Banned Books Week

Not surprisingly, this week posts were popping up all over the blogosphere about Banned Books Week. Here are some of my favorite posts:

Laurie Halse Anderson posts
Halse Anderson wrote multiple posts focusing on attempts to ban her books and updates. The first that I read outlined an example of when parents not only object to their child reading a book but try to move forward and dictate what all students in a setting can read. One of the scenarios mentioned was a school that wanted to use Halse Anderson's Twisted for literature circles.

This is what I responded:

That is unfortunate that the parent was doing a full on challenge of literature circle options. While many are against any type of censorship, this seems even worse since it was just an option, not a whole class read.

In my own classroom I try to be careful that the books I have are appropriate for middle schoolers. I often struggle on where to draw the line. I have a box full of books that are intended for high school readers that I just can't get rid of because some day I hope that I will be in a situation where I can utilize them, even if it is lending them to former students when they are in high school.

I try to honor parent wishes. There are some books in my classroom library that not every parent would agree is appropriate for middle schoolers. I would respect such parents' wishes in regard to their children, but I would never want one parent to decide for all 51 of my middle schoolers. That is why this challenge bothers me so much. It is reasonable to say that the parent would prefer his/her child reads a different selection for literature circles. The parent could even talk to other parents if he/she felt so compelled to do so in order for each parent to make the decision for his/her own child.

However, it is unfortunate that the parent felt it was up to him/her to take the book out of all the students' hands. Every student is different and the books may very well have been exactly what some of them needed.

Diana Rodriguez Wallach's How Books Get Banned by Good People
She addresses a recent interaction with parents where she saw a glimmer of the slippery slope of parents objecting for their own children and soon feeling like they need to object for all.

My absolute favorite - John Green's vlog I am Not a Pornographer
This hilarious vlog was a humorous, creative way to react to his book being challenged. If you had not seen it yet, it is a must see.

It was fun to see how different authors addressed this topic this week and interesting to see different aspects to the issue through each post.