Banned Books Week

I write a banned books post every year. Weeks ago I wrote a reminder in my planner to get it written so that I would be able to post it the first day of Banned Books Week. Here it is Tuesday, and I got nothing.

Know why? Because I’ve already written about why it’s so important for us as a society to celebrate our right to read. I even had a few of my teen students share their thoughts on banning books. I’ve written about literature being a light in the darkness, our way to gain knowledge and experience other cultures, other lives, other beliefs, teaching us empathy and compassionate and hopefully, little by little, eradicating our prejudices and ignorance. I wrote about why I read banned books, why I will continue to fight for books, even those books I find offensive and disagree with.

I became a teacher because, as idealistic and naïve as it may sound, I truly believe that education—books—can save this world. I believe it is the only thing that can. I love my job and my students so very much—every single day I’m excited to get in the classroom and work with an amazing group of teens. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t difficult, or frustrating, or that some days I don't wish I’d become a plumber because I’d probably make more money and wade through less…excrement. J

But I do my job, day in and day out, because I believe in what I do. I believe in the students that I teach, know the impact they will have on this world, and hope and pray that I am able to impart some wisdom, teach them to think, help them to navigate the harsh realities of this world and see the beauty in it.

I’m fairly quiet online because I am not quiet in my real life. I advocate for my students every single day. They make me better every single day.

Don’t tie my hands behind my back. Let me, as a teacher, use the tools I need. Books truly are a way to show students they are not alone. And they not only find themselves in those pages, but they see the face of humanity, they see those who do not look like them, speak like them, act like them, and they see that they, too, are human. They, too, are worthy of respect and compassion and consideration.

It’s not surprising that the highest percentage of challenged books are young-adult books. But as a teacher, as a writer, as a reader, I’m begging you: Don’t send the message that young-adult books are shameful. In doing so, we tell teens that they are shameful. We take away the chance to have them work through much of what they are experiencing in a safe and controlled way. We take away their chance to find understanding and truth.

I have dedicated my life to books, and I will passionately defend the right of each and every one of you to have access to those books.

Huh. Guess I had more to say than I thought.

I Read Banned Books

It's important for writers, educators, and book lovers to make our voices heard not just during Banned Books Week, but anytime books are threatened; we're not just protecting books for ourselves, but for generations to come. There is so much danger in this world, and we shouldn't teach our children that books, that ideas and cultures and beliefs different than our own, are part of that.

I credit books for molding me into who I am today - not just a teacher and a writer, but someone in love with ideas, someone hungry for rich worlds not found outside my window, a person curious about ideas not normally championed by the masses. Who would I be if someone else had closed the curtains on the worlds I grew up with and silenced the voices that whispered to me when I felt alone?

I looked at the list of the top 100 books banned during the 90s. I was in school then and wondered what books I might have missed if book banning had been allowed to impact me. On the list were books that always are: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and A Wrinkle in Time. But there were two books on the list that had a profound impact on me when I first read them. One was Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. I read this book at a time when I wasn't sure it was okay to be me, when I was embarrassed about normal biological changes that were outside of my control. I read this at a time when the world said I should be ashamed. The book made me cringe, made me laugh, but above all, the book showed me that I was not alone in what I was feeling. I needed that more than anything.

Another was On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer. I was shocked to find this on the list because I felt that this book belonged just to me. I think I was in sixth grade when my grandmother gave me this book. It was the first signed book I ever owned, and the first time I realized that authors were real people, not larger-than-life immortals who lived on some distant mountain. The book is about a boy who watches his friend drown, and it was the first book I remember making me cry. I've read this book again and again, and I sobbed each and every time.

We need to prevent our children from embracing hatred and ignorance. We must teach them to ask questions, to listen to diverse voices, and to work for a better world. We can do this in part by allowing them to read that which speaks to them.

Let's not snatch books out of the hands of our children. Who knows what they'll pick up to replace them.

Don't Turn out the Light



Artwork courtesy of the
American Library Association.

It’s that time of year again: Banned Books Week, the one week out of the year that we throw a harsh light on those who would try to keep others in darkness. Those who want to project their prejudices and fears onto others. Those who want to hide the books.

Last year I wrote about how we should celebrate our right to read. This year I want to talk a bit about how my students are doing just that.

I teach sophomore English, and for the past few years, I’ve assigned Fahrenheit 451. I read the book myself when I was a sophomore in high school, and it had a profound effect on me. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. I recommend it to everyone. It’s a scary picture of what might happen if the book banners win, if books are indeed outlawed because of our fear of offending someone. It’s also a reminder that it is up to us to keep literature alive. In Bradbury’s world, books were not initially outlawed. It’s just that people stopped reading. They spent too much time getting offended and not nearly enough time listening.

The world is a scary place, and I understand that many parents want to protect their children from it. I get the need to shield children from the ugliness that life sometimes brings. But in doing so, we are also shielding them from its beauty. And while it is the parents’ prerogative to stand between their child and the world, it is not their job to monitor the morals of everyone else.

