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Even though this is above the age level I usually write about, it is such an awesome way to spread a love of books that I had to pass it along. This young man shares the books that he's found meaningful and have helped shape his view of the world. Classics (in the original sense of Marcus Aurelius), science fiction, philosophy, pop culture, psychology, sociology, current fiction, poetry, etc. which, when set to music ["Slow Motion(Explicit Version)" from "Third Eye Blind: A Collection (Remastered)"] become social commentary.

My son is working on his personal music biography, and this is somewhat the same idea. This would be a great reading list for anyone, but for young people coming of age at this time in this culture, the titles are particularly appropriate. I am fascinated by the communication opportunities that new social media communities like YouTube present to all of us. This is just as valid a way to communicate the importance of books in our lives as any other. It's also going to reach a lot more people than BookTV. Check it out. I'd love to hear your comments.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that in Tuscola, Texas, a 9th-grade English teacher has been suspended (on paid leave) after a student's parents complained to police about a book their child read by Pullitzer-Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy called Child of God from the 9th-grade reading list . The 1974 novel is a story about an outsider falsely accused of rape, who then begins killing people and living in a cave with their decomposing bodies.

The reading list was compiled by all of the high-school English teachers for an advanced Placement class. Last week the school board voted to keep the three-year veteran teacher on paid leave even though more than 120 parents attended the meeting asking that he be reinstated. In fact most of the school's parents are in favor of reinstating the teacher. The teacher has not been charged with anything, but is being investigated for distributing harmful material to a minor. In the meantime, the book has been deleted from the reading list by school officials.

My first response to this story was, "here we go again."

My second was, "why did the parents report this to the police instead of the principal?" Were they concerned about the reading list or were they exploiting an opportunity to push their own agenda?

It occurs to me:

• that the list was assembled by a group of high school English teachers not just the one on suspension.


• since the author is a Pullitzer Prize winner and this is a 34-year old title, the English teachers must have agreed that despite it's macabre story line, it had redeeming value or it would not be on the list.


• the student chose to read this book. If the parents were that concerned, why didn't they help their child select a "more appropriate" title?


• if we accept the premise that a community has the right to decide what is and is not offensive,(even though it is clearly a violation of the first amendment) and we know that most of the school's parents are in favor of reinstating the teacher, can we infer that the parents filing the complaint are out of step with the majority of the town's 700 inhabitants?

As I've stated before, banning books makes them more attractive to the people. What credentials to these parents have for judging whether a book is or isn't worthy of study? Why didn't these parents choose to minimize the alleged "damage" the book produced by quietly discussing the book with their child and then moving on to reading a book that was more in line with their personal moral code? Why report it to the police?

I understand that definitions of "good writing" vary and there will never be consensus. It seems clear to me, however, that these people must be making a larger point, although I'm in the dark as to what that might be. The situation might be more understandable if it were a current book reflecting today's pop culture. But, it's not. Unfortunately, the knee-jerk reaction to book challenges in schools is to pull the title. And predictably, that is what happened in Tuscola. One can only hope that cooler heads will prevail in the end and that nobody has to leave town.

What invariably happens when books are challenged or banned is that they achieve a stature far greater than they would have claimed had the book not been challenged. The American Library Association (ALA) website gives a comprehensive history of book challenges in this country as well as helpful advice in coping with a book challenge.

Some of you may have been following the series on Julius Lester's blog A Commonplace Book that asked what book changed your life. The answers include The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Charlotte's Web, The Phantom Tollbooth, etc. Today I gave the notion a little thought. Books that "change your life"? Not a concept I'm certain affects me in any way. I like books. Books are friendly. They amuse me when I'm sifting through my day, but do they tend to "change my life"? Hardly.

There was one book, though. The kind of book I can't really submit to Mr. Lester because he is... Julius Lester. A guy who can give a blog post the title Taking Responsibility for the Past and mean it.

The book that changed my life? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. No lie. It's 1998 and I'm living in London. I've been sent to pick up this book from a Waterstone's so as to send it back to America, pronto. Fair's fair, and I walk into the store asking the saleslady if she has any books, "by a Harry Potter?" A quick jerk of the head and I find myself in the children's section, which is confusing. Until this moment in time I've not really spent much time in the kid section of bookstores. But there's the book and before I send it stateside I decide to peruse it on my own. I am instantly a fan. Rowling sets her little hooks into me and refuses to let go. The chain of events spirals thusly:

• Because I read Harry Potter (and continued to do so as they came out) I come across an article in The Oregonian years later discussing His Dark Materials and how it kicks the butt of HP clear across the room.
• Because I read all three books of His Dark Materials in Powell's week after week in their coffee shop, beneath the strewn, starched corpses of once-wild women's aprons, I begin to spend more time in the children's section of Powell's.
• Because I spend more time in the children's section of Powell's, I begin to read more and more children's literature.
• Because I read more children's literature I discover, when I eventually take courses for my MLIS degree in Minnesota, that I really like it. The kidlit course I eventually take is so much fun that I suddenly find myself considering a career not in preservation and/or conservation, but as a children's librarian instead.
• I follow that yen, move to New York, and we are where we are today.