Review Me Twice - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I have read this book no less than twelve times in my life.  Maybe more.  I don't know, I just know I've read it a whole lot.  I had to read it for Battle of the Books in the fifth grade and I have been in love with it ever since.

And I think that it's definitely one of Paterson's better ones, probably because she wrote it from a very personal place (it's based on what happened to her son's best friend.)  I like it because, while yes, it is very obviously a kids book, it doesn't shy away from things BECAUSE it is a kids book.  It approaches real topics like bullying and abuse and death and grieving.

I love the characters.  Jess and Leslie are two very real, fleshed out kids who have personalities and lives and problems and it's fabulous.  And even the minor characters become real to me.  Honestly, I just think that Paterson really hit the nail on the head with this book.

Plus, you know I can't resist a good banned book.

Review Me Twice: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This week's review book, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, was number three on the ALA's list of most frequently banned/challenged books in 2012 (out of 464 challenges reported). The reasons given for its challenges were drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group. (You'll notice that the first two reasons wouldn't be relevant if it weren't for the fourth reason.)

Let's address the "reasons why" (ha, see what I did there?) this book was banned/challenged first. I'm a little offended that the sexual assault wasn't mentioned, but "sexually explicit" was. That bothers me. But that's not the book's fault; that's the fault of someone who didn't want other people to read this book because they're afraid of it.

I really like this book. I like the way it's set up. Clay gets a box of cassette tapes in the mail and they were made by the girl at school who killed herself. They're being sent to all thirteen people she deems - in some part - responsible for her suicide. It's different and interesting (and it knows that cassettes are outdated... it's kind of a plot point that he needs to find a way to listen to the tapes.)

I'm about to get hypocritical here, so get ready. Remember how, with The Fault in Our Stars, I didn't like the characters because I thought they were smug and self-centered and that sort of ruined the book for me? Well, I don't really like Hannah in this book. At first, you think, "Oh, poor girl, she was bullied and assaulted and used and she reached a breaking point and saw no other way out." But later, I can't help but be a little mad at her. Some of her "reasons" are a little tenuous and the tapes seem to be more like her playing with flies in a web than anything else. The difference, though? I don't believe that Jay Asher idolizes her like John Green idolizes his characters.

Another weird comparison to The Fault in Our Stars that I noticed? I cry at this book (same place, every time) but not TFioS. But as we know from that review, I might be the only person in the world who doesn't.

I really disliked Hannah in the book.  She gives these tapes to all these people, blaming them for her suicide, for what happened to her, and never once takes responsibility for what she has done in her own life.  She never once takes responsibility for what's going on in school and around her and with her friends and family.  She claims that no one cares about her, no one wants to reach out and help her, but when Clay tries, she pushes him away as hard as she possibly can.

And I think Hannah kind of ruined the book for me.  Because I really did like Clay and the fact that he had to listen to these tapes and share her journey.  I really like that Asher opens your eyes about all the things that are going on in this high school, and they're all real, scary things that happen in the real world.  Rape, and ruined reputations, and bullying.  It all happens, every day, in high school and more often than not gets swept under the rug.

But I think I just got so annoyed and put off by Hannah, it distracted me from how good the rest of the book was.

How to Ban/Challenge a Book

We all know that Cassy and I are big fans of supporting Banned Books Week, because it is wrong to impose your own views on others by taking away their ability to read a certain book that you disagree with. And we also know that Cassy has kept you on top of which books are the most banned/challenged each year. But how do books wind up on that list? I'm here to tell you how.

Fun fact: The ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee is just as old as Cassy and I (it was formed, like us, in 1986). They do a lot of important things, but the relevant one for this post is working with the Office of Intellectual Freedom (established in 1967) on issues related to censorship.

The OIF collects two types of reports on banned/challenged books. They keep an eye on media to see what gets reported in the news. They also accept reports from individuals: librarians, teachers, students, anyone who knows about a book that has been banned or challenged and wants to make sure the ALA knows about it. If you are someone who wants to make such a report, the form is here.