When we ban books, what we are doing is telling those who received comfort from those books that they are wrong. They are wrong to find beauty in something ugly. They should be ashamed of their feelings, their desires, their connection to something others view as sinful or shameful. We teach them to be silent. And when we do this, it is we who are wrong.

It is admiral for adults to want to stand between children and the world and become a shield against the darkness. But if I’ve learned anything about the dark, it’s that it creeps around our strongest fortifications, crawls into the gaps, finds a way through the keyhole.

Light is the only thing that chases away darkness. Literature is that light to many people. It’s that light to me.

It girds readers against ignorance and oppression. It comforts us and shows us we aren’t alone. Above all, it teaches hope.

Because in the end, we can’t protect those we love from the world. We can only make sure we’ve helped them to find their strength and to discover that hope.

One of the questions I asked my students after they’d read Fahrenheit 451 is which book they would memorize. If, like Montag, they were the one source of survival for a book, which one would they want to save at all costs? In looking at the books some of my students chose to memorize, to keep alive when all others may have been lost, you’ll see that each one holds a mirror up to life and reveals its ugliness, its darkest places. But in the end, each one gives us hope.

And hope is the strongest of shields.

 

Here are just a few of the books my students named:

The Bible (This was the most common response. The Bible is full of violence and war, of humans being at their worst, but in the end, there is hope.)

A history textbook (This was mentioned a couple of times. Students wanted to memorize the truth in order to gird themselves against lies.)

A Tale of Two Cities (Plenty of death here, but also love and sacrifice.)

The Fault in our Stars (Beautiful but harsh, am I right?)

The Hunger Games (Children killing each other for entertainment – not exactly Dick and Jane, is it? And yet it speaks to so many.)

Fahrenheit 451 (Just when hope seems buried, it rises from the ashes like a phoenix.)

1984 (This is the only one in the list that doesn’t end with hope. But that makes it the scariest of them all. The student wanted to memorize it as a warning – what would happen if we lost our hope altogether. The thought is chilling.)

To learn more about Banned Books Week and how you can celebrate your right to read, visit the American LibraryAssociation.

Students Respond to Banned Books Week

Poster one of my students made. Isn't she clever?

As an avid reader, I have always urged my students to celebrate banned books week by reading something someone else has deemed "wrong".  As the book club sponsor, we celebrate the week by hanging up posters and having a "read-in".  Earlier in the week, I posted my thoughts on banned books week.  You can read that post here.

But I also wanted my students to discuss their feelings on banned books week, since they are the ones it seems to affect most often.  So I encouraged by book club members to jot a few things down, and three of them participated with coercion gladly. 

Angelle:

Personally, books are my escape from reality.  Something I hold dear to my heart. I love to lose myself in a good book. Shock value is one of the best parts of the books I read. The thought of people I don’t know restricting me from reading something purely because they find it offensive is disturbing. People should be able to read what they want without “the man” trying to control them. So many amazing books that have affected my life have been banned in schools, which is truly a shame. Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Perks of Being a Wallflower are all great books that have been banned in some schools. Hunger Games, for example is a riveting book, and though some people might find it offensive, I loved it, enjoying the absurdity of it all.  I mean really, who doesn’t like a good book about children fighting to the death to avoid starvation? The point is I read all three of the Hunger Games books and I’m just fine. I’m not shooting arrows at people or trying to bring down a corrupt government. It was my choice to read that book knowing its theme was kind of morbid and I value that it was MY CHOICE, not someone I’ve never met deciding whether or not I could handle it. Banning books is banning knowledge and growth which OBVIOUSLY is wrong. I will keep reading banned books because that is my right and I truly do value it.

 

Cassie:

When I look back at all the books I have read, it shocks me to think over half of them are considered “banned”.  I have never found anything wrong with the books on the shelf in my room, but it seems there is.  To me, banning books is very wrong.  Children and teens should be able to feel the imagination and love you gain from books.  Book have changed my life.  They gave me a whole new outlook on life.  I find an escape from everything in my books.  I don’t care if they are banned and frowned upon.  Those books help me.  They could help so many others as well.  My mom does not frown upon what I read.  She supports my reading.  Every person should have that.  Everybody should be able to read what they want.  Reading builds people into being great, in my opinion.  I also noticed most banned books are banned for cursing.  Well, whoever banned those books obviously has never been to a high school.  Banned books can help people.  They can stop someone from taking their life, getting sucked up in the wrong crowd, and even help them deal with problems at home.  The banning of books must be stopped.  So go out and read a banned book!  (Some of the banned books I love: Water for Elephants, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Crank, and Go Ask Alice.)

Emily:

I really like books. I mean, I really, really like them. As in, if my best friend and the last set of Harry Potter books were dangling over a cliff, I’d totally save my best friend, but only after at least five minutes of an internal debate and possibly making a pros/cons list.

Personally, I’ve never been limited when it comes to reading. My parents never censored my books, and they never tried to control what I read. If anything, they encouraged my devouring of books, always willing to buy me something new at any time. (Except for the one time I got punished from getting books from a Scholastic book order, but that’s a different story for a different day.)

