# data[].attributes.headline
Teen makes big push for more books with black female lead characters

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen makes big push for more books with black female lead characters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela - Teen makes big push for more books with Black female lead characters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teen has raised worldwide awareness of the need for more diversity in books

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Marley Dias is an author, public speaker and the youngest member of Forbes' "30 Under 30" this year -- and she's not even in high school yet. At the age of 10, Marley started a campaign called #1000blackgirlbooks because she was frustrated that she hadn't read books in school featuring black main characters. She set out to collect books featuring characters that look like her and received more than 11,000. Now, the 13-year-old has a new book called "Marley Dias Gets it Done and So Can You!" Dias joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss what she hopes to achieve with her book and why she launched a campaign about racial harmony.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen activist Marley Dias on her new mission for racial harmony

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Marley Dias is an author, public speaker and the youngest member of Forbes' "30 Under 30" this year -- and she's not even in high school yet. At the age of 10, Marley started a campaign called #1000blackgirlbooks because she was frustrated that she hadn't read books in school featuring black main characters.

# data[].attributes.body
YouTube

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Eleven-year-old Marley Dias started a movement to diversify literature, and Ellen couldn't wait to help! Find out more about Ellen's #BeKindToOneAnother campaign here. http://www.ellentv.com/bekindtooneanother

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Marley Dias is like a lot of 11-year-olds: She loves getting lost in a book.

But the books she was reading at school were starting to get on her nerves. She enjoyed Where The Red Fern Grows and the Shiloh series, but those classics, found in so many elementary school classrooms, were all about white boys or dogs ... or white boys and their dogs, Marley says.

Black girls, like Marley, were almost never the main character.

What she was noticing is actually a much bigger issue: Fewer than 10 percent of children's books released in 2015 had a black person as the main character, according to a yearly analysis by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. And while the number of children's books about minorities has increased in the past 20 years, many classroom libraries have older books.

Last fall, Marley decided to do something about it. She set a goal of collecting 1,000 books about black girls by the beginning of February, and #1000blackgirlbooks was born.

She has far exceeded her goal, with almost 4,000 books and counting. Now, she wants to set up a black girl book club and pressure school districts to change which books are assigned to students. Morning Edition's David Greene spoke with Marley about her campaign and how she has handled her success.

The thing NPR Ed wanted to know? Her take on a subject she now knows well: books about black girls. Here are her top five picks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Where's The Color In Kids' Lit? Ask The Girl With 1,000 Books (And Counting)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Marley Dias is like a lot of 11-year-olds: She loves getting lost in a book. But the books she was reading at school were starting to get on her nerves. She enjoyed Where The Red Fern Grows and the Shiloh series, but those classics, found in so many elementary school classrooms, were all about white boys or dogs ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Iqbal Masih, Pakistan, received The World's Children's Honorary Award 2000 posthumously, for his struggle for the rights of debt slave children. Iqbal became a debt slave at an early age, for the owner of a carpet factory who then sold him on.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Daily Show - Malala Yousafzai Extended Interview

# data[].attributes.body
YouTube

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alex Lin Helps Reduce E-Waste⎢TakePart TV

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
La page que vous recherchez n’a pas été trouvée ou n’existe pas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It is very nice to see you again because I met you, you knocked my socks off when you were 10 and you founded the #1000blackgirlsbooks campaign. Why did you start it? I really love to read and always wanted to see myself reflect it and my parents did a good job that little black and brown girls were able to be in my library. When I went to school I only read about white boys and their dogs. Old yeller. Yeah. I read that in school. As much as I respected my teacher and thought was a good idea, we were only learning about one person's experience and one type of experience. I thought it was a problem because I had the opportunity to see myself being reflected but all the other girls, especially black girls did not see themselves as important and their identity to be strong and deeply rooted inside of them so I wanted to make sure I would be able to tackle that and help other girls see themselves. So I collected in total 11,000 books and carried them to school. Wow. Could you have imagined your idea would have been so stressful because your original goal was 1,000? I think I wanted it to be successful but my mom told me even when we were two weeks away, 200 books, she was like it's about getting into the practice and understanding how I can as a girl to make sure I'm showing that I can be strong and brave and help my community even if I don't reach my goal. Okay. So how old are you again? I'm 13. 13. My god. I don't think I got out of bed when I was 13. You had just written your first book and "Marley dias gets it done: And so can you," that's the name of the book. Getting it done for you actually. It's about inspiring kids to create change for young people who want to make a difference like you did. Whereid you start -- where should these girls and boys start? Give them some advise. I think the first thing is educating yourself and figuring out what your passion is. A lot of people don't really know when they're young and I was lucky enough to know but a lot of times kids don't know what they like or what they want to do and sometimes they're pressured to do things they don't enjoy and feel like they're supposed to say yes but they don't enjoy those things. Finding your passions and being honest with your teachers and parents that I don't really like to do this anymore, this is not what I enjoy because you'll get into the practice of speaking out and educating yourself on the issues in your community. So even though we think about really big scale issues which are important to solve, we think about the people who care for us, our mailmen, teachers, janitors, line brainers and these people represent us to serve them. Good for you. I can say my 11-year-old daughter has no problem telling me what she will and won't do. I'll tell you that. One thing I loved about the book, you talk about ways kids could activate, meaning be activists and one of those ways is to be an upstander. Explain what that means. How can you be an upstander? We talk about being a bystander and witnessing something like bullying or harassment and especially in kids speaking out and helping somebody in a situation where they are bullied which is something in elementary school could be fostered in a child where they feel like it's okay to be mean to one another but guiding them away from the situation and educating them with the tools so it won't happen again. Making sure we can stop the problem and make sure it doesn't happen for other kids and it's important to change that system. Or to make sure that won't happen to other kids in the school because we're teaching each other and learning about how to be Kinder and more respectful to each other as students. I love it. Being an ally. Being an ally. I love that you call yourself a book nerd. Yes. A great way to take that word back. For parents who aren't lucky enough to have a child like you, what can parents do to help their kids read more without making it seem like it's a punishment? We talk about -- this is a fancy word but connotations and negative or positive connotations to the things we do. So immediately if you're trying to punish your child don't say go to your room and read. Don't use that. Don't associate these things that are really important and fundamental to those things. Even if you don't like reading as an adult and a lot of times I know people who are not fans of reading and that's okay, but showing to your kid that we can do it each and even though I don't like it and you don't, maybe we can try to watch a movie about a book and read the book after. Not necessarily -- Make kids choose what they want to read. Don't force them. And making sure to show kids they can have an opinion and have a say. I want you to come back. Thank you. I want you to come back because you're incredible. Our thanks to the inspiring and incredible Marley dias. Go to her website and her book "Marley dias gets it done: And so can you." It's available now. And you know what y'all, okay, you're all going home with one.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Video: Marley Dias talks encouraging kids to read, getting kids involved in activism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It is very nice to see you again because I met you, you knocked my socks off when you were 10 and you founded the #1000blackgirlsbooks campaign. Why did you start it? I really love to read and always wanted to see myself reflect it and my parents did a good job that little black and brown girls were able to be in my library.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brighter Brain Brilliant Life | Jim Kwik

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Having the skills to recall, read, think and learn faster are superpowers that will give you a true advantage in your career, profession, scholastic pursuits, relationships and life.

# data[].attributes.body
Take Part Article

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Changing Africa's Narrative | Kelvin Doe | TEDxLusaka

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Girl campaigns to get 1,000 books about black girls; gets almost 10,000

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Marley Dias was reading a lot of books in school, but none of them had a main character that looked like her. The 12-year old launched a campaign to collect books that feature black girls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Credit... The New York Times Archives

This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.

Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.

A 12-year-old boy who won international acclaim for highlighting the horrors of child labor in Pakistan has been shot dead.

The boy, Iqbal Masih, was gunned down on Sunday as he and two friends rode their bicycles in their village near Lahore, said Ehsan Ullah Khan, chairman of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, which opposes child labor. A laborer in Iqbal's village, about 144 miles southeast of Islamabad, has been arrested in connection with the shooting, Mr. Khan said today.

Iqbal had received several death threats from people in the carpet industry angered by his comments about child labor.

Iqbal, who worked as a carpet weaver under abysmal conditions from the age of 4 to 10, attracted widespread attention in recent months. At an international labor conference in Sweden in November, he spoke about the conditions that child workers face. In December, he went to Boston to receive the Reebok Youth in Action Award.

Iqbal wanted to be a lawyer and had planned to use the $15,000 prize money for school. Brandeis University, in Waltham, Mass., gave him a standing offer of a full scholarship when he was ready for college.

Iqbal was sold by his parents at age 4 and was shackled to a carpet loom for almost six years. When he was freed, he owed his boss 13,000 rupees. He earned one rupee a day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.