Sometime I wish my life were more predictable. For example when I wasn't sure if my grad school plans were going to work out or if I'd get a job after graduation, the appeal of a more securely planned future definitely appealed to me. Predictability is comforting for us; at times, having our lives planned out for us based on science and research sounds great. The plethora of dating websites promising better romantic partnerships based on proven matching systems illustrates the appeal of this general idea.
But where does this comforting predictability cross the line into a sinister disappearance of individual choice?
Whew! I woke up yesterday morning to an Internet storm in the young adult lit blogosphere. If you frequent young adult lit blogs or follow YA authors on Twitter or are on a young adult services listserv, you will have likely read the now infamous article in the Wall Street Journal, "Darkness Too Visible" written by Meghan Cox Gurdan. If not, check it out here.
First, I'll say that there are so many extremely articulate and wonderfully thoughtful responses to this article by bloggers, librarians, and authors--I'm including a list of links to several of them at the bottom of this post. Please check them out because they are far more experienced and eloquent than I am.
Now, this WSJ article got me riled up for a large number of reasons. There's such a great deal about it that frustrates me that I'm almost unsure where to begin. I think that my objections can be tied into one overarching problem with this article: it's extremely limited viewpoint. The article's content demonstrates a very narrow understanding of young adult literature, of young adults, and of librarians, authors, editors, and others in the industry.
Firstly, the article begins by describing the experience of one mother who was very unsatisfied and unhappy with the selection of books in her local Barnes and Noble's teen section; she felt that there was nothing appropriate for her 13 year old daughter, saying: "It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." The author goes on to agree with this statement, stating that "kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18." I have to say that such statements are indeed very "broadly speaking." This generalization about the range of materials out there for young adults is especially frustrating because it is patently untrue. I frequently find myself explaining to people that YA literature is not just one thing; it is not all vampire love stories or angsty prom tales or 'problem novels.' Just like adult literature, young adult literature is extremely diverse. Books dealing with some darker issues or situations are one type of fiction out there aimed at teens; they are far from the only kind of young adult literature being published and read right now. What about the fabulously fun or romantic or hilarious or whimsical young adult novels out there? Additionally, not all teen fiction is aimed at the same age group; most YA literature is not created for the entire 12-18 demographic. As other bloggers have noted already, if this mother had walked into a library and asked a teen or children's librarian for some advice, she likely would not have left empty-handed.
The main thrust of the article is that the fiction being published for teenagers is too dark, covering topics previously considered taboo such as sexual and physical abuse, self-mutilation, depression, suicide, sexual assault, etc. Other bloggers have articulated nicely that young adult literature has essentially contained 'problem novels' or issue-driven stories dealing with difficult topics since the genre has existed. I would rather simply point out why I, as a librarian and youth advocate, feel that books addressing these topics are important. I was a lucky kid--I lived a safe and comparatively happy life as a child and an adolescent. But I knew that the scary stuff was out there; I either knew of or was friends with young people who dealt with some or several of these situations. For a lot of teens, total innocence or ignorance of the dark side of life is simply not a reality. Now that I am older, I am even more aware of the fact that for many young adults, abuse, self-injury, or sexual assault are things of reality rather than fiction. Do I think that this means that every young adult should read about these topics? Of course not--each kid is unique and has distinct reading preferences and needs. But I do think that the attempt to give a voice to the voiceless should not be dismissed as easily as Ms. Gurdon seems to feel it can be. When we say that these topics cannot be written about--that they are dirty and depraved and so should be hidden in the dark--what message are we sending to the young survivors of abuse, assault, or depression? We are telling them that their stories do not matter; we are saying that these realities should not be discussed. As someone who has made it her job to care about young adults, I believe that such action is simply not okay.
