ALA Inspiration - Two Librarians Share Their Response to Complaints About Their Library's LGBTQ Pride Displays

I'm back from the American Library Association annual conference in Washington D.C., and one discussion among the more than 600 librarians I met really stands out. (By the way, that number is not an exaggeration, I was working at the IBPA booth on the exhibition floor representing over 260 books from our independent publisher members, and I scanned 606 badges over the four days.)

It was during my give-away of audiobook review copies of my YA novel, "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill", for which I had a big diversity rainbow pride flag out on the signing table, rainbow pride flag bookmarks, and a sign about the giveaway with the same pride flag on it as well. I even had a little bust of Abraham Lincoln with some Gay Pride neck jewelry (courtesy of my brother John!) In short, for the times I was at the demo table, I was a lighthouse of LGBTQ inclusion.

And it worked as a lighthouse, drawing interested and allied folks near.

That's me, chatting with interested librarians about the "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" audiobook at #alaac19

One librarian, Monena, told me about how she had a patron complain about a June pride display in their library. Her response? She thanked the patron for sharing their point of view, and then, "I went and added a dozen books to the display."

Another librarian overheard our conversation, and nodded. She had had a patron complaint about a pride display in one of their branch libraries as well. She smiled as she said, "so this year, we did pride displays in two more libraries."

That's the stuff of true allies.

And it's why I so appreciate and respect librarians!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,

Lee

p.s. If you're a librarian, and you want a free review copy of the audiobook of "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill," simply email me your name along with your library name and location, and I'll send you a copy as well! 

leewind (at) roadrunner (dot) com

I'm so excited about the audiobook (narrated by Michael Crouch, who also did the narration for "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda", and with a bonus author interview at the end where the legendary Lesléa Newman interviews me!) You can listen to the first two chapters here.

6 of the Top 11 Most Challenged Books of 2018 on the ALA List Were Challenged Because They Included LGBTQ Characters and Themes

You know what we're fighting for? Inclusion. Equity. Respect. Celebration.

#1 on the ALA List of Most Challenged Books of 2018:
“George,” by Alex Gino
Reason: for including a transgender character

This is a lovely book, about a 3rd grader who wants to play Charlotte in the class play of Charlotte's web.

#2 “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” by Jill Twiss, illustrated by E. G. Keller
Reasons: for LGBTQIA+ content, political and religious viewpoints

The only one of these six I haven't yet read. Moving to the top of my list now.

#3 “Captain Underpants” series, written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: for including a same-sex couple, perceived as encouraging disruptive behavior

I cheered when, in the 12th book in this beloved series, the heroes visited their future selves and one of them was married to another man! (And George and Harold are still best friends.)

#5 “Drama,” written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
Reason: for LGBTQIA+ characters and themes

A wonderful middle grade graphic novel that included gay middle schoolers!

#10 “This Day in June,” by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Kristyna Litten
Reason: for LGBTQIA+ content

A picture book about an LGBTQ Pride Parade and celebration!

#11 “Two Boys Kissing,” by David Levithan
Reason: for LGBTQIA+ content

A YA novel based on true events, of two teen boys aiming to set a new Guinness World Record.

My editorial thoughts;

Really, if adults don't like a specific book, they can make the choice to not share that book with their own children. But when they start to say that a book isn't right for ANY child, that it should be removed from a library's collection, then they've gone too far.

Children need these books that include Queer characters and themes. Yes, the LGBTQ kids and teens. And the heterosexual and cis-gendered kids and teens, too. Because every child needs to know that LGBTQ people are part of our world. And if we queer people aren't in the books kids and teens can find in the library, that just makes them feel alone, unwanted, and ashamed of being their authentic selves. It makes them afraid.

I know.

There were no books with positive portrayals of LGBTQ people when I was growing up. And that was how I felt.

That more than half of the books on the ALA's Most Challenged (a.k.a. Banned) Books list for 2018 were challenged because of their queer content tells us a lot about how far we still have to go as a society, especially with political leaders who foment hatred and fear of the 'other' -- including against LGBTQ people. Especially with so many people feeling emboldened to voice and act on their bigotry.

We need to stand up.

Shine our light.

And reflect the light of others. So let's read these books. Talk about these books. Buy these books. Ask for them from our libraries.

And let's aim for the day when we don't have books that get challenged. Until then, we resist. Together.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

The ALA releases the Top Ten most frequently challenged books of 2010: Let's Make It A Reading Challenge!

Every year about this time the American Library Association comes out with their list of the top 10 most challenged books in America. Books that are seen by some as too dangerous to be in library collections. Books that some people not only want to make sure their own children don't read but these people want to make sure no one else's child gets to read them, either.

