Amélie Wen Zhao’s YA novel Blood Heir, which was due to publish June 4 from Delacorte, has been postponed indefinitely by the author after a controversy in the online YA community. The first in a planned trilogy pitched as Anastasia meets Six of Crows, the sale was reported last January, in a major deal, at auction, with a number of international deals following thereafter. But some online readers accused Zhao of racism and insensitivity to the history of American slavery, in particular YA author L.L. McKinney who Tweeted, “apparently Blood Heir is anti-black.” (At the same time, she writes, “I didn’t ask […]