In her conclusion, Ms. Gurdon states that "book business exists to sell books; parents exist to rear children"; I would like to add to that that librarians (and along with other members of the young adult literature community) exist to defend each child's individual right to read and to provide a diverse literature in support of each child's discovery and understanding of the world around her and her place in it. This difference in objectives ties into my last quibble with this article: there is a distinction between banning and guidance. When we discuss censorship or book banning, we mean the demand that an item be removed from access by the public or by a large group of people (such as students at a particular school) based on the objections of an individual or a group. Meanwhile guidance is on individual, personalized basis. Parents should talk with their children about what they're reading; please do! However, individuals do not have the right to extend such guidance to other children or young adults.
To end on an inspiring note, please check out the myriad of responses on Twitter using the hashtag #YAsaves; hundreds of teens and adults have shared their personal examples of how powerful stories written for teens can be.
Here are a few of the great responses to this article so far- check them out!
So, once again, grad school gets between me and the blogosphere. But I couldn't let Banned Books Week end without putting my two cents in. In case you weren't already aware, this past week was Banned Books Week, a week set aside by the American Library Association to celebrate our freedom to read and highlight the continued presence of censorship in our world. My first encounters with Banned Books Week were in high school when I helped create the library programming surrounding it. So now, every year in September, I go to the ALA website to check out their newly published lists of banned or challenged books and think. I think about how passionately I feel about intellectual freedom and freedom of information access. And I think about how complicated and complex the situation surrounding each challenge or attempted banning can be. And I think about way great books can be denied to readers because of misunderstanding or fear.
But let's get the basics taking care of first. What's a challenged book and what's a banned book? The ALA website states that a challenge is "an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of a person or group." A book becomes banned if the challenge succeeds in getting it pulled from the shelves or from the curriculum. Thanks to the work of teachers, librarians, parents, students, and other passionate people, most challenges never become bannings.
The ALA notes that most books are challenged or banned for a few major reasons. The material is usually thought to be "sexually explicit," to contain "offensive language," or be "unsuited to any age group." Most often, people challenge books out of a wish to protect their children or minors in general from materials they deem inappropriate or dangerous. While I understand the urge to protect children (and I really do!), there are lines that our First Amendment just won't let us cross. While a parent has the complete right to control what his or her own child reads, he or she does not have the right to control what other people's children can read.
So, every year across the country, teachers and librarians work with students, parents, and others to stand up for our First Amendment rights--and the rights of children and youth to access information. Learn more about how you can get involved and check out the lists of recently or most challenged and banned books today at the ALA's website. I am proud to say that I read banned books and so here are just a few of my favorites:
His Dark Materials (series)by Phillip Pullman In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George The Giver by Lois Lowry Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Forever by Judy Blume The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
So even though Banned Books Week is over, the fight to protect the freedom to read and to think is never over. Go read a banned book today! Research how else you can get involved in advocating for this issue!
So while I was browsing around Twitter today to get some updates on the Speak Loudly campaign, I stumbled upon some really awesome posts, including this one by Natalie of Mindful Musings-a blog I am new to but already liking a lot. She has helpfully posted a bunch of posts and giveaways that have sprung up as a result of the challenge to Laurie Halse Anderson's book SPEAK, which I mentioned in my last post. So I wanted to acknowledge her generosity in creating such a post and highlight some of the giveaways I'm most excited about.
Mindful Musings is giving away a copy of either Slaughterhouse 5, SPEAK, or Twenty Boy Summer.
Carol's Prints is giving away Banned Books Week themed prizes including an awesome Banned Book bracelet, 2 copies of SPEAK, and a pre-order of the new novel The Mockingbirds by YA debut author Daisy Whitney.
Sarah Ockler, author of another book mentioned in the Scroggins article Twenty Boy Summer is giving away a Wesley Scroggins Filthy Book Prize Pack, which includes Slaughterhouse 5, SPEAK, and Twenty Boy Summer.
Mundie Moms is giving away copies of SPEAK, Burned by Ellen Hopkins, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
There are many, many more great posts and giveaways. Check out the post on Mindful Musings linked above to see more! Keep Speaking Loudly, friends!
