Kid Lit Authors and Illustrators' "It Gets Better!"

My thanks to the wonderful Lisa Yee who told me about this, and to my friends Bruce Coville, Ellen Hopkins and Jay Asher and all the authors and illustrators featured!

And hey, if you're wondering about your summer reading, this video's a great starting place for your list - look at all these amazing authors and illustrators who want to help make things better!

So Your Book Has Been Challenged: Ellen Hopkins, E.Lockhart, Jo Knowles, Jacqui Robbins, Sarah Brannen and Frank Portman Tell It Like It Is! (part 2)

Okay, let's jump back into our Author Roundtable Q & A on having their books Challenged with the amazing Ellen Hopkins, E. Lockhart, Jo Knowles, Jacqui Robbins, Sarah Brannen and Frank Portman.


Lee: Are books really that powerful?

Ellen Hopkins: Yes, they are, but not in the way the challengers think. Books are knowledge. And knowledge is power.

E. Lockhart: Yes. But so are parents. If a parent is afraid of something a kid wants to read, I think that parent should read it and have a conversation with the kid about it. If the kid won't talk, the parent can write a letter or an email explaining his or her thoughts about the book and its treatment of the topic. That way, the book opens doors of communication.

Jo Knowles: I think so. Yes. I mean, books have made me weep with despair. They’ve filled me with indescribable hope. They’ve inspired me to volunteer and to give. They’ve inspired me to call a friend I haven’t talked to in years. They’ve inspired me—many, many times—to sit down with my son and remind him that I love him. And every time I read a book I think it inspires me to look at the world a little differently. With a little more compassion.

I’ve had letters from teens who have said that reading about Laine (the main character in Lessons From A Dead Girl) changed their life. They had always felt like they were the only ones who’d been abused the way Laine had. After reading the book they realized they must not be. That they weren’t alone after all. That’s been a huge relief to them and it has enabled them to talk about it with loved ones. I know many authors who’ve received hundreds of similar letters from teens who connected to their books the same way.

I think this is why many of us write. To try to create stories that inspire and comfort and hopefully encourage thoughtful discussion. Knowing that I’ve made one kid out there feel less lonely or less ashamed of something they have no control over is worth the risk.

Jacqui Robbins: Absolutely. Even at their least powerful, they can spark questions, which terrifies some people. At their most powerful, they can dig deep into your soul and show you you're not the only one who feels that way. And that can change your life.

Sarah Brannen: Probably. Books I read as a child still influence me today in more ways than I can even understand.

Frank Portman: You'd think no, wouldn't you? But there's obviously a long history of attempts to stamp out and ban books, so evidently someone must think so.

Lee: Is there a silver lining in having your book challenged in terms
of increased publicity?

Ellen Hopkins: Yep. I can't believe how many times my name has been in print or online in the last ten days. Seriously... the Christian Science Monitor today, and the UK Guardian a few days ago. And across the AP wire. And on NPR. Thousands of people who never would have known about me now do. Hopefully many of them will go buy my books, to find my message for themselves. Message: make wise choices now, because they will affect your future.

E. Lockhart: I doubt it. I didn't even find out about it until five months after the fact and I'm the writer. There was just the one local news article. Perhaps there would be if there was a real fight that went down over the book.

Jo Knowles: Well, I haven’t received a ton of publicity, though thank you, Lee, for having me here. :-) I think so far the best thing that has come out of this for me is the discussions I’ve had with parents, teachers, librarians and other writers about censorship and what we can do to help prevent it. In particular, Laurie Halse Anderson has provided a ton of helpful information on her blog about what people can do when a book is challenged in their school or library.

Jacqui Robbins: I think for my book in particular there's a huge silver lining, since many people heard about it who never would have otherwise.

Sarah Brannen: The challenges have certainly led to a lot of publicity for my book. It would be nice if they also led to increased sales, but I don't know that they have.

Frank Portman: If the stars align, controversy can certainly generate publicity and sell books. I'd love for that particular silver lining to descend upon me and my books and envelop us all in shining, 1st-Amendment-Martyr royalty-generating goodness. Sounds wonderful.

There may well be a downside to it that I'm not considering, though. They put that Lord Horror guy in prison. That would definitely be too "challenged" for my tastes. So I'd say the thing to shoot for with regard to challenged-ness is: glittering prizes with no jail time. Wish me luck.

Lee: Ellen, what do you want to tell people about GLASS in the face of it being challenged?

Ellen Hopkins: That words aren't dangerous. Ideas aren't dangerous. Discourse isn't dangerous. The lack of these things is most definitely dangerous.

Lee: E., what do you want to tell people about THE BOY BOOK in the face of it being challenged?

E. Lockhart: I have an impulse to defend the subject matter: kids do drink and people do touch boobs, and it is a good idea to read about things in a safe context so you can decide whether or not you want to do them when it comes up in real life.

But you know, not every book is right for every kid, and once you start arguing about boob-touching being appropriate for kids to read about, you're not going to win your argument. It becomes an argument about boob-touching, which is a very fraught topic.

Instead, it needs to be a discussion of how libraries make selections and what experts were consulted. I want to encourage people faced with challenges in their own community to refer to experts and to markers of literary merit. In other words, you can say, "This book received starred reviews from these publications, and was recommended by SLJ (or whatever journal) for readers age 12 and up, and those reviewers are certified librarians, and then this writer has received these awards, and it is using these criteria that we make decisions about what to include in our library."

Lee: Jo, what do you want to tell people about LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL in the face of it being challenged?

Jo Knowles: I wrote Lessons From A Dead Girl because I wanted to expose a type of abuse few people talk about but that is quite common. I know that some topics are uncomfortable and hard to discuss, but arming our kids with knowledge is a far better way to protect them than to keep them from knowing about the dangers that exist.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I respect a parent’s decision not to let their child read a certain book, for whatever reason. But no parent should have the right to make those same decisions for other parents and other children.

Lee: Jacqui, what do you want to tell people about THE NEW GIRL... AND ME in the face of it being challenged?

Jacqui Robbins: I feel a little silly talking about The New Girl...And Me being challenged because it's really a story about friendship and doesn't have any of the things the challengers assumed were in there. It's not like I wrote something brave, like the other folks here, or the other authors whose books are in the anti-bullying curriculum. But I also think it's a good story to hear because it can tell us something about letting others tell us what to read without deciding for ourselves.

Lee: Sarah, what do you want to tell people about UNCLE BOBBY'S WEDDING in the face of it being challenged?

Sarah Brannen: The story is meant to entertain and, perhaps, enlighten young children. It's not only for the children of same-sex parents, but for all children. I hope they'll enjoy getting to know Chloe and sharing her adventures, and I hope it may help them realize, as they get older, that gay people are human beings just like them.

Lee: Frank, what do you want to tell people about ANDROMEDIA KLEIN and KING DORK in the face of their being challