Comments on: More Book Banning Idiocy

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:18:26 +0000

I agree with you completely and totally about why Bermudez gets banned. Nobody banning it will ever come out and say that directly anymore, and why? Because somewhere in the recesses of their tiny brains, they know they are FULL OF SHIT.

It makes me so mad.

By: bookgrl.blog» Blog Archive » Friday Plugs

bookgrl.blog» Blog Archive » Friday Plugs — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:14:34 +0000

[...] a somewhat related note, author Justine Larbalestier discusses the banning of Maureen Johnson’s The Bermudez Triangles, and homophobic book banning (a particular topic [...]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:14:53 +0000

I like the way she says ‘front lobby’.

ooh – front lobby

SAUCY!

Now she just needs to see some more football games.

By: Monica

Monica — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:09:19 +0000

Along with the nonsense around the attempted banning and burning of _Baby Be-Bop_.

By: Benjamin Solah

Benjamin Solah — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:23:08 +0000

I’m glad to hear that these kinds of YA books exist. They didn’t when I was a YA reader all those years ago

But I’m not surprised homophobes want it banned, unfortunately. I can remember not too long ago the furore over that segment in Play School where a child had two mums.

By: john cash

john cash — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:59:00 +0000

“Salacious, racy, rude, and saucy.” Makes we want to go out and buy it! Why can’t _my_ story-in-progress be like that?!? Slavic angst, post-Communist villains, Orthodox theology, and magic. In a YA book. Oh, but there’s the weird food. “Saucy”? Don’t make me laugh…

By: Liana Brooks

Liana Brooks — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:38:30 +0000

Oh, drat. I misread the title and thought you said “More Books Banning Idiocy” – as in a way to stop the idiots from taking over.

I really do wonder who has the time to get all hot and bothered over a book anyway. I may not enjoy everything that’s written, but I don’t have the free time to protest every book that doesn’t thrill me! Maybe you need to pull a Mommy trick and redirect these people’s energy to something productive.

I have a garden they could weed…

By: Malcolm Tredinnick

Malcolm Tredinnick — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:11:46 +0000

Are you sure there isn’t a secret “author’s cut” edition of Bermudez out there? That edition seems to keep being banned for racy content. I bought a copy during The Great Oklahoma Incident a couple of years ago so that I could be informed before being outraged and there were much fewer naughty bits than the people of Oklahoma had led me to believe (I found none). Real letdown.

All joking aside, it’s admirable that despite the regularity of these banning attempts, authors do still pick challenging topics such as homosexuality. It can’t be easy to do so knowing that the chances of libraries, schools, parents and shops picking any one of a number of “safer” books goes up. All very well to say “it’s for my art”; when it’s also your livelihood.. well, you all have my respect.

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:41:53 +0000

Increased sales would be an upside. Unfortunately for the majority of banned books that doesn’t happen. Last I heard from Maureen there had been no increase in sales of Bermudez Triangle.

By: Tim Keating

Tim Keating — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:35:26 +0000

When I read Bermudez, I felt like there was a strong implication of offscreen sex, but yeah, there’s nothing racier than makeouts in the text proper.

Freaking ridiculous. With luck, these attempts to ban the book will only garner it additional attention. (I seem to recall that I read it in response to a previous story about someone banning it. I’m contrary that way.)