The OIF also offers support for the people defending such a challenge (usually librarians and teachers). On that page, you can find information and guidelines for dealing with authorities, the public, and the initiator of a challenge, among other useful tips.

So that's really all it takes... someone complains about a book being on a shelf or in a classroom, the institution being complained to makes a decision, and someone hopefully reports the challenge (or, worst case scenario, the ban) to the ALA to make sure it gets counted for the year. But don't feel too bad... the books that get challenged usually grow in popularity, especially around the end of September...

The Top Ten

Just like last year, I'm going to give you the top ten books that have been challeged/banned in the last year (since it's 2014, this is the list for 2013.)  There are a lot of repeats (Captain Underpants is number one again!  Really!?)  But there are some newbies to the list too.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Reasons: Offensive Language, Unsuited for Age Group, Violence

The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison

Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit,  Unsuited for Age Group, Violence

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Reasons: Nudity, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group (which is just silly, because it's an adult novel, so you're basically telling me either A. it's appropriate for people YOUNGER than an adult or B. it's inappropriate for everyone.  Everywhere.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited for Age Group

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Bless me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Reasons: Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit

Bone by Jeff Smith

Reasons: Political Viewpoint, Racism, Violence

A good list this year (especially because we don't usually see graphic novels, so good for you, Jeff Smith.)  The usual reasons for banning book, sex, drugs and inappropriate topics, though I will admit, this is the first time I've seen Occult/Satanism on the list (though, I'm sure not the first time that it's been on there.)

What are your favorite banned books?  We would love to hear and tell us why they've been banned.  What "reasons" were given for the challenge?  

Librarians and Banned/Challenged Books

The ALA (American Library Association) does not ban books. In fact, it kind of does the opposite. It keeps track of bans and challenges from around the country and makes that information available to anyone, and it does what it can to support librarians who choose to keep challenged books on their shelves. It even sponsors Banned Books Week, a celebration of reading (not banning) banned/challenged books.

What's the difference between banned and challenged? Basically, banning is when a challenge is successful. When someone complains about a book and wants it banned, that's a challenge; when the school or library that has been complained to removes the book, that's a ban. Sometimes they go even further; there have been instances of book bans in schools that not only remove a certain book from a reading list and/or the library, but won't allow students to carry or read that book on school grounds. But we aren't really talking about governmental bans, because I'm discussing the ALA, which deals only with the USA, where we do not ban books at the governmental level. (That's sort of a big part of why we have the First Amendment.)

So who does challenge books? Parents of school-age children, mostly. A parent will notice a particular book in their child's possession, and that parent will take offense to it. Maybe someone told them terrible things about it; maybe they read a few pages out of context and found something offensive; or maybe it's a book that disagrees with their religious or political beliefs. They complain to the school or library that made the book available to their child, and demand that it be removed from the shelves or the reading list.

The thing is, parents who make challenges like this are trying to apply their opinions of what is right for their child to all the children in their child's school or community. That's one of those things we use the First Amendment to stop. You shouldn't take away everyone's access to something just because one person finds it offensive or inappropriate.

It gets trickier with reading lists for classes, because that's like telling a kid "you have to read this book." If a parent is opposed to a book on a reading list, that parent's child is usually offered an alternative book to read, or a transfer to another class that doesn't require that book. That way, the child can still learn the basic skills being addressed by reading the book (usually critical reading, vocabulary, history, literary devices, etc.) and the school isn't contradicting the parents' wishes or taking the selected book away from other students whose parents are completely fine with it.

But lots of schools - I mean, a ridiculous number - will remove a book from the school's library because one parent is offended by it. A lot of these challenges happen with middle schools, and it has a lot to do with parents who have difficulty accepting that their children are growing up and learning to think critically, form their own opinions, and explore topics that most parents don't want to think about their kids exploring (sex, violence, drugs, etc.)


