What do two penguins, a light bulb and a sweet, juicy fruit have in common?

Banned Books week started Sunday, and with it has come a wave of what my husband would call jackassery.

Did you know Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic was challenged in a public library because it "glorified Satan, suicide and cannibalism?" I read that on one of the lists I’ve seen today online. Did you know that Roald Dahl's classic James and the Giant Peach promotes drug use? Here’s one of my personal favorites on the list for 2010 – It is a picture book called And Tango Makes Three about two penguins who adopt a baby penguin. The two adults happen to both be male, so somebody somewhere decided that it was inappropriate for children. Yikes. Boy penguins raise a chick! I’m shocked!

Of the top 10 most challenged books in the list for 2010, 8 of them were described as being “sexually explicit.”

I got news for you, folks: Kids know about sex. Certainly teens know about it. (Shhhh. I think they might even know how to DO it!) Is there a time and a place where a parent and child could/should decide to wait to read a story? Absolutely! Might some topics or subject matters in fiction be misunderstood by an audience? Sure. Is there language written in novels that I don’t want spoken aloud in my home? You betcha!

But here’s the rub: I want to choose. I want to be the one to say, “No thanks, I’ll have my kid wait on that one.” Or maybe say, “OK, kiddo – you can read it, but let’s talk about it too, ok?” For me – for my children—for my friends, neighbors, family and strangers I might bump into when crossing the street. I want us all to have the freedom to read whatever we want, whenever we want and to help the young people in our lives read carefully, read with intent, read for pleasure (of course) and read to understand. I want my children to read tough stories and TALK about them with someone they trust.

I’ve said it before in some comments on other blogs this week: pay attention to what your kids are reading. Read it with them. Talk about the stories – whether they are “sexually explicit” or encourage them to break dishes instead of clean up (another crazy reason Silverstein has been challenged). 

Shocking, I know … but sometimes reality confronts us with language we don’t like or situations we think are offensive. Wouldn’t you like to talk to your child about those things as encountered in a story before little Billy or Mary Jane encounters them face to face? Wouldn’t you like to give your kids tools to help confront racism in their school because you’ve read and talked about To Kill a Mockingbird or Huck Finn together?

Freedom. Freadom. Pay attention.

So the Banning Begins... And the Idiots Speak

In all my years as a student, I was never aware of any controversy around banned books in my schools. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe I just didn’t know what was going on around me.

Now that I’m a parent with kids of my own in elementary and middle school – I’m appalled by the idea that there are small groups of adults who think they can control what every child in their community has access to in the library or classroom.

Appalled. Disappointed. Frightened. Sickened. Every year, these stories hit me anew and make me angrier and more frustrated than I was the year before. I think the fact that I’m a writer in addition to being a parent makes me that much more frustrated.

Laurie Halse Anderson, one of my favorite YA writers, has a post about how her award-winning novel Speak was called “soft core pornography” by a professor at Missouri State University.

A PROFESSOR. A man who has dedicated his life, supposedly, to learning. Yikes. Makes me nauseous.

Plus – if you’ve ever read Speak, you know that the idea that this man would categorize the main character’s rape (or any rape!) as pornography is simply disgusting.

I first encountered Speak not as a teenager, but as an adult in a class taught by author Lisa Klein about writing for young adults. It sparked conversation and discussion in our classroom about literature and how powerful it can be for the reader. We talked about how beautifully written Speak is, how well drawn the symbolism is, and how inspirational it is not only to writers, but – we were certain – to kids who read it and experience the moment when great stories touch your heart.

This book deals with issues and events that would not come up in daily classroom conversation. And for that alone, it is to be commended. Enabling our young people to confront violence of any kind, but especially violence against girls and women, is heroic on the part of the storyteller. Halse Anderson should be congratulated for allowing groups of kids to talk about the events in Speak.

Another book I’ve written about here on Carpe Keyboard, Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, has also been in the news as banned already this year.

Here’s the thing: I’m convinced that these people who make a big noise over banning books – any books, not just these two – are really out for something completely different. They are all about drawing attention to themselves, not about protecting anyone. And even more disturbing…I usually find that their comments expose the fact that they HAVEN’T EVEN READ THE BOOKS they are trying to ban in the name of morality and religion. And if they have read them, they certainly missed the point of the stories entirely.

Shame on them.

Since these bans usually come packaged up with religious indignation, I asked myself “What would Jesus do?” In the case of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak – the Jesus I know in my heart (and I believe in with all of my soul) would want to sit down with the readers and talk about her character’s pain. Feel her pain along with her. Because He would certainly understand that not only is the character in crisis, but that there are REAL GIRLS AND BOYS who are also in crisis and are alone in their suffering.

I’m sure in my heart of hearts that Jesus would NOT bury her story where no one could ever hear it. Where it would be ignored and her pain and the pain of others like her would go unnoticed and unrecognized.

If you haven’t read Speak or the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, go get a copy. Read them in support of the kids who are being kept from the art. Being denied valuable literary experiences. And being “protected” by unreasonable control-freaks.

Speak out. Pay attention to what people are trying to do in your own community. And just as importantly – talk to your kids about what they are reading. Let conversation be the centerpiece at dinner or take the place of TV in your  living room. Read the books they like (or dislike) and talk about why. Great books teach great lessons. Stories help us learn and heal and explore events we hope to never experience in real life.  

Stories make us better people. But only if we allow each other the freedom to read them.

National Coalition Against Censorship

National Banned Books Week