Archives
Posted by Justine at 13:14, June 18th, 2009 under Book challenges, Young Adult literature |
There's a
wonderful article over at School Library Journal by Debra Lau Whelan, which says in public what many YA writers talk about amongst themselves all the time. Namely how pervasive censorship is in our field and not just in the obvious book-challenge way:
Self-censorship. It’s a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good books—those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections. The reasons range from a book’s sexual content and gay themes to its language and violence—and it happens in more public and K–12 libraries than you think.
Self-censorship happens all along the way as a YA book wends its ...
Posted by Justine at 20:14, February 5th, 2009 under Book challenges |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 30th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book challenges, Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Science, State of the World, Travelling, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
Just wanted to add my voice to the zillions declaring that John Green is not a pornographer. Well, at least, not the John Green who wrote Looking for Alaska. There may be another one somewhere who is. I can not speak for all John Greens.
Maureen says it
best:
In case you have never read Looking for Alaska, I'll tell you what happens in the scene that likely caused the drama. Pudge, the main character, has one of his first sexual experiences in the book—and it does not go well, largely because neither he nor the girl he has with really have any idea what they are doing. It is a funny scene which shows just how awkward some of these ...
Posted by Justine at 12:59, February 1st, 2008 under Book challenges, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:02, July 10th, 2007 under Book challenges, New York City/USA, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 11:15, June 25th, 2007 under Bloggery, Book challenges, Praising, Unicorns, Words & Language, Young Adult literature |
10. It upsets the
writers what wrote the books.
9. It upsets the readers what want to read the books.
8. It makes the books cry and
books are very sensitive.
7. If you really want people not to read a book, banning it will have the opposite effect.
6. If the content of a book offends you there are more effective ways to deal with your offendedness. Like, you know, engaging with it. Maureen Dowd's columns frequently drive me spare, but I don't try to get them banned,
I argue against them.
5. Besides banning books does not make them go away. Just ask
Chris Crutcher.
4. Banning books might make you feel ...
Posted by Justine at 23:21, May 10th, 2007 under Bloggery, Book challenges, New York City/USA, Ranting, Reading, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 6:01, May 2nd, 2007 under Bloggery, Book challenges, New York City/USA, State of the World, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 18:31, April 27th, 2007 under Book challenges, Daughters of Earth, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Reading, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
What have
I started? Arguments about the relative merits of
zombies and
unicorns rage across the intramanets. And on each thread someone suggests the zombie-unicorn hybrid. Great minds think alike? Or fools seldom differ?
I was greatly distressed that lovely friends of mine like
Holly Black,
Cecil Castellucci,
Meg McCarron and
Literaticat have fallen pray to the false glittery charms of unicorns despite the fact that being virgin fascists unicorns would have nothing to do with them. I guess it falls into the whole desiring-what-you-can't-have camp. Perhaps to resolve our issues Holly and I should collaborate on a Zombies vesus Unicorns novel? I will write the zombies and she can have the unicorns. Though ...
Posted by Justine at 12:54, February 18th, 2007 under Bloggery, Book challenges, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, State of the World, Unicorns, Words & Language, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
Us
Asif! authors have been chatting more than a little about the whole books-being-banned situation and we don't always agree. Some of us do think there are books that are inappropriate for kids. For instance, I would not be totally wild about a ten-year-old reading the Marquis de Sade.
On the other hand, when I was ten I picked up Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer (I blame my parents!) and promptly put it back down 'cause it was not only gross, it was really really really boring. I read it again in my late teens and had the exact same response. I imagine the ten-year-old me would have had the same response to the Marquis. As a kid, much like ...
Posted by Justine at 1:36, September 28th, 2006 under Book challenges, New York City/USA, Ranting, Reading, State of the World |
It's banned books week, people. Check out the following links and then go out and adopt a banned book. Bring it home, love it, read it, blog about it. Encourage others to love the many banned books.
Here are banned books links courtesy of the lovely
E. Lockhart:
Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century (2000-2005)
The fabulous asif site. I'm a proud member of Asif!
Badges (buttons) and other images you can use.
The Freedom to Read foundation.
THE BOOKSENSE TOP TEN BANNED BOOKS
1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee
2. GEOGRAPHY CLUB, by
Brent Hartinger
3. THE GIVER, by Lois Lowry
4. THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, by Helen ...
Posted by Justine at 11:27, September 23rd, 2006 under Bloggery, Book challenges, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Scott and me were taken out for lunch by the lovely women of the
CCBC, Hollis, Katy, Megan and Merri. We talked graphic novels, manga, YA books and censorship and much fun was had.
My favourite moment was Megan or Merri's (I'm jetlagged and can't remember which) anecdote about a twelve-year old asking to borrow a newly arrived library book because the cover so appealed to her. The book was M. E. Kerr's Deliver Us From Evie. Evie of the title is a seventeen-year old lesbian; the girl wanting to borrow the book was from a very conservative rural family. So the school librarian looked at the girl desperately keen to read the book and imagined the outrage that would ...
Posted by Justine at 19:34, May 25th, 2006 under Book challenges, Cons & Other Gatherings, Manga, Reading, Travelling, Young Adult literature |
The newly-minted organisation
ASIF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) has just gotten
coverage in the source of all publishing news ,
Publishers Weekly.
We also now have our mission statement:
AS IF! champions those who stand against censorship, especially of books for and about teens.
I've never had a mission statement before. I feel very superhero-y all of a sudden. Yay us! Maybe we need capes?
Posted by Justine at 9:02, December 6th, 2005 under Bloggery, Book challenges, New York City/USA, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