The top three reasons for challenging books, according to the ALA, are:

"Sexually explicit" material

"Offensive language"

Materials that are "unsuited to any age group"

Do you really think a lot of adults are going to challenge books intended for adults based on naughty words and nudity? In that context, what does "unsuited to any age group" even mean? Nothing, really. That's the category for "this book isn't okay for a child of X age to read!" It's extremely rare to find a challenge intended to keep a certain book away from adults.

(The only solid example of book-banning attempts meant to keep a certain book away from adults that comes to mind is The Anarchist Cookbook, which has step-by-step instructions for all manner of explosives and other nefarious devices. If you've never seen it in your local library, keep in mind: there's a big difference between librarians choosing not to purchase a book and librarians banning a book from their shelves. And based on what I know about the book, it is not only controversial and dangerous, but extremely poorly written, which means it has little literary value. It was also published in 1971, so a lot of the information is outdated. These are always good reasons to not purchase a book for collection development.)


And librarians - as a general rule - aren't okay with banning books. They welcome the right to challenge books, because it's another form taken by the First Amendment (we have the right to stock the book, and you have the right to complain about it). But removing books from a public or academic library* is not nearly as easy as getting one removed from a school library*. That's because public/academic libraries serve a MUCH larger group than a 30-student class, and everyone else in that group has a right to have access to whatever books you find offensive.

*Academic libraries are college/university libraries; school libraries are K-12.

After all, as Jo Godwin said:

It Takes Two to Have a Tango

This week, we're reading And Tango Makes Three, which is a true story about Roy and Silo, two male penguins who adopted a third penguin, Tango.

Roy and Silo actually attempted to hatch a rock first.  Then, when there was a different penguin couple who couldn't hatch their egg, the keepers gave the egg to Roy & Silo, bringing about Tango

Aren't they such a cute, happy family?

Now, of course, there's a lot of controversy surrounding the Trio.  The gay community uses them as a symbol for homosexuality happening in nature, therefore making it a natural thing in humans too.

However, Roy and Silo drifted apart, and Silo mated with a female penguin named Scrappy in 2005.  This has made them a target for a lot of hard core conservative Christians, saying that it's not natural, which is why the two drifted apart.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.  Tango is actually in a relationship with another female penguin and they all live happily at the New York City Central Park Zoo.  Roy and Silo are about 25 years old (pretty old, considering the life expectancy is around 30.)

Roy and Silo were not the first same sex couple (that goes to Wendell & Cass of the NY Aquarium), and they won't be the last.  Same sex couples are actually fairly common in penguins.

And the Winner Is...

What's the one thing we all want to know?  Why, the top ten books that were banned this year, of course!  So, to kick off Banned Books week, here's the list.

Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey.

Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James.

Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.

Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit

Looking for Alaska by John Green.

Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz

Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

How many have you read on this list?  What your favorite banned book?

Dystopian Favorites

Alex and I actually were talking before this post and really trying to suss out our favorite dystopian books.  As we started listing dystopian novels, we realized that there were just so many!!  I mean, some of my most favorite books are dystopias.  However, I think I've narrowed it down to a favorite.

This is the version of The Handmaid's Tale that I own.  It portrays the outfits that women wear in the book, marking them as "breeders."  Basically, they were the only women who were fertile and are handed off to multiple men to try and have babies and repopulate the world.  However, I think it's important to also show this cover:

Women in Atwood's novel were meant to be silent.  They weren't supposed to have interactions with the husbands (though, not THEIR husbands.)  They were not to talk to people, not to go anywhere without an escort.  Their only job was to be a baby-maker.  What's more, is that the world came INTO this.  Women had jobs, families, lives and freedoms not ten years before.  In fact, Offred, our main character, can remember when she was married and in love and made love as opposed just to being knocked up by whomever happened to own her that month.  Women are no longer along to read or have opinions or anything.  All because of wars and declining fertility.

