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Today is the first day of
Banned Books Weeks, as well as its 30th Anniversary. Its purpose is to celebrate the freedom to read, to read anything we want even if it is unpopular or unorthodox. Remember May 10, 1933? The day the Nazis held their now famous book burnings? Some of my very favorite books went up in flames that day. And sadly,
Well, part of the reason for the book burning was to make sure the German people would not have access to other ideas beside what the Nazis wanted them to know. Ironically, they burned the works of Heinrich Heine, a German Jewish poet who had always been much loved by the Germans. It was Heine who prophetically wrote
"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen"
(Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people)
You read that and can immediately see the importance of fighting censorship.
Thinking about all this, I thought I would include some of my personal WWII favorites that have been banned for one reason or another are
1-
Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself by Judy Blume - not her most famous banned book, but Blume says she identifies with Sally more than any other of her characters and this is the most autobiographical book she has written.
2-
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - written while in hiding from the Nazis, there are people who felt this book was too sexual and pornographic, a viewpoint that never ceases to make my jaw drop when I read it.
3-
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - this was banned for using dangerous language. I read it when I was about 14 and just starting to appreciate adult farce and though I loved this book, I forget to pay attention to the dangerous language. And yes, I know, I should have posted about it by now and I will at some point (and I will be sure to pay attention to the dangerous language this time around.)
4-
Slaughterhouse Five or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut - this was recently challenged by a writer in Republic, MO, a fact I find mildly amusing because I actually know someone who lived there. The reporter felt the language was profane and there was too much explicit sex.
5-
A Separate Peace by John Knowles - another high school favorite, this was challenged for have graphic and offensive language and for being a "filthy, trashy sex novel." Again I forgot to pay attention to that then, and, oh yes, when I reread it.
6-
Summer of My German Soldier by Betty Greene - this was challenged because the ending was too pessimistic, too sexually explicit, and for unsuitable language. Why didn't these challengers say anything about the severe beatings Patty was given by her father or is abusive behavior more acceptable that a few dirty words?
Do yourself a favor and read a banned book this week and
Be sure to visit YouTube to view some of your favorite people "exercising their First Amendment right to read a banned book" at the
Virtual Read-Out
This past summer, my Kiddo came home from China to visit for about 2 months before moving to San Francisco. During that two months, we all went on vacation to the Jersey shore (no, not THAT Jersey shore, we were much further south, but 10 miles north of Cape May.)
So, while we were there enjoying the sun, the surf and the beautiful weather we were lucky enough to have, Kiddo started getting homesick for China. She remedied this by watching a program on her Ipad called Happy Chinese.
What is
Happy Chinese, you might ask? Well, it is a kid-friendly program designed to teach the viewer Chinese and something about Chinese life and culture. It is made in China, but there are English subtitles. And from what I have been told, there are lots of episodes. And, WOW, it is readily available on
YouTube.
Why do I bring up Happy Chinese? Take a look at this photo I took:
On a beautiful summer's day, there are five people, 2 ten year old girls, a 12 year old boy, a 6 year old boy, and a 24 year old Kiddo, crowded on a bed, all watching Happy Chinese on one little Ipad and laughing like crazy.
They were hooked in Happy Chinese! They loved it. They couldn't get enough.
Meanwhile, adults (among them a reading teacher) looked on in dismay as all those novels and storybooks lovingly chosen for vacation fell by the wayside. But I am happy to say, the Happy Chinese obsession last only a few days and the kids were back to their usual activities and books. They still watched, but not so compulsively. And so all the adults relearned a good lesson: when you have children who love to read, they will always return to the books if you just give them time.
Oh, by the way, at the end of two weeks, the kids were all starting to say things to each other in Chinese so all was not lost. FYI: Two of these kids are now planning to pick Mandarin as their foreign language choice in school.
Curious about what may have hooked these kids? You can check out Happy Chinese here and lots more episodes on YouTube:
This is my first Sunday Salon post and I thought I would post about something near and dear to my heart - The Brooklyn Book Festival 2012.
Brooklyn is my hometown and it is a place that has always been a mecca for all kinds of people. In fact, that was one of the things that made growing up there so wonderful. Now, it has become a mecca for more and more writers and artists than ever before. What to do about that? Well, have a festival celebrating it. And so, the book Brooklyn Book Festival was born in 2006.
This year's festival begins with a full week of book related events on Monday, September 17, 2012 and held in various venues around the city, and best of all,most of them free (see full schedule here). This is followed by a day of festivaling in downtown Brooklyn on Joralemon Street, a very nice, spacious, outdoor and easy place to get to (directions and map here.) And, oh, by the way, within walking distance to Junior's, just in case you get a hankering for one of their famous and delicious cheesecakes in the original restaurant (and one of my favorite high school haunts.) If not, there will be lots of food vendors in the area. Below is the official announcement:
2012 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL: A RECORD 280+ AUTHORS, MORE THAN 104 PANELS CONFIRMED FOR SEPTEMBER 23; OVER 50 “BOOKEND” EVENTS MAKE A FULL-WEEK FESTIVAL
Paul Auster, Carol Higgins Clark, Tony Danza, Jimmie Walker, Edwidge Danticat, Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, Dennis Lehane, Esmeralda Santiago, Terry McMillan, Sapphire, Billy Collins, Earl Lovelace, Christopher Hayes, Dan Savage, Isabel Wilkerson, Pankaj Mishra, Karl Ove Knausgård, Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez, Adrian Tomine, Gordon Korman, R.J. Palacio, Judith Vorst, Libba Bray and many, many more to headline Festival
Fall is a beautiful time in NYC and if you are going to be in the area then, be sure to drop in on this great event and have some fun!
It was a rumor that I enjoyed, but never one that I thought would actually come true. There was no way it would actually happen. No way way it was true. NO WAY.
And then, it did happen. It WAS true.
On Friday night, a 100 foot tall Voldemort was taken down by a team of Mary Poppins. And it wasn't just Voldemort. Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, and the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Not only did the Olympics celebrate Children's Literature, it celebrated its villains and nightmares.
It's an interesting juxtaposition to the common cries of "WAH! YA lit is too dark!"
The Opening ceremonies embraced that darkness and celebrated it, and for an even younger audience.
I immediately thought of an article I read many years ago, many years before I worked in children's literature. In her December, 2000 Salon piece "Oz vs. Narnia," Laura Miller compares the two beloved classics, with Narnia being the clear winner. And one of the reasons it is the clear winner is because of the darkness. At the time, I thought the comparison didn't work-- one was written for Victorian children on the plains, one was written for British children who just survived the Blitz, of course Narnia is darker. But, I now know differently. I know the debate. I know the literature and this argument still resonates, 12 years later:
[Oz scholar] Hearn complains that American librarians have unjustly labeled Baum’s Oz books as “poorly written”; the librarians, however, are right. He attributes their preference for British fantasy to “Anglocentric” “reverse snobbism,” but the truth is that in Britain real writers like Lewis (and J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling and Phillip Pullman today) write children’s fantasy, and they take their readers seriously, as people facing a difficult and often confusing world.
...
Just as the British think that children are important enough to merit the work of their best writers, British children’s writers think children are important enough to be treated as moral beings. That means that sometimes things get scary.
...
Baum, like many Americans today, saw children differently, as pure innocents who need to be shielded for as long as possible from the challenges of life.
And this debate still rages. Children and teens much be protected from nightmares, and reality. librarian Josh Westbrook says, "Kids are living stories every day that we wouldn't let them read."
But on Friday night, on a global stage, some of literature's most memorable and terrifying villans came out to play. We didn't frolic with puppies, Peter Pan, Alice, a flying car, or even Harry. We didn't immerse ourselves in Neverland, Wonderland, or Hogwarts. No, we recognized and reveled in their enemies. We recognized the nightmares they've given us. But, instead of ignoring they exist, instead of covering our eyes and turning away, Danny Boyle and the London Olympics paraded them out for us all to see. They were celebrated.
In the US, we gnash our teeth and wail and moan about books that portray the darker, harsher sides of our world. In the UK, they take center stage when the entire world is watching.
The prominence they were given, and the seriousness with which they were treated, surprised and delighted me even more than the Queen parachuting in with James Bond or the obligatory singing of "Hey Jude."
And, in the end, I'm still smiling with glee over the fact that the rumor of a Voldemort/Mary Poppins smackdown in the middle of the Opening Ceremonies actually happened, and was completely awesome.
Thank you for bearing with me on this unscheduled blog break.
In the meantime, I've been to ALA, which was awesome. I got to connect and hang out with a lot of great people, met some new friends, and got a ton of ideas for programming and better ways to serve my customers. (Before ALA I started having some pretty interesting conversations and THOUGHTS about customer service in the library setting, and so some of these sessions timed perfectly for me that way. But that's a whole 'nother blog post.)
Plus, my committee meetings went really well. I'm so excited about the work we're doing. It's a great year for Nonfiction.
The big news though is...
I have a new job. I start week after next. It's still youth services, but in a different system in the DC area. I don't have any time off between jobs either, so there's been a lot going on as I try to tie up all my loose ends and prepare to start someplace new.