So I'd planned to write up and post another book review today but that's just going to have to wait. Instead I'm going to use my meagre free time to put in my two cents on the news story that is setting the book blogosphere on fire. In case you might not have heard, here's the overview. On Sunday, the wonderful author (and blogger) Laurie Halse Anderson posted on her blog about a college professor named Wesley Scroggins in Missouri who wrote an opinion piece for the local newspaper in which he described her book SPEAKas inappropriate for students to read, classifying it as soft core pornography--primarily, it seems, because the novel contains two rape scenes. Anderson has called for support because she is concerned that this man's complete mischaracterization of the book might lead to it being pulled from the school curriculum. The feedback from teens that Anderson has received over the years since SPEAK was first published has illustrated that this book can change kids' lives in the best of ways and she would rather the students of the Republic School District not be denied that opportunity.
Now, so many other bloggers have already posted on this topic. See the bottom of this post for a list of just a few! And they all have been so eloquent and powerful. So, I'm going to try and avoid total repetition but it will be hard because I agree so wholeheartedly with these smart people.
My gut reaction to these events was total disgust and outrage for two reasons. First, I become somewhat volatile and upset at most mentions of people attempting to control what other people read, especially via banning or, in this case, inaccurate badmouthing of a text. If a parent wishes to restrict his or her child's reading, then fine--until that child is 18, that's your prerogative. But I believe in intellectual freedom and the First Amendment, my friends. So I do not think that a single person has the right to prevent other people (and teenagers are people) from reading whatever material they wish to read. Second, I have read SPEAK. It was required reading my freshman year of high school. Now, I am a geek who actually enjoyed most books required for school, even the 'old ones.' But SPEAK was different. Reading SPEAK was and is one of the most powerful experiences with a story of my life. If you have never read SPEAK and do not wish to be spoiled, look away now!
SPEAK tells the story of Melinda, a freshman who is beginning high school as a social outcast after calling the cops at a party during the summer. What no one at school (or at home) knows is that Melinda called the cops because a popular senior boy raped her that night. But afterwards, she became so traumatized and paralyzed by fear and confusion that she essentially stopped speaking altogether. The novel follows Melinda's slow and difficult path to finding her voice again and finally speaking out and standing up for herself.
SPOILERS OVER! It is safe again!
I have been very lucky; I personally have never experienced trauma like Melinda. But I felt very voiceless in high school; as a shy and bookish teen, I felt alternatively invisible in and glaringly misfit for the social world of high school. SPEAK captures those feelings of powerlessness and of fear that every young person feels at one point in his or her life. Moreover, although I have been lucky, I have friends who have not been as lucky. I have been there in the aftermath of sexual assault and so I am even more furious and disturbed that Mr. Scroggins feels that rape could be equated with pornography, which is defined by its intent to titillate and provoke sexual pleasure. I have been involved in V-Day activities for the past several years. I have heard the stories from girls (and guys) at Take Back the Night events. Silence is the enemy in the fight against sexual violence and assault. SPEAK is a text that is fighting that fight; it is a novel that tells all kids who feel silenced or afraid, for whatever reason, to find their voices and speak up. What censorship and ignorant fear-mongering like Mr. Scroggins' article does is tell those kids to quiet down. To shut up because their voices do not matter. I personally find that attitude to be far more immoral than honest and emotionally powerful literature for teens.
There are many, many more awesome posts out there. I've just mentioned a few here-go look around for yourself and check them out!
So, please, join us in SPEAKING LOUDLY for this wonderful book, this brave author, and every kid who feels alone and unheard. Banned Books Week is September 25th through October 2nd. This year's tagline is "Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same." This message seems more important than ever right now. So let's celebrate our freedom to read and SPEAK out!