It's a very powerful novel, making you see how easily people can be affected by a change in the status quo, a threat that the human race will come to an end.  Atwood also demonstrated how easily things can revert back to a time when women had no freedoms, when really, no one had any freedoms.  The fact that Atwood's writing is fantastic makes this a book that must be picked up.

Like Cassy, most of my favorite books are dystopian, too. But one of my big favorites is one of the best dystopian series for teens in recent memory: The Hunger Games.

Maybe you've heard of it?

I chose to write about The Hunger Games because, of all the dystopian novels I have read, it has my favorite dystopian setting. I love a lot of things about these books, but the biggest one is the world Suzanne Collins created it in. (You know how lots of people say the Lord of the Rings books were just a vehicle for Tolkien to describe an amazing world with detailed languages he invented? Well, they say that. This is kind of like that, except I like Collins' writing far better than Tolkien's.)

If you aren't familiar with the series, I'll give you the history. Panem, which is a post-apocalyptic North America, is divided into thirteen districts and the Capitol. District 13 was crushed by the Capitol as an example to the other districts, as punishment for rebelling, bringing an end to the Dark Days (a rebellion against the Capitol's power). The Capitol has complete power over the poor districts, as demonstrated by the annual Hunger Games, wherein one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are chosen at random to compete in an arena (a new one is built each year with different dangers and challenges) to the death, with only one tribute (contestant) surviving. The winners go on to mentor the tributes  from their district in future years. It's all a way for the Capitol to say "we own you" to the districts, and it works (for 75 years, anyway).

There are a lot of details I'm leaving out, either because they're spoilers or because I would have to mention spoilers in order to properly explain them. But to sum up why I love this dystopia so much: the clash of the decadence of the Capitol and the squalor of the districts (well... most of the districts) is such an excellent contrast, and it's portrayed so well. That's how you build an excellent dystopian novel: a solid setting with a great backstory and thoroughly explained difference between the haves and the have nots.

Review Me Twice- What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

This is the first book we're reviewing here on Review Me Twice and that's largely because it fell on this year's list of banned or challenged books in the #8 slot.  It's not hard to see why What My Mother Doesn't Know falls on that list.  It talks about divorce (OMG!), kissing (scandalous!), even (GASP!) sex.  And what's more, it talks a lot about Sophie keeping these things from her mother.  Parents tend to want to keep books like these away from their kids because they don't want them to get the idea that they should be doing things like lying to their parents... or kissing boys for that matter.  And don't even get me started on the sex.  Parents often don't think their kids are mature enough.

Personally, I think that's a load of bull.  But each parent can think what they want.  My problem is when you start enforcing that opinion on other parents.  This book, you can tell, is really marketed towards early high school students.  I think that's more than an appropriate age to start talking about boys and your interactions with them.  

So, more about this book.  I, personally, liked Sones approach to mother/daughter relationships the most.  I hate reading about mother/daughter relationships that are picture perfect things.  I hate when they're oh so best friends and how life is just terrible when the mother/daughter duo have a fight about something absolutely stupid in a book.  Real life just isn't like that.  Mother and daughters are complicated.  They are the most complicated relationship in the entire world and even the most healthy of those relationships aren't as perfect as they're often portrayed in books.

Sones manages to pretty accurately capture the complexities of mothers and daughters.  Sophie never seems to want her mother to know anything.  She hides things, never tells her mother what's going on, gets indignant when her mother shows any sort of concern or interest in her boyfriend.  On the other hand, when her mother is indifferent, sunken into depression, as she often is, Sophia wishes that her mother took any sort of interest, cared at all, despite the fact that she's constantly telling herself she wants her privacy.

I like that Sones disguises this book about mother/daughter relationships in a romance.  Sophia keeps talking to us about boys, boys, boys (and in fact, there is not one moment when she is not in a relationship, talking about a potential relationship or about how she is going to tell her friends about the relationship that she's in.)  However, her relationships with boys reveal more about her relationship with her mother than anything else.