Often, these are the books that challenge stereotypes. That tell it like it is. That change (and save) lives. Sometimes they're just a good story that contains something controversial, and sometimes they're, well to some people, challenging.

In 2010, once again the #1 most challenged book in America was one of my favorite picture books of all time, "And Tango Makes Three."

But... They're so cute!

What's "dangerous" about this book? By telling the sweet (and true) story of two male penguins who become a couple and then loving parents, "And Tango Makes Three" directly challenges the stereotype that gay men can't find love - that we can't be parents, and if we do somehow become parents, we can't be good parents. Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with Henry Cole's heart-warming illustrations, have created a story where it's so clear that LOVE is what makes a family - and with the parallel of penguins - readers see that gay love is that same kind of love.

There are other wonderful books on this list of the top ten most challenged books: "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins, a searing novel in verse about a good teen girl's descent into drug addition. Ellen has gotten so much flack about her books in which teens make bad decisions with sometimes horrible consequences - they're riveting and wrenching and so important - because no one who reads "Crank" is going to think, "wow, I gotta try that stuff. It sounds great." Because it doesn't.

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, a wonderful, funny, and not-afraid-to-look-at-the-ugly-stuff novel that I talk about in my Smashing Stereotypes workshops all the time as an example of how writers can deal with stereotypes not by ignoring them but by tackling them head-on.

There are popular books like "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins and "Twilight," by Stephenie Meyer.

There are queer books, like "And Tango Makes Three" and "Revolutionary Voices.

And even a few books I haven't heard of till now. (Sonya Sones! Your books are awesome, but I haven't read this one... yet.)

So I want to put out a CHALLENGE to you:

Let's read them.

Let's read all ten of these books as our protest to the ridiculous notion that books of literary merit should be pulled from library collections to avoid offending certain people.

Here are the ten titles with the reasons given for challenging each:

Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence

3. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and sexually explicit

4. Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, and sexually explicit

5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence

6. Lush, by Natasha Friend
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group

7. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group

8. Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, and religious viewpoint

9. Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: homosexuality and sexually explicit

10. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint and violence

Because a book that is challenging shouldn't be challenged - it should be read and discussed.

Leave your update in comments to share how you're doing with the challenge - and I will as well!

Namaste,
Lee

Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK is challenged - and #speakloudly shows how book banning is changing

So on Sept 18, 2010, Wesley Scroggins wrote in the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader about his outrage that in the Republic school district,

"In high school English classes, children are required to read and view material that should be classified as soft pornography. One such book is called "Speak.""

He goes on to say that the reason it was so objectionable was its inclusion of two rape scenes.

Here's Laurie Halse Anderson - the author of "Speak" - responding to this on her blog.

And watch this really powerful video of her reading a poem she wrote inspired by all the reader responses to the book she's received over the years:




In the past, it's possible this guy would have his say, the book would be pulled from the schools and libraries, and the book banners would win that round.

Now here's the game changer. Laurie has a blog - and people started to hear about this attempt to silence her book. To silence her. As she writes on her blog:

It started when Paul Hankins, an English teacher in Indiana, started a dedicated Twitter feed, #speakloudly, to spread the word about the banning. The word spread quickly and it became one of the most Tweeted topics of the weekend.

EVERYONE spoke loudly. Thousands of people linked to my post and recommended it on Facebook and on their own blogs. One social media expert said that based on the Facebook recommendations alone, he estimated that 350,000 heard about the banning.

Among the things that happened in the weeks following this attempt to silence "Speak,"

the same newspaper published Laurie's response to Scroggin's piece. It's brilliant. Read it!

In addition to speaking so eloquently about what her book actually says, and its power to address sexual assault and the readers who have said that it saved their lives, she ends her response with this amazing line:

Since Missouri is the "Show Me" state, I am donating 20 copies of each one to your area libraries. Read and decide for yourself.

I love seeing how the landscape of banning books is changing. That authors are not so isolated. And not so voiceless.

And get to SPEAK out about their work.

I'm so proud of Laurie for speaking up to this.I'm proud of the community of people touched by her work and writing for speaking up. And I'm proud of the greater world of people who haven't yet read her books but know that listening to only one side of a story isn't enough. That they need to pick up the book and read it themselves.

I'm so glad Laurie feels the power of Speaking Loudly.

And now even the New York Times is talking about Twitter being "Banned Books' New Best Friend"


And I'm so glad I'm now reading "Speak." It went to the top of my pile this week, because of the controversy. And I'd already read Laurie's "Wintergirls" and "Chains" and thought they were both powerful and so well written. I'm about a quarter of the way through "Speak." And it's amazing.