AND! While all that was going on, there was the dreaded DERECHO. Or land hurricane.*
It was pretty awesome when it hit. We screened in the porch last summer, so we had a drink and watched the storm. I'm surprised we kept our trees-- that wind was crazy. Half the time I couldn't tell if the rumbling was thunder or just the wind in the trees. And the lightning! As one of our friends said, "It looked like there were huge strobe lights behind the clouds."
We lost power for about a day. Friends of ours kept power, so there was a big party at theirs. Of course, shortly after we all arrived, THEY lost power for a few hours. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. The library was out for a few days, too. The craziest was the day we had power back and then lost it again. The circ department kept checking books out (old skool-- BY HAND) and we stayed open until the AC started to wear off. I was super-impressed with many of the library systems in the area that stayed open late (some were even open on July 4th) to serve as cooling stations for their communities.
I lost internet in the Derecho. While I legitimately lost if for a few days, it was out even longer because I forgot that I had unplugged the FIOS box shortly after the power blew because that was the only way to make it stop beeping. There's nothing worse than BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP that won't end at 4 am when it's 90 degrees in your bedroom. Luckily the KungFu Princess dropped a toy behind the couch a few days ago and when I was fishing it out, I noticed that the internet was unplugged. D'oh.
But, no internet = limited TV (most of our TV is via iTunes and Netflix) which means LOTS of reading.
But, it's really, really, really hot. And with everything else going on, I'm more whiny and lazy than productive. I should have some reviews up this week though.
*Land Hurricanes bring Land Sharks. FYI.
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey was a ALA Printz honor book when it came out in 2010 and was a finalist for the NCTE/ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden award. It was named a Booklist Editor's choice and won numerous state awards.
The sequel, 
The Curse of the Wendigo was named an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, a Booklist Editor's Choice, and a Kirkus Best Children's Book.
The third and final book, 
The Isle of Blood comes out this fall and then there are no more. Which would be fine, if it were a trilogy, but it's not. Simon and Schuster just isn't happy with the sales. I can't talk much about the book because I haven't read it yet, but this is a series we've held up time and again as what quality literature that teens will enjoy looks like. But apparently quality lit with reader appeal isn't what we want.
I'm not going to fault Simon and Schuster. They're a business and have to go where the money is. So... let's save the series by putting the money there. If you have $10, but a copy. If you have $20, but two copies and give one away. If you have $30, give two copies away, or all three. You get the idea. If you don't have any money, check it out from the library. (How many times a book is checked out lets us gauge popularity. It tells us if we need more copi
0 Comments on Sunday Salon: reviews that made me want to read the book as of 1/1/1900
3 Comments on Sunday Salon-- TBR, last added: 6/13/2010
I am participating in Banned Books Week, too; my selection was The Catcher in the Rye, and my post will be up on Oct. 5.
Here's MY SUNDAY SALON POST
I support Banned Books Week by promoting it. Sadly, I don't think I can read a book for the week due to time constraints, though I'm planning to read banned books in the coming months. A Separate Peace is definitely on the list. Celebrate the Freedom to Read! Yey! :)
Totalally agree with you about Summer of My German Soldier. I reread it a few years ago and found some of the familial relationships quite disturbing. Don't remember much sexuality!
I love to read Banned Books and I am always shocked by the books that have been banned. I have read many on the list you gave- but have yet to read Summer of My German Soldier. Maybe this week!
~Jess
I think I have Anne Frank & Slaughterhouse Five on my list, and I'm going to add Judy Blume's. Thanks for sharing these titles with us, Alex. (Off to tweet about the Banned Books Week now.)
Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books so I will be sure to look for your post this week.
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Sometime things come along and we just don't have time to participate, I know that has happened to me more than once. A Separate Peace is a really good choice, I thing, I hope you like it, too.
I am glad you agree. When I mention this to most people, they don't remember the beactings at ll. But then, like you, I don't remember much sexuality either.
Summer of My German Soldier is an interesting book, so I hope you get to read it. I also love to read Banned Books (you have to figure, if they don't want you to read something, there much be ideas or themes they want to hide from you to keep you from thinking about them)
So many Judy Blume books have been banned because they deal with the real things that become part of a kids like at different points and they are just was a kid really does need to read. Hope you like her as much as I do.
I am so thankful for the gift of reading. It truly does bring me great joy.
So glad to have met you at KidLitCon. :O)
I am so grateful for the freedom we do have, & would always fight for a book to be the right thing to help students learn about others who might have similar feelings about themselves, and to learn that other people think differently & that's okay, too. Students need ideas, books offer so many, & students are our future. Thanks for your post!
Yes, I am thankful for the gift of reading, too. And thank you for your great presentation of Saturday at KidLitCon. It was very helpful.
I am also thankful for the freedom we have, and would also fight for being able to choose whatever I want read and what i could recommend to students.