Really, the only thing in this book I didn't like was probably the poem free form format, which is really more of a personal preference than anything else.  The only author I've read who has done that style, and has made me like it, is Ellen Hopkins and I think I've already told you how much she is made of awesome this week.  I just don't think Sones writing style is strong enough to support writing in free verse.  To be honest, it came off to me more like she was writing that way because she wasn't sure she'd have enough to make it a full fledged novel.

My Bottom Line: 3 1/2 out of 5


My turn!

Maybe it's because I'm 26 years old, or maybe it's because I've always read edgy, racy things (my mom didn't stop me from reading her true crime books or Stephen King when I was in high school, and it never fazed me)... But this book is really innocuous.

I can understand why some parents might not want their child reading this: Sophia, our main character, is dating a boy who wants her to do more than make out (but she tells him no and sticks to it, and doesn't make a huge fuss over it). There are occasional bad words, where appropriate (meaning when she's upset). It's also listed for nudity, which I think is particularly funny, because I know exactly which scene they're referring to: Sophia and her friends go out in public wearing nothing but long raincoats, because it is daring and bold and funny. This scene is one page long, and completely incongruous with the rest of the story. It felt sort of like an intermission, actually.

This is a short book. My library's catalog record says it has 259 pages. So if you're trying to encourage a reluctant teen reader, it's a decent choice. There's just enough mention of sex and bad language to entice them into turning the page, and before they know it, they'll run out of pages.

I like the ending. It's a little cliche and obvious, but I like it. I'll leave it at that so I don't ruin it for you, if that's possible.

Also, the family dynamic is sad, but realistic. Each member of her family sort of does their own thing and they don't play much part in each other's lives. (This is typical in YA lit, because it makes it easy for the teen to have lots of leeway and freedom, without having to be an orphan. But more on this another time.) This is particularly resonant in Sophia's relationship with her mother, which is distant to say the least, which Sophia reinforces, but sometimes she wishes it were different. It's not the typical flat, blanket "ugh I hate my Mom" narrative that we usually get from bland YA books. There is tension and potential for resolution and it's not Disney-style resolution where suddenly someone apologizes and "sorry" is a magic word that rights all wrongs. It is clear that both parties will have to put in effort to fix their relationship if it is going to succeed.

I'm positive that none of the challenges to this book came from it being included in a school curriculum, because I don't think any teacher would assign it. It doesn't have much literary value. The only reason a teacher would likely mention it to a student is as an example of free verse style. But if I had a student who was advanced enough to be really studying free verse style in detail, I would recommend Ellen Hopkins (edgy though her books are... rife with drugs and sex and prostitution and abuse and all sorts of stuff that is really, really interesting to read about).

I enjoyed it, have no doubt, but I won't be picking it up again, because I've already gotten out of it all there is for me to get out of it. Which is fine... some books are like that for some people. I probably would have simply overlooked it if it weren't on the banned books list. So congratulations, whoever challenged What My Mother Doesn't Know! You gave Sones two extra readers by doing so.

Banning / Challenging Books

Most of the challenges counted for Banned Books Week come from one of two places: parents complaining about books in a school curriculum because they don't consider them age-appropriate, or people trying to remove the book from a library's shelves. In the latter situation, I am happy to announce that most of the time, the book stays put. See, librarians - despite our stereotype of stuffy old ladies shushing people and glaring at anyone who doesn't understand the classification system - are champions of freedom of information. Why else would we choose to spend all our time helping people find their way around an enormous repository of information and stories? But more on librarian stereotypes another day... back to the banned books.

Sometimes the complaint is that the book doesn't belong in the youth or teen section, so the book gets moved to the adult section. It stays in the library so that the people who want it can still access it, but the complainer is still satisfied. But requesting to pull a book off adult shelves is - in most areas and most libraries - a waste of time.