SUMMARY: Nina Bermudez, Avery Dekker, and Melanie Forrest have been an inseparable trio known as the Bermudez Triangle for years.Now, the summer before their senior year of high school they will be spending a significant amount of time apart for the first time.While Nina goes off to Stanford for a ten-week summer program, Avery and Mel stay at home in upstate New York and begin jobs waitressing at P.J. Mortimer’s Fine Food and Drinks Emporium.Within those ten-weeks, some big events happen in the separate lives of the Triangle.Nina falls for the sweet eco-activist Steve but must also face the fact that he lives in Oregon and so she likely won’t see him after the summer until they hopefully both end up at Stanford the next fall. Meanwhile, Mel has finally had a real kiss—with Avery.When the trio is reunited, relationships will change and the next year will be full of confusion, revelations, and division.Can the Bermudez Triangle survive?
ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS: I’ve been planning to read Maureen Johnson for a while. Actually, I feel slightly ashamed that I haven’t been reading her since she first started publishing.But being an English lit major for four years limited my recreational reading time.So I’m still playing catch up on awesome YA fiction.
Anyway, I’ve finally started reading Maureen Johnson and I’m definitely not going to stop anytime soon! The Bermudez Triangle was a great, fun, and unique read.The characters are all individuals with three-dimensional personalities and emotional lives.Also, it does something I really appreciate; it tells the ‘after’ story. What do I mean by that vague phrase? Well, in many movies and books, the story builds up to an important event; the heroine falls in love or gets her first kiss.But here, Johnson places these big moments at the beginning of the narrative and then spends the majority of the novel exploring what happens afterwards.The story expands on life after that first kiss and the struggles of making summer love work in the real world.Also, she allows the relationships to be messy and imperfect, which I also greatly appreciate.
The Bermudez Triangle also does a wonderful job portraying the complexities of teen sexuality and romantic relationships.The novel’s characters are diverse and the narrative spends equal time on the straight, gay, and questioning characters.Johnson treats each girl’s journey through love, heartbreak, and recovery with balanced details and obvious sympathy.I loved reading a novel where sexual identity plays a role but does not become a single identifier of a character’s role or personality.Also, Johnson works to explore the universal difficulties in maintaining friendships and balancing relationships with friends and lovers. Johnson’s story is a pretty successful attempt to show the lives of three young women with honesty and respect.I felt emotionally invested from the first few pages and thoroughly enjoyed the entire reading experience. Also, Johnson writes with great humor and elegance and so her writing, like all good writing, is a pleasure to read.
4 ½ / 5 STARS
Now, I can’t close this post without noting the controversy that has surrounded this book in recent years.Although I had been planning to pick up at least one of Maureen Johnson’s books this summer, I picked this book first because I heard about the censorship issues it faced in 2007.I first heard about the Bartlesville, Oklahoma challenge to this book via catching up on John and Hank Green’s Brotherhood 2.0/Vlogbrothers videos.On a side note, they’re hilarious and awesome and everyone should watch them; I’m proud to say I am a belated but now devoted Nerdfighter! Anyway, back to The Bermudez Triangle challenge.In April 2007, the Bartlesville school district decided to pull The Bermudez Triangle from the shelves of the Mid-High school library.The objections seem to be primarily that the book “has no moral fiber” and promotes immoral actions, such as homosexuality. It should be also noted that the book contains essentially nothing sexual beyond kissing between girls or between boys and girls. Maureen Johnson recounted the saga that followed in detail here on her blog so I won’t go into all the details—better to hear from the witty author/blogger herself! But if you don’t already know the story and you care about teenagers, books, and our first amendment rights, please go and check it out; you can trace the story through her archives beginning in April 2007. The conclusion to the so-called ‘Battle of Bartlesville’ was that the book was allowed to stay in the library but only on a reserve shelf where it could be checked out for school use with a parent’s permission.So, as Johnson wrote on her blog, the ending was sort of success (in that the book is still on the shelves) but in more significant ways it was almost worst than a full banning.I mean, because this fun and touching novel contains a romantic relationship between two girls, it has been relegated to a separate shelf.What kind of message does that send to a confused and nervous young woman or man who is thinking about her or his sexuality?How would that make even an openly gay teen feel? Situations like this are the reason that I am perhaps very sensitive and a little hard-line about censorship.
