Here's a link to an account of a rather horrifying book banning by a school library: BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE BANNED
The book is BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE by Maureen Johnson, and it sounds pretty innocuous to me, but then I'm homophilic rather than homophobic--"straight but not narrow," more or less, and from my way of seeing it, "they're here, they're queer, I'm used to it."
At my school, SHADE'S CHILDREN by Garth Nix was challenged by a parent a few years ago. Even after she and her kid moved, Mommy insisted that the challenge go forward, apparently because she did not want anyone else's kids exposed to this tale of the triumph of freedom and the family, which, had she read the book, she might have been able to figure out. Yes, there was some rather mature content, but in the view of our committee, it was appropriate for middle school. While some parents and students might object, there is a simple remedy for that: DON'T READ IT and DON'T LET YOUR KID READ IT!
I'm a pretty picky daddy myself, by some standards: there is a lot of stuff I don't let my kids, 3 and 10, look at. Yes, it does come up even with a 3 year old--at day care--and some G movies are too much for toddlers, in my view. I don't want my little boy traumatized by sharp-teeth! (Oh, no, no! I do not!) But parents have the responsibility: take a look at what THEIR kids are reading, and focus on their OWN families. But they have no right to deprive others the opportunity of reading certain books.
As Maureen says, "Book banning sucks!" (yup, yup, yup!)
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2 comments:
I'm SO beyond disgusted and APPALLED by this madness! Ugh. What is the deal with closed minded people? Not knowing any (i don't think) homophobic people, sometimes I pretend it doesn't exist. But the critique of this book also extends to underage drinking, which kinda has me shakin' in my boots, as there is a bit of that going on in my book. Eeek!
Craziness.
Hope you're having a good day Brian. NYC is 70 degrees today! Hallelujah!
Yeah, but don't shake TOO hard--banning is good for publicity, lol. But we don't want people to disapprove of us, do we? In Or Not, Cassie does a little sipping, too. But the thing that worries me is some political and religious stuff that, at least in my fair city, might rub ever so slightly against the grain. And my next book, the one I'm revising now? omfg. If it ever sees the light of day, I'm going to be lynched.
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