If you don't understand why it's not fair to try to pull a book of a library's shelves, think of it this way: John is allergic to peanuts and his mom wants the grocery store to stop selling peanut butter, even though it's your favorite food. Is that fair? I didn't think so.

This is why I (and the ALA) mostly refer to what we think of as banned books as "challenged books." It's more correct because, in America, we don't really ban books. A book might get banned from a curriculum or a school or sometimes a library, but mostly they're just challenged by people who don't understand that their views are not shared by everyone else, and the books remain accessible.

Our Favorite Banned Books

In honor of Banned Books Week, we would like to share our favorite banned/challenged books with you. Naturally, for bibliophiles such as ourselves, it is very difficult to pick favorite books, especially favorite banned books because we love so many of them, but we will make a valiant effort for the sake of you, the reader.

While some of my absolute favorite books of all-time are frequently challenged (the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games series, almost anything by Robert Cormier), when I think of my favorite banned book, I always come up with Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I can see why it would be challenged, especially in the context of a high school reading list. There are some big, scary, complex, controversial ideas in it, particularly for adolescent minds. I don't want to sound like I'm looking down on adolescents (I was just there, after all) but developing minds are easily influenced, and books like Brave New World can make a huge impact on them.

My favorite part of the book is the first part, where Huxley describes how society is, with their bottled fetus-growing and rampant unabashed sexuality and shunning of solitude. But I set more store in setting and characters than I do in plot, so this sort of thing appeals to me more.

The worst part is all the Shakespeare references. I took an entire semester on Shakespeare, including reading the entirety of two plays that I know Brave New World references, and I still know that I'm missing a lot whenever John speaks in this book. I pick up a little more each time, and if I made more of an effort to understand the references, I bet I would enjoy more of the second half of the book.

I think Brave New World is timeless. It was first published in 1931 and other than the occasional reference to technology that makes the modern reader scoff (none of which I can call to mind, and I just re-read this a few weeks ago, so they can't be too egregious) it feels like it could have been written any year.

While I am similar to Alex in loving me some banned book repeats like the HP series and Mr. Cormier, I have a completely different love of a very particular banned book and have for a very, very long time.

I have had an almost life long obsession with Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (which is interesting because there is another book by her which is on my all time least favorite books list.  Curiouser and Curiouser.)  It actually hasn't made the list since 2003, when it was on for two years.  However, it made the top ten list from 1990-2000.  

Little known fact: the book actually stemmed from an incident in Paterson's life.  The son of her best friend was struck by lightning and killed.

Usually, Bridge to Terabithia is targeted because it deals with language, death and, some claim, satanism.  I first read this book in the fifth grade and was never struck much by the language (Jesse says "Lord" a lot and I do believe the word "Damn" is said.)  The language is nothing harsher than what most kids at that age hear around them every day.

Also, I think fifth grade is just about the right age for kids to be old enough to deal with things like death and the emotions that come with it.  They're starting to get to the age when people in their life might die.  Grandparents or great-aunts and uncles might be passing away at this point in their lives.  If we expect them to deal with it in the real world, then why shouldn't we also trust that they can handle it in the books that they read?  In fact, isn't reading about grief in their books only going to better prepare them for grief in their everyday lives? I'd like to think so.

As for the satanism?  Well, ok, some might call it satanism.  But those of us who live in the world of books just like to call it imagination.  I think that parents who sit there and say that Paterson is preaching a world of anti-Christian values have forgotten what it's like to be a kid.  They've forgotten what it's like to fight off monsters with a wooden stick.  Thankfully, Paterson didn't.

Don't Say That!! A Few Thoughts on Censorship

I happen to be a particular fan of Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank (which has made it onto the Banned Books list for multiple reasons.  However, it's fabulous and you should read it and every other thing she has written.  Because she's fabulous.  And did I mention she's fabulous?)  Really, one of the main reasons I like her is that she has decided that kids, teenagers mostly, can't be protected from the truth.  Her daughter has had a very dark journey with drugs, the topic which her books are based on, and she has taken the approach that we need to teach our children these things because educating them is going to do a lot more in the long run than shielding them. 