It's a book to read. And then, talk about.

Join me and read "Speak." And speak up for the freedom to read!

Namaste,
Lee

Jacqui Robbins reads her kids BANNED Books - Why Don't We ALL do that, too?

One of the fantastic things about going to SCBWI International Conferences is getting to meet the people that fill this world of children's literature!

At the recent LA SCBWI Summer Conference (check out the amazing conference blog here!), one of the fascinating people I met was Jacqui Robbins. Jacqui was kind enough to let me share this story about her reading a Banned Book with her child!

Check this out:



And here's the banned book they read together:

The Rabbits' Wedding by Garth Williams

You can click here to find out more about the controversy in 1959 over the book's

"...integrationist propaganda..."

Isn't reading YOUR child a Banned Book a great idea?

Namaste,
Lee

Tintin au Congo: It's Racist, but should it be pulled from library shelves?

Racism = Bad. Books = Good. Books that are Racist = Hidden?

Ruby Washington/The New York Times
The vault-like room in the Brooklyn Public Library where
“Tintin au Congo” was reshelved after a patron took issue with the book.

So in yesterday's NY Times City Room, there was this fascinating article talking about how sometimes a library will basically HIDE a book from its patrons, to avoid offending anyone accidentally.

The example was the undeniably racist second Tintin book, which even the author, Hergé, toned down in later editions. (You can click here and scroll down to the bottom to see the different versions!)

The book in question, "Tintin au Congo," now has to be specially requested, and there's a waiting period - something that curiously, there isn't really for buying and taking home something like, uh, a gun.

But that's another issue entirely.

What fascinated me was that when the article was discussing challenges to books in school libraries, this "solution" to the issue came up again and again. Like here:

“The Million Dollar Kick,” Dan Gutman’s tale of a young soccer player, will stay in the librarian’s office at Hassler Elementary School in Klein, Tex., until the parents who objected to it no longer have children at the school, according to the civil liberties group.

Okay, so they're basically HIDING the books that might offend?

Yikes.

Instead of hiding the books, isn't this where the filter of a parent or teacher or librarian is supposed to jump in? Isn't the ubiquity of the racism in "Tintin Au Congo" a "teachable moment" for an adult to have with a child?

And what really steams me about "The Million Dollar Kick" example above is that because the book offended one parent, EVERY other kid and parent during those school years that the offended parent's children are in that school are denied the chance to read it, as it hides away in the librarian's office!

Maybe the issue isn't that kids aren't able to handle these books and their content. Maybe it's that we as adults aren't willing to be the interpreters for them. We're too lazy or scared to help the kids understand the issues behind the offensiveness.

I guess it's kind of like asking if Nazis should have free speech rights.

I'm not talking about incitement to violence speech, but that stupid Aryan-race-being-better-crap. If we disallow their freedoms, isn't it a slippery slope until our own freedoms collapse as well?

And yet, I remain troubled. Without an interpreter, would reading the racist content of "Tintin au Congo" make a child accept those stereotypes about people from Africa? And what about the Black child who stumbles upon the book, and it's effect on their own self-image?

What would YOU do? Would "Tintin au Congo" find a place in the regular shelves of YOUR library?

What would be YOUR solution to this book challenge?

Let me know!

Namaste,

Lee

Maureen Johnson Responds to her Book, "The Bermudez Triangle," Being CHALLENGED in Florida!

Maureen Johnson's YA novel, "The Bermudez Triangle" was challenged this summer. Some Mothers in pink jackets decided it wasn't only not appropriate for their kids, they wanted the book moved to the adult section of the library, so no other unsuspecting youths would be exposed to the "inappropriate" content...

Check out Maureen's funny and passionate response to the controversy, here:




Here are the links that Maureen refers to during her video.


The Fox interview (get the ridiculous anchor chiming in that the mothers should really be fighting to BAN the books, not just move them to a different section of the library! Fox is so good at that neutral-being-a-journalist-thing. NOT!)

http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/22577720/unfit-to-print.htm#q=%22gossip+girls%22

The Local Florida TV Station's downloadable excerpts from Maureen's "The Bermudez Triangle" are here:

http://www.wftv.com/news/19716133/detail.html

This stuff is ridiculous. Maureen is awesome.

The best revenge to all these book banners? READ her book!


I found out about this at the National Coalition Against Censorship website, here! Check it out. And thanks for Maureen for her permission to share her video here!

Namaste,
Lee