Banned Books Week

It’s Banned Books Week and coincidentally, author Jeff Hirsch posted about the same thoughts I had this morning as I considered the idea behind this week. I don’t believe that banning books helps society. I don’t think it’s helpful to restrict access to ideas that take you outside of your comfort zone. But what about books that can be hurtful to a group of people? Just because I don’t agree with what they say, should I want to ban them to support the rights of the group they hurt? Or by supporting the decision not to ban them, am I letting down that group they’re hurting?

I don’t know. I do think that banning books can lead to hatred and intolerance, and I don’t agree that one person has the right to tell everyone else what they can’t read. Take Forever by Judy Blume, which was “attacked once again for its frank treatment of adolescent sexuality and was removed from an eighth-grade optional reading list. In Rib Lake, Wisconsin, a school district principal had the book removed from the library after confiscating a copy from a student in the lunchroom, finding ‘graphic descriptions of sex acts.'” (From Controversial & Banned Books.) I read this as a young teen and it didn’t warp my mind. I don’t think that it makes anyone run out and immediately have sex after reading it. But it does help teens with things that their parents aren’t always comfortable talking about. And that’s why access to books is important.

None of my books have been officially banned from any libraries, but I do have a little story on this topic. A couple years ago, I received an email from a father who was angry that his fourteen-year-old daughter had brought home Something to Blog About. He wrote to tell me that I was a bad person because my characters say something about sticking their tongues down a boy’s throat in reference to kissing. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve read STBA and I can’t remember the exact quote where that comes from. But knowing Libby and Keisha, it was probably said in a way that was meant to be snarky and funny. And it was about KISSING. That’s all the characters do in the book, just a little kissing. The book is very, very tame and I would even recommend it to readers as young as nine. But this father said he could tell from these few words taken out of context that I hate men and children, and am trying to warp young girls’ minds with my books.

I always thought I was just trying to make them laugh and entertain them? I guess I should tell my husband that I hate men?

I am officially on this father’s list of banned authors in his household. And that makes me sad. I wonder what kinds of books his daughter is allowed to read? How closed is she to new experiences and thoughts? How closed off is she to discovering her sexuality through the safety of books? Don’t get me wrong, I fully support a parent’s right to know and filter what their children are exposed to. A parent should know what their child is mature enough to handle and decide from there. But forbidding and banning new ideas isn’t always the right option. Open communication and access to new ideas can be much more helpful in creating well-developed people. Book banning comes from fear of other ideas. And in turn, fear can lead to hatred.

“Hate is the consequence of fear; we fear something before we hate it…” -Cyril Connoly