Last year, I actually won an advanced reader's copy of one of her books and with it came a copy of her manifesto that she's put out.  I've copied it in its entirety below:

To you zealots and bigots and false

patriots who live in fear of discourse.

You screamers and banners and burners

who would force books

off shelves in your brand name

of greater good.

You say you're afraid for children,

innocents ripe for corruption

by perversion or sorcery on the page.

But sticks and stones do break

bones, and ignorance is no armor.

You do not speak for me,

and will not deny my kids magic

in favor of miracles.

You say you're afraid for America,

the red, white, and blue corroded

by terrorists, socialists, the sexually

confused. But we are a vast quilt

of patchwork cultures and multi-gendered

identities. You cannot speak for those

whose ancestors braved

different seas.

You say you're afraid for God,

the living word eroded by Muhammed

and Darwin and Magdalene.

But the omnipotent sculptor of heaven

and earth designed intelligence.

Surely you dare not speak

for the father, who opens

his arms to all.

A word to the unwise.

Torch every book.

Char every page.

Burn every word to ash.

Ideas are incombustible.

And therein lies your real fear.

© by Ellen Hopkins

You can read this really fantastic interview with Ellen Hopkins here where she talks about her opinions on banning books and she talks about the manifesto.

I think we need more out there like her, people really coming out hard AGAINST censorship and I really commend her for taking a stand.  When I read this poem about a year ago, it resonated with me, especially the last stanza.  It really isn't about the words that kids are reading, but the ideas that they get.  People fear ideas and change and that's what the next generation is BEST at.  That's what books, be they controversial or not, are best at giving.  Ideas.  And if we start banning the ones that we think are inappropriate or involve topics our children can't handle, what's to then stop us from banning books with religious content we don't like, or ideas we don't want our kids to think?  What happens when we think that a girl is described inappropriately?

What if the girl just has blond hair?  Should we ban the book then?  You may think that's extreme, but that's what we're asking for by allowing any book to be banned.  Hopkins says, "A word to the unwise" and I couldn't agree more.  Banning Books is a slippery slope that we don't want to embark on.  Reading what we want, expressing the ideas we get from those books is one of the fundamental freedoms we're allowed in this country.  It doesn't matter if you're 2 or 102, you're allowed to read the things you want and say the things you want to say.  You're allowed a freedom of speech and by getting rid of books in our public libraries, school libraries or even off a teacher's bookshelf, that right is being violated.

A lot of people worked hard for those rights.  Many even died for them.  I think we should respect them by respecting the very first that was given to us.

Banned Books Week (September 30 - October 6, 2012)

It's Banned Books Week!

Cassy and I feel very strongly about banned/challenged books, in the sense that we think you should read as many of them as humanly possible, and enjoy the heck out of them.  Though, it's perfectly fine if you don't enjoy them.  Just because it's a banned book, doesn't mean it's good.  There are some banned books out there that actually do quite suck, and while Alex and I never condone banning books, I can't help but think that some of those classics are their own special form of torture and maybe high school students have put their parents onto the idea of banning just to get out of reading it.

You can find the lists of the top ten most challenged books of each year since 2001 here. We are pleased to note that this is the first year since 2001 that none of the top ten most challenged books were challenged because of homosexuality. (This is mostly because And Tango Makes Three mysteriously fell off the list after being included for five years, four at the number one spot.)

The first book we will review for this blog is the number eight most challenged book of 2011, What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones. (Between the two of us, we've read most of the others on the 2011 list.  We have yet to decide if that makes us incredibly awesome or incredibly nerdy.  We'll leave that up to you. My money, though, is on both.)

So go out and celebrate Banned Books Week, and don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't read!