In conclusion, if you haven’t read The Bermudez Triangle or any of Maureen Johnson’s other YA fiction, you should remedy that as soon as possible! I for one am glad that I did!
Today is a very special day.Today is the first day I am actually blogging about something directly library-related! Woohoo! As a passionate library-lover and librarian-in-training, I try to keep up to date on all that is going on in the library world.When I caught the full details on this story via the School Library Journal article last week, I knew would have to blog about it.While I am a generally passionate person who cares a great deal about many issues, there are a few issues that get me particularly riled up.Censorship is definitely one of those especially riling issues.
So what happened? Well, earlier this April the library director of the Burlington County Library System, Gail Sweet, requested the Library Commissioners’ approval in the pulling of Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology from the shelves.Apparently this event was prompted by a request for the book’s removal by the 9.12 Project, a conservative group created by Glenn Beck.From emails gathered by the ACLU of New Jersey via a Freedom of Information Act, it appears that a formal request for the book’s removal was never made; Ms. Sweet and a colleague simply decided that the book should be removed from the shelves and were then supported by the library commissioners.When a librarian within the system asked the reason behind the book’s removal, Sweet replied with merely two words: “child pornography.”It might be good to note here that Revolutionary Voices was named one of the best adult books for high school students by School Library Journal in 2001 and has been recognized by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) as a unique resource that is one of the first to really be applicable to “queer and questioning youth of every color, class, religion, gender, and ability.”
So why does this rile me up?Well, first of all, my decision to pursue library science was based on a combination of factors but one of the main reasons was the American Library Association’s incredibly strong stance on censorship and our first amendment rights.Librarians are ideally the defenders of such rights who aim to work against censorship.So, librarians would ideally be the ones resisting requests for the removal of books rather than those doing the requesting.My librarian idealism is deeply offended by the concept of a librarian giving in to such a challenge in the first place. However, the ALA also recognizes the difficult situations librarians can find themselves in concerning their collections and so recommends that every library have a written policy that details the selection process used in choosing materials for the collection.Also, many libraries use a formal process to handle challenges.These measures protect against allowing a single opinion to determine the content of the library’s collection, which is a shared source of free information for diverse populations. In this situation, the procedures were all ignored; materials were completely removed from the library shelves without any official request and based on the opinions of two people supported by a committee that did no further investigation.Frankly, this behavior just undermines the authority of libraries and librarians around the country and the world to work for free speech and open access to information.And, so it riles me.I mean, not be completely cheesy or anything, but I really believe that free speech, free press, and open access to information are basic human rights and the key building blocks to a successful democracy.Libraries and librarians currently play one of the most important roles in defending these rights.And so it breaks my little idealistic heart to hear about things like this happening.
Well, there was my censorship rant.In other news, I already struggled with WFMAD by forgetting to do my writing yesterday. But I did a make-up this morning and I vow not to forget again! Laurie has posted some great prompts on her blog every day so if you are participating and running low on ideas, check it out! But, to end on a happy note, I received the coolest little gift ever yesterday: my friend sent me a Time Turner from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! AWESOME! Look how cool it is:
I can be even more like Hermione! YES! It is now one of my great geek treasures, right up there with my Jane Austen bobble-head.Anyone else out there have some favorite geeky possessions? Or an opinion about this NJ censorship business? I promise to respond to comments promptly!
as inappropriate for students to read, classifying it as soft core pornography--primarily, it seems, because the novel contains two rape scenes. Anderson has called for support because she is concerned that this man's complete mischaracterization of the book might lead to it being pulled from the school curriculum. The feedback from teens that Anderson has received over the years since SPEAK was first published has illustrated that this book can change kids' lives in the best of ways and she would rather the students of the Republic School District not be denied that opportunity. 
