thinking about these foundational experiences from her own life, Emily Lupita decided to create the Autism Brothers Book Series, which features Charlie and Archie on exciting travel adventures around the world. Traveling in real life with her Autistic sons can be very difficult due to their exceptional needs. So, Emily Lupita decided to start traveling in books with her sons, instead.
She wrote outlines for stories that take Charlie and Archie on adventures to Cappadocia, Turkiye, to the Maya pyramids in the Yucatan, Mexico, and hiking along the gorgeous coast of Wales in the United Kingdom.
Once the stories were written, Emily Lupita set about sketching out the artwork. She designed landscape paintings of the beautiful locations, then added Charlie and Archie into the scene. After sketching, Emily started adding color to each page. She paints using her signature Lupita technique of combining multiple layers of color and pattern to create an environment of controlled chaos within the black lines of the subjects, along with the newest digital technology from Procreate, Canva, and Photoshop.
📚 The First Book In The Series
The first printed book proof - in black and white sketches only - just recently arrived. It’s called, Cappadocia: An Autism Brothers Book, and features the brothers exploring the incredible views and cave dwellings of the Cappadocia region in Central Turkiye. They even discover an ancient cave church and ride camels! When Archie saw the book, he recognized himself on the cover right away.
“It’s Archie!” he said with so much joy as he held the book in his little hands. Charlie ran up to see the book and the brothers sat down to read it together. Emily Lupita tells the story of this moment with tears in her eyes.
“Finally,” Emily Lupita said, “my sons see themselves in a book that they hold in their hands.”
🌈 Support The Inclusive Book Project
A little about my big project launch, happening now…
Charlie and Archie are real-life Turkish-American brothers. They are both diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, although they are on very different places on the Spectrum. I’m the Brothers’ mom. I’m an American Latina author & illustrator from Iowa, USA. I’ve launched a Kickstarter project to help me create the book series.
This is a page from the first book in the Autism Brothers Book Series. It’s about Charlie & Archie visiting Cappadocia, Turkiye.
🦋 My Mission
I am creating the Autism Brothers Book Series because I want my sons to see themselves in the books we read. Representation matters. I want Charlie & Archie to see themselves going around the world on travel adventures…if not in real life due to their specific exceptional needs, then in these stories and paintings made with love by their mom.
I want this for others, too…for all the Autistic individuals and their families out there who deserve representation in children’s books (and everywhere else, too).
💙 Thank you!
Thank you for your encouragement and support of this very special project. It’s so close to my heart. Please consider sharing with your family & friends & local Autism awareness organization.
I have a goal to post my new portraits and videos up on my Instagram account as they flow out. I hope to connect with you there as well. @EmilyLupitaSeries
❤️🔥