There’s a point to this post besides my love affair with novels, and I’m getting there, I promise.

Banned Books Weeks. Can we just focus on the fact that there’s an entire week dedicated to reading and our right to read ANYTHING we want? Like, anything. As in, I could walk into Barnes & Noble and pick any book I so choose, and no one can stop me. And no one should be able to, if we’re being real here. Like, if you don’t like a book, YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ IT. No one is forcing your eyes to absorb the words of a book that you may or may not agree with. It’s your own opinion. AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD AND HOLY, DO NOT TRY TO PASS YOUR OPINION ONTO OTHER PEOPLE. YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO SUCH A THING. (This applies to a whole lot of other things too, but I’m sticking to books, keeping it clean.)

Don’t keep someone from the beauty of books. Just don’t do it, man.

So, Happy Banned Books Week! Go read something wonderful.

Celebrating our Right to Read

 

 

I don’t know how different my life would be if I didn’t have books.  It is actually a terrifying idea.  My grandmother, who was a teacher like most of the women in my family, taught me to read before I started kindergarten, and since then, reading has been my passion.  When I think about elementary school, I pretty much remember racing through my work so I could read.  I remember getting lost for days in other worlds – and I feel so lucky that books still have that power over me.  I am also very lucky that I was allowed to read widely.  I read Stephen King’s It when I was thirteen years old.  It was probably not appropriate for me at that age, but I loved it, and I turned out okay.  My mother probably didn’t even know I was reading it, but I’m not so sure she would have stopped me anyway.  I often read off of her shelf, which is also why I’ve read numerous V.C. Andrews books, none of them probably appropriate for my age.  And it’s okay for parents to say that their child is probably not ready for a certain book yet.  Because we have the right to read, it also means we have the right to choose books which we might enjoy – and which ones we might not.  The books I love are not necessarily going to be loved by everyone else.  And that’s great.  Our differences are what make this world such an amazing place.  But it is not okay for you to choose books for me.  It’s not okay for you to make sure that those books aren’t available to me if I want to read them – that I can’t read that book because it offends you.

But I want to talk to my students, particularly those who refuse to read.  I joke all the time about our summer reading books.  I have suggested before that we send home a letter to students giving them a list of books that they aren’t allowed to read over the summer.  If we told students they could not read something, then I guarantee they would want to.  And I’m only half joking.  But students, I want to suggest this.  Choosing not to read at all is also, in a way, censorship.  Now I know not everyone likes to read.  Because books mean so much to me, that hurts my heart to hear.  But that is your right.  But please think about it like this.  Not all great books are made into movies.  And every movie you watch has been interpreted by someone else.  That is someone else’s vision of the story.  The director’s vision may be a great one, but your vision may be very different.  You won’t know that if you never read.  If you never read, you are censoring yourself from a lifetime of ideas.  You are committing yourself to only seeing things the way others see them.  Instead, discover your own way of seeing things. 

So I challenge you to read whatever you want because you can.  You have been blessed with the ability to read.  You are blessed to live in a country which values your education.  (I am a public school teacher, and no matter what you believe about the state of our schools, I am still an idealist and still believe that this country values education - despite some of the policies to the contrary.)  So you have been given this great gift – literacy.  Use it!  You have the right to get lost in a book – any book – even if someone else doesn’t like that book.  Even if someone else is offended by that book.  Get offended by that book.  That is also your right.  It is your right to read something and not like what it says.  Let’s have a conversation about it.  Let’s discuss those ideas.  But let’s not squash those ideas completely.  Let’s not tell someone they aren’t allowed to think that way.  Let’s read books that offend us and talk about why.  Let’s read books that address tough issues and learn from them.  Let’s just read books so that we can be swept away into a whole new world, one that is just for us, and let’s not let anyone take that away from us.  Because when you read, you create your own version of that book based on who you are, and no one else has that exact same vision.  Isn’t that awesome?  And even though the writer is manipulating you in a way because they are using words to create ideas, you are also manipulating those words and ideas and it is so much better than a movie, where you are just the spectator.  When you read a book, you are participating in that action.  So let’s not take that away from anyone. 

Let’s not take away the right of every human being to be moved and changed by a great book.  To be a better person for the words that are written.  Let’s celebrate the fact that we have the right to read.  And then let’s talk about it.  Because maybe having meaningful conversations about important things will change us all.  And call me naïve, but I do believe that books have the power to make this world a better place.  It’s why I write.  It’s why I read.  It’s why I try to pass that hunger for words on to my students.  And it’s why I read banned books.  I hope you will too. 

 

A list of some of my favorite banned books:

Fahrenheit 451

Harry Potter

Twilight

Huck Finn

The Great Gatsby

A Farewell to Arms

The Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Rings

(Really, if you look at the list, I’ve loved almost every book on there in one way or another.  Just goes to show you that the best books makes us feel.  Even if that feeling is anger.)

To learn more about Banned Books Week, visit http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek