a good book!

or more specifically...a banned book!

As a librarian and former teacher and a reader in general I have some rather strong opinions about censorship and book banning. While I don't think that every person should read every book (quite the opposite!) I do believe in the freedom to choose and to express ideas.

There is such a thing as an appropriate audience and particularly when it comes to something that is assigned there should be care taken to respect the beliefs and values of the community. But that doesn't mean that the books shouldn't be written or available. In fact, there is great value in expanding the views and understandings of our individual worlds and one of the best ways to do this is by reading. What might be seen as offensive and harmful to some might just be someone else's daily reality.

Over the course of history pretty much every book has been at least challenged if not banned out-right but it's always interesting to me to see which ones have and why.

There are a few somewhat obvious incidents like In the Night Kitchen, the various coming of age Judy Blume novels, and 'risque' adult works like The Color Purple or Satanic Verses. But then there are the obscure and head-scratching cases like Goodnight Moon,  Little Women, and my beloved Elephant and Piggie books. (A quick google search will give you some interesting lists of books that have been banned or challenged or you can go to the American Library Association website for some more info.)

But I wanted to spotlight just a few of my favorite reads of all time, all of which have been challenged and/or banned on various occasions:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
-for sexuality, mentions of suicidal thoughts and gritty teen situations

 

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
-for promoting witchcraft, Satanism, violence and being too dark

 

 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-for using racial slurs, advocating white supremacy, violence

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L'Engle
-for supporting occultist religions and acts

*this year marks the 50th anniversary of publication!

The Giver series by Lois Lowry
-for supporting sexuality and scenes of violence, belittling motherhood, disrespecting the elderly

*the 4th and final installment, Son, is out this month!






Then there's The Hunger Games, just about anything by Roald Dahl, Bridge to Terabithia, The Diary of Anne Frank, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Harriet the Spy, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble...the list goes on and on. Chances are if you've read more than a handful of books in your life you've read a banned or challenged book.

In my mind it's just a tiny step from banning to burning, from censorship to mind control. (You've all read Fahrenheit 451, right? or 1984?) So, take a stand against The Man and read a banned book this week!

And you don't have to take my word for it!

"Without freedom of speech, there is no freedom." 
--Bette Greene

"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame."
--Oscar Wilde

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."
-- Harry S. Truman, message to Congress, August 8, 1950

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."
-- Heinrich Heine

"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance."
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson, February 11, 1964

Happiness is...a good book. (Summer Reading edition #2)

I'm baaaack!

So sorry about the confusion in the posting earlier.  For a quick re-cap go here or just know that I'll be posting a book review for each day of our Summer Reading programs at the library. We're back on track now with book #2.

The Secret Tree
Author: Natalie Standiford
Published: 2012
Pages: 245
Age Range: 8-12
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Cover score: ***
Overall: ***
Rating: G



First Sentence: Ghosts can live anywhere.

Voodoo curses, a Man-Bat, a missing cat, The Witch Lady, and a strange boy who lives in an abandoned model home; these are just a few of the mysteries Minty encounters the summer just before she turns eleven.  Add to that a best friend who doesn't feel so 'best' most of the time, constant tormenting by the Mean Boys, and anxieties about starting middle school and Minty's life is in constant disarray.

At first she and Paz (the BFF) are preoccupied by their obsessions with roller derby, practicing new moves and routines in every spare minute.  But when a mysterious prowler leads Minty on a chase through the woods she finds a hollow tree with a scrap of paper in it. And on that paper is written a secret. A secret that will change Minty's life forever.

The prowler turns out to be just a kid, Raymond, who lives alone in the model home next door to The Witch Lady. Together Raymond and Minty compile of book of photos of everyone in the neighborhood and additional secrets they continue to find in the tree, matching each person to their secret after spying on them. Paz can't be bothered with childish games and abandons Minty for the older, more mature Isabelle, leaving Minty hurt and confused. Raymond has more than his share of secrets and Minty wonders if she's the only one who isn't hiding something.

Their snooping leads to a few misunderstandings but ultimately the truth outs and all is well.


Here's a sample of the text:

The next day, my life was one sentence different than it had been the day before.  I kept looking at people I was used to seeing every day, and I wondered whether they felt that nobody loved them except their goldfish. Or if they were international spies.  (pg 31)

"Bring your harmonica over next time and we can play together."
"I don't have a harmonica."
"Too bad," Raymond said. "Everybody needs a harmonica. It's like a little pocket friend.  Goes wherever you go."  (pg 99) 
(**How could I not mention the harmonicas?!)

I was learning this thing about secrets: Even if they're not about you, once you know them, they feel like they could be about you.  Every secret connects to something inside of you, whether you know it at first or not.   (pg 148)

I was reminded of more than one book while reading this one...

• the snooping and creating a book with everyone's secrets made me think of Harriet the Spy
• the Man-Bat and various other neighborhood folklore made me think of Dandelion Wine
• the secrets hidden in the hollow tree trunk instantly reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird

It had an old-fashioned sort of feel to it with the kids being allowed quite a bit of freedom to come and go all day long, but there were enough modern references to keep it safely out of that realm. The characters were believable and realistically portrayed even if the solutions to their problems weren't quite as realistic. I don't see this as becoming a classic but it's a great middle reader that will definitely find fans (especially in the all-too-small niche of young roller derby enthusiasts!)

Happiness is...a good book!

