Sorry guys, no Nano stuff today, because something else has taken precedence. My siblings' old school district has pulled a book from the shelves of the library and classrooms of Blue Springs schools. You can read about it and see the interview with the parents requesting the ban here. The novel in question is Hold Still by Nina LaCour, a YA book about a teen struggling with her friend's suicide.
The parents and their pastor are now asking for more books to be pulled from the shelves after reviewing the library's inventory! Guys, this is not acceptable. Their argument is that they are "for free speech until it impedes on their rights as a parent." Obviously, this is not the case as now they are impeding the rights of every other parent and student in the school district. Asking to remove the books is not the answer. Becoming active with your child's reading choices, reading them yourself, and engaging them in dialogue about the subject matter is a much healthier decision. You must accept that if you send your children to public school, and as I can attest - private school, you are exposing them to curse words, sexually explicit language, and a host of other adult issues. I have attended public school and private school, and I have taught in public school. Trust me on this one. Books help kids work through their changing worlds! Parents can help too. Censorship doesn't result in keeping books from kids, it results in poor communication between kids and their parents and teachers.
So what can you do to help? You can write an email and send it to me, and I will personally deliver copies to the school district AND send them to district librarians. Talk about Hold Still. Talk about any book that's encountered censorship that inspires you. Talk about why kids and parents have a right to a well-stocked library and why they have a right to read.
My email is genn@genniferalbin.com and please include in the subject "Write to Read" and share this on FB and twitter.
Genn - I'm on it. And I mean like, ON IT. I will write something up and ask my District Librarian to write something as well. Going on my priority list today.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mindy - spread the word. I'm seething right now.
ReplyDeleteYES. I just blogged about this! http://amparo-ortiz.blogspot.com/2011/11/nina-lacour-book-banning-worst-mistake.html
ReplyDeleteI'll work on something and send it later today or early tomorrow! Thanks a ton for speaking out :)
Thank you for doing this. I'll send you an email and post on Facebook as well as my blog. My mentor here in South Florida, Joyce Sweeney, just had one of her books challenged as well. She spoke personally with the parent bringing the challenge, and was interviewed on the radio about it. Has anyone been in touch with Nina LaCouer?
ReplyDeleteNina has tweeted about it, and I'm about to send her an email. So we will see.
ReplyDeleteDone! New follower (found you from QT) by the way!
ReplyDeleteI'm on it! Tweet sent. Letter forthcoming. I hate it when parents want to pawn their responsibilities off on schools and libraries. I censor what my kids (ages 10, 7 , and 7) read ALL THE TIME because I am a responsible parent. I read what they read and if it's too mature, it goes on a shelf for later... I would never dream of making that the responsibility of the school librarian. It makes me livid when my kids doesn't have access to a book at the library because it doesn't fall within the parameters to what's "appropriate" to another parent (And Tango Makes Three is a perfect example). As you can see, this is a hot-button issue for me! Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. I hope this school gets bombarded with angry letters!
ReplyDeletehttp://yalitwit.blogspot.com
Mindy McGinnis tweeted this, which is why I'm here. I'm a librarian, and you are exactly right - those parents who want to pull books off shelves, rather than discussing them with their children, are dead wrong. I blogged back when Wesley Scroggins was attacking "Speak", and here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://mary-j-59.livejournal.com/64803.html
I also retweeted.
It just makes me sad when parents try to ban books.
Thank you all! I'm responding to emails as I can, but they are beautifully written! And I can't wait to check out links to your posts in the morning. All this censorship fighting has me dead on my feet!
ReplyDelete