As for including character description, including race (or particularly race), I’m convinced there’s not a right answer, just a choice to make.

On the one hand, it can be revealing and when well done, beautiful. Some of my critique partners are aces with description. I am not, so I prefer to minimize or avoid it when possible.

On the other hand, if race is not relevant to the story, what’s the harm in letting readers decide? We might prefer our characters be a specific race: one we know and are comfortable with, one we find attractive, one that reminds us of a friend who comes to mind when we read. If I like a story more because I imagine a character to be a race of my choice, all the better.

My vision of Aunt Elinor in the Inkheart books is not what Cornelia Funke had in mind. Too bad, so sad. I stand by my Aunt Elinor; I like her better.

As for your specific questions, Becca, regarding my vision of a girl character when it was supposed to be a boy…I reread the first two chapters again last night and found nothing that suggests to me definitively that the character is really male. (Yes, it’s first person.) The chapters are short, and the scenes they cover are gender-neutral. I will, however, have Mike read the first two chapters and get his take.

What we get in the first two chapters are: voice (irreverent–it’s YA, after all), a view of secondary characters, details of the setting, a clue about why the character is there.

If the author (well-published male) were in my critique group, I would suggest he slip the character’s name into Chapter 1. It would be a cinch; I noticed last night precisely where I’d put it. It was a shock to discover my error and stopped me in my reading tracks, but I’ve made the transition to a male character just fine; his male-ness becomes apparent in ways besides his name.

I don’t think it will be an issue for the vast majority of readers because I don’t think most people go so blindly into books. But I do sometimes, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. We’re probably a tiny minority, but I’m fairly certain I’m not unique.

Since I know absolutely nothing about writing, let me share with you my uneducated thoughts as a pure reader: provide me with what one would see upon a very quick glance. To me this includes gender, approximate age, and, yes, race. Pehaps include hair color and type of clothing (dressy, utilitarian, etc). Why not include race? I don’t see it as discriminatory or prejudicial. Jen, I can look at you and my mind registers quickly “female”. In the same way, I can look at Reiko (woman I worked with) and one quick impression is “Korean”. Is either thought *wrong*? I think not. To me, it’s pure observation and, in reading, these clues help with my mental picture.