So, I probably spend 80% of my time reading on any given day...no lie.  Work consists of various tasks, all involving books; reading them, shelving them, choosing the best ones for displays and story times, critiquing them, foisting them off on the unsuspecting and/or eager public.  I spend time following a bunch of book blogs and reading review magazines like School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly or perusing Amazon, Barnes and Noble and GoodReads and adding more and more and more titles to my own To Be Read list or suggested titles for the library where I work. I write book reviews for an online database. I have a stack of 8 or so full-length books waiting patiently for me at work, along with a stack of 20 or so picture books.  And to fill my grown-up need (which almost always takes a backseat to my love of children's lit) I have 4 or 5 books next to my bed, alongside my scriptures, that I work through when I get a chance (usually at the expense of a good night's sleep!)

And when I'm not flipping through the pages of a book I can be found surreptitiously reading gossip magazines in the checkout lane, shampoo bottles in the shower, cereal boxes at the breakfast table, facebook posts and emails, billboards...pretty much anything with letters!  But books are always my first love.

Sometimes I read a book because I can relate; to the characters, the situations, the emotions.  Sometimes I read a book because I can't relate at all; they take me to new places, introduce me to people and circumstances I would probably never have the opportunity to experience in real life. I find comfort and validation in the familiarity.  I find knowledge and expansion in the unfamiliar. I become a more well-rounded person because of the books I read.  Even in a book I don't like or can't finish (which doesn't happen very often, I have this sick compulsion to always power through) I find something I can glean from it; what I don't want to become or how not to write or just a supreme feeling of gratitude that my life doesn't resemble what I've just read.

Because my TBR pile is so enormous I often have a hard time convincing myself it's okay to re-read a favorite.  (Especially when my list of favorites is almost as long as my list of books to be read!)  But there are a few that I come back to over and over again.  Like a good friend or your favorite pair of jeans, there is nothing like the perfect book to boost your spirits or hug you in just the right places and it's one of my goals this year to make more time for hugs!

Ideally I'd like to make a book spotlight entry once a week or so as I get more into this whole blogging scene.  But for now, here are a few of my favorite books in no particular order.  These are the ones I turn to when I don't want to take the risk of reading something mediocre, when I need a pick-me-up or a guaranteed cry or to have my faith in the world restored or to simply get lost in someone else's world for awhile.

Elizabeth Peters is one of my favorite authors (along with Mary Stewart who wrote similar type stories back in the 60s). I've been reading their books since I was in Jr High and have read them all, multiple times. Fun, romance (100% clean!), mystery, adventure, exotic locales, and a healthy dose of history all make for the perfect feel-good, make-you-smile and wish your life was little more exciting, rainy day afternoon read.  Both ladies were/are very prolific so there's no end to the entertainment.  This is probably my very favorite of them all and feeds my obsession for men in kilts!

Juliet Marillier is a more recent discovery.  I first read this YA (young adult) book a couple of years ago and fell in love with her amazing talent for bringing to life fairy tale worlds.  She's been writing for years and started out doing adult fantasy (her Sevenwaters Trilogy--now up to 5 installments--is fantastic!)  Her writing is lyrical and beautiful and the way she captures emotions and relationships is fantastic.  She's the first author I recommend to friends when they ask for someone new.

I don't care if you are an adult, there is absolutely no way you can read one of Mo Willems books without at least cracking a smile unless you are made of stone.  He has an incredible gift and it shines most brightly in his beginning reader series about the two friends, Elephant and Piggie.  Seriously, these books are hysterical.  I dare you to read one without laughing.  (And if you do, we can no longer be friends.)  Whenever I need a quick pick-me-up I read one of these babies (it takes about 2 minutes, tops) and my mood is guaranteed to soar.  I read this one to my mom and sister in the car on the way home from the bookstore and they were giggling right along with me.  Love it!!

Yes, I realize this is actually the score and not the novel, but I couldn't find a good image of the book cover so deal with it!  Love, heart break, redemption, fighting for a just cause, and a slightly Dickensian tragic/happy ending (and the music's pretty good too!) I've never read the complete book, I always opt for an abridged version (shame on me, I know) but the spirit and message of it are the same. A classic for a reason.

Another classic and it seems a little cliche to mention it, but I really do love this book.  It's life changing.  This is one where I will never know what it's like to experience the things these characters go through, and yet the themes are universal and powerful.  The characters themselves are so multi-faceted and rich that you long to know them in real life.  And while I am often torn on the book to movie phenomenon as so rarely do the movies measure up to the written word, this is one where I think the film version was spot on and spectacularly done. Who wouldn't want Gregory Peck as their father? (Love you Daddy! :)

And to finish us off, a brand-new but soon-to-be-classic picture book.  This little beauty won the Caldecott Award this year, and deservedly so.  It's precious!  (And lest you be turned off by such a saccharin word, read it and then tell me what you would call it.) It manages to be charming and sweet without being saccharin.  An elderly zoo keeper comes down with a cold and his animal friends venture to his home to take care of him the way he always cares for them.  My favorite is the little penguin but they all have their appeal.  A wonderfully simple tale of friendship with pitch-perfect illustrations.  If you have young children you must read this book, right now! (I implore you!)


Well, I could go on and on and on but it's past 11 and with my luck I will not have the snow day I'm hoping for tomorrow, so look for more to come. But I'd also love to hear feedback from you, dear readers.  (And I do have readers now!  What an awesome feeling to know that I'm not just typing away for the great void out there!)  Do you consider yourself a reader?  Why/not? Have you read any of these? What are some of your favorite go-to books? I'm always looking for more suggestions, my list can never be long enough!  Now, I'd like to say that it's off to bed for me, but I'd be lying.  I've got a book to read!