Banned Books Week Celebrates The Freedom To Read! September 21-27, 2014

You can find out more about Banned Books Week at the American Library Association's Website.

As explained in the American Library Association's list of the most challenged and banned books of 2013-2014,

This freedom, not only to choose what we read, but
also to select from a full array of possibilities, is firmly
rooted in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of
the press. Although we enjoy an increasing quantity and
availability of information and reading material, we must
remain vigilant to ensure that access to this material is
preserved; would-be censors who continue to threaten
the freedom to read come from all quarters and all
political persuasions. Even if well intentioned, censors
try to limit the freedom of others to choose what they
read, see, or hear.

So read a banned book. And talk about it.

And let's keep fighting for - and celebrating - our right to read!

Namaste,
Lee

A Bad Kitty Christmas - And the "Concerned Grandparent" Who Wants To Burn It (Because it includes, among MANY other family configurations, a two mom family)

A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the city, not a creature was stirring... Except for Bad Kitty.

The Angel was Ambushed.
The Books were all Bumped.
The Cards were all Crushed.
The Drums were all Dumped.

When a greedy Bad Kitty doesn't get all the presents she wants for Christmas, she takes off on a wild caper across town and through three complete alphabets. Along the way she makes a new friend, and when and old "friend" finds her, together they learn the true meaning of Christmas. Or not.

I'm featuring "A Bad Kitty Christmas" for two reasons.  One, it's a picture book I wish had been read to me when I was a little kid, because it includes a two-mom family.  And two, it's the kind of book that, because it includes a two-mom family, is getting some people upset.

Like the "Concerned Grandparent" who wrote the author to complain and say that because of the reference to Niece Nan with her Offspring Oscar and her Partner Pam,

"I will be purchasing and burning that book and any other that I come across with such a reference in it if I can not get the school to remove the book from their library.
Shame on you for writing this in your book for little kids to read and forcing us to explain this matter to them."

Nick's response, which he shared on facebook (as he did the complaint letter) was great, and included this:

"When I first began writing “A Bad Kitty Christmas” a few years ago I recognized that there would be people - such as yourself - who would be offended. I recognized that. So I debated with myself. I debated about whose interests would best be served. Do I edit myself to appease people who could be so outraged that they might even do something as drastic as to BURN a book? Or do I write a book that could potentially speak to that kid out there who actually has two Mommies. That kid won, because -- like it or not, Concerned Grandparent -- believe it or not, Concerned Grandparent – that kid exists. In fact, there are a lot of those kids. And those kids deserve to see their world represented in a mainstream book as much as any other kid out there."

Thank you, Nick, for writing this book.

This is a great reminder of why Banned Books Week is so important. We need to talk about the urge to destroy and hide and ban and even burn books with ideas and voices and characters we don't agree with.

If we feel confident in the strength of our beliefs, shouldn't we be able to accept others having the right to their beliefs?

Let's celebrate the right to read!

Add your review of "A Bad Kitty Christmas" in comments.

p.s. - My thanks to Dana Elmendorf for the heads-up about this book including a two mom family!

Banned Books Week! The Ender's Game Boycott, Orson Scott Card, And The Question: Should Art Transcend The Artist? - A GSA Mondays Post

It's Banned Books Week, when we stop to acknowledge the importance of NOT banning books. It's all about supporting intellectual freedom and I'm all on board,

And yet...

What happens when the author of a book is a jerk? What if their politics make you cringe? What if they actively advocate against you?

I'm not talking about pulling their book from shelves, but do you buy that book? Do you support them in that way?

Back in 1985, Orson Scott Card published the novel Ender's Game. The author has said some pretty terrible things about LGBT people, including that gay marriage "marks the end of democracy in America."
 and that

"I will act to destroy that [pro-gay marriage] government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.”

And now, Card's book is a movie.  A big tent-pole Hollywood movie. And there are calls for a boycott.

Two op-ed pieces in the advocate are worth checking out. One, by Diane Anderson-Minshall Why I'm Going To See Ender's Game, and the other, by Rebecca Holliman, Why I Plan To Skip Ender's Game.

The film's director Gavin Hood (an outspoken supporter of marriage equality) is quoted in the Why I'm Going To See it op-ed as saying,

“I fully understand the position of those seeking a boycott. I really do...What concerns me is that it’s dreadfully ironic that Orson wrote a book about compassion and empathy, and yet he himself is struggling to see that his position in real life is really at odds with his art. And, frankly that’s not unusual. Great art usually rides above the weaknesses and failings of its creators."

Geeks Out, a group of queer fanboys and fangirls, is holding firm to its call to boycott the film, saying to Card directly,

"The Bill of Rights protects your freedom of speech but it does not protect your right to a blockbuster opening weekend."

I don't want Ender's Game pulled from libraries, but do I want it to do well in theaters?

What about the cast and crew who aren't homophobes - in fact, many of them are vocal allies. What's fair?

If the movie is a giant hit, does that benefit Card? Absolutely.  But is it just - is it justice - to penalize a work of art for the faults of its creator?

And is a movie, given its collaborative realities, subject to a different answer than a book, which arguably is more of a single creator's vision?

Interesting, this isn't the first time Card’s openly homophobic views have impacted his career.

As quoted in the Skipping Ender's Game op-ed,

"Card was initially hired by D.C. Comics to write the digital-first Adventures of Superman comic. Media backlash at the company's choice to hire an outspokenly homophobic writer eventually motivated collaborating artist Chris Sprouse to back out of the project and forced D.C. Comics to feature a story by Jeff Lemire and artist Chris Samnee instead of Card's."

This does come back around to freedom of speech.  As Rebecca Holliman said,

If you are going to say hateful and inflammatory things about a subgroup of the population, then you must be willing to accept the consequences.

And I would add to that, especially if you are a public figure.

What's your take? Should a work of art stand on its own, or should we hold artists accountable for what they say outside of their art by the decision of whether or not we're going to support their art?

And as a writer, I have to acknowledge that this has interesting implications for artists in general. It could squelch true honest creative expression if we're all so careful of what we say because we're worried we'll alienate some people.

Every year when I participate at a Banned Books Week Event at my kids' school, I try to decide what I should read a few lines from. This year, I wonder if I should read from "Ender's Game." Because as much as I dislike the author's position on my rights as a human being, I don't want his book silenced.

Then again, there are a lot of good books that face challenges whose authors I know support me and the LGBTQ community.  Maybe I'll read from Todd Parr's THE FAMILY BOOK instead.

How about you - Will you go see Ender's Game?

Namaste,
Lee