(The views expressed in this blog entry are my own, and not necessarily the library system I work for.)
My friend asked her son if he had read the book. He responded yes, and he liked it. My friend read the book herself and thought it was fantastic. They had a thorough and positive discussion about the book.
The scenes in question were kissing between two male characters, masturbation, and a brief sex scene. They were only a small fraction of the whole book. My friend thought these themes should be discussed by kids that age.
She went to the board meeting. Several of the primary challengers who were uncomfortable with the book did not take the time to read the whole thing themselves. They based their challenge on the two or three excerpts from it. My friend told me one speaker stated her child brought up a question about sexuality, and it was uncomfortable. Luckily, some of the other parents read the book, realized its merits, spoke in its defense, and the board dismissed the challenge. Afterwards, the audience applauded.
A positive thing from this book challenge is that many parents read the book because of it and discussed it with their children. The disturbing things about the book challenge are the reasons behind it, including homophobia, ignorance of diversity, and blindness to the challenges middle schools face in New York City and elsewhere.
Until relatively recently, school-book selections were heavily based on class cs. I remember some of my library coworkers joking that some teachers used the same book lists for decades. Updating and modernizing book lists is a good thing, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. One reason I’ll start with is reluctant readers.
I was a reluctant reader. I have no fond memories of reading books when I was a young kid. I think I had ear surgery at a very young age. I had no interest in reading and wanted to do things outside, mainly. In middle school, I attended special education classes. In middle school and throughout most of high school, I wanted to skateboard.
What got me into reading in high school was not assigned books. My dad is a fan of Robert B. Parker, and we had most of his paperbacks in our house. I liked the grit of the stories. On Detective Spencer’s missions, he got help from criminals to solve the cases. That taught me the world is more complex than a simple good versus evil. In high school, the only stellar grade I got on an English assignment was when we had the option to paint a scene from Great Expectations. The teacher liked my painting, even though all my essays were heavily marked up. I don’t even think I finished reading that Dickens class cs. My onset of schizo-affective disorder happened when I was 17.
Luckily, my parents persuaded me to go to college as a commuter student. I healed and blossomed over ten years. I also became an avid reader. Reading an excerpt from Tracks, by a contemporary author, Louise Erdrich, fascinated me. The Native American mythology themes were so unique compared to what I had read previously; shortly after reading that, I became an English major.
That’s my story, but with all young reluctant readers that eventually become avid readers, some book needs to engage them for that to happen. Experts in school, libraries, and the publishing industry know that variety is key. A lot of classics are hard to read and can effortlessly bore reluctant readers. New readers need something they can relate to or something different from their lives that opens their imagination. Diversity is important. In this country, rural kids should read about urban kids and vice versa. There should be representation of all races, ethnic groups, genders, sexual orientations, and religions in reading materials. The truth should not be altered to fit sensitivities.
In the last year or so, a children’s book on Roberto Clemente was challenged in Florida because it talked about the racism he faced in his life and baseball career. I don’t think anyone should deny that it was true. Clemente was born in 1934 and died in 1 72. Racism is an ugly part of our country’s history. Trying to erase this fact is disturbing and does not help with today’s problems with racism. The question of what information is appropriate at what age is studied by teachers, librarians, and the book publishing industry. Regardless of the curriculum used at each grade level, for non-fiction, it should be based on the truth as reputable historians know it.
The bulk of recent school-book challenges is out of hatred and misinformation about the LGBTQ community. A decade ago, through my work, we had the opportunity to host workshops with Planned Parenthood. It was informative and a learning experience. This non-profit organization does a lot more work than its abortion services. They provide sex education to anyone. Their focus is on women’s health and teenagers. If fewer teenage girls got pregnant, poverty demographics and more would improve. Having a child as a teenager affects her chances of attending college and puts a hardship on her family, which needs to help raise the child. Education, guidance, and access to verified information are effective ways to address this issue.
From the Planned Parenthood trainings, I learned that people know their sexual orientation and gender identity at an early age. Those who define themselves as LGBTQ face hardships from peers and, in a lot of cases, their own families. They should be able to read the books they want and get the resources they need. There is a good skateboarding documentary called ‘Leo Baker: Stay on Board’ (available on Netflix) that provides a personal account of someone transitioning into themselves. The emotions expressed in his interviews are intense, and I thought the ending video sequence was thought-provoking.
There are many misconceptions about gender identity. Here is a link to factcheck.org that debunks the claim that kids getting these gender transition surgeries are out of control. https://www.factcheck.org/2023/05/scicheck-young-children-do-not-receive-medical-gender-transition-treatment/ I plan to reread this for talking points. I’ve had many situations, mostly in bars, where people go off on this topic, and it would be good if I could clarify to these people the difference between the facts and sensationalized propaganda. Probably because I’m a white straight male, people say this shit to me. I want to become more informed so that I can teach them effectively. This hatred stems from conspiracy theory social media that has brainwashed a large portion of our population.
Lastly, I’ll talk about the hypocrisy of many parents worried about reading material when their kids have access to modern-day devices. I wish I had an iPhone with internet in the 8th grade. Do the parental site blockers really work? Google tells me you can join Instagram at age 13; I’m sure some kids can fudge their birthdate and easily get an account before that age. Have you seen some of the reels of models on there? It is not pornographic but has tenfold the sexuality of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue we all waited for and only got once a year back in the y. Social media and the internet in general have a whole host of problems for parents. Bullying, misinformation, cheating on assignments, creating low self-esteem, and the fear of missing out are all real issues.
Book challenges to schools and public libraries have also occurred for older children. I read that one parent was worried about what her 16-year-old son was reading. She should be more concerned about what apps and contacts are on his phone. There is so much other trouble he could get into. Let him read what he wants.
Compared to social media and the internet, reading is overwhelmingly a positive thing. If you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley, you learned Malcom X’s philosophies were self-taught by reading and studying in jail. From that and hard work, he became a civil rights leader. Reading for fun and to learn is a fundamental way to progress. People should encourage others to read at all stages of life, even if what they read is against their beliefs. In the United States, we have the freedom of speech, the press, and religion with the separation of church and state. We’ve always had conspiracy theorists with mean-spirited rhetoric and actions because of these liberties. However, it’s a constitution that grants Americans freedoms that most people in the world are denied.
We are in a weird and challenging time right now. However, I’m optimistic things could get better if people vote across the board democrat in the 2024 elections. There are problems from the far-left spectrum, but most of the bullshit is from conservative ideals. Book banning, trying to outlaw abortions, climate change denial, a general intolerance, and not making the AR-15 assault rifles illegal should be enough reasons to vote the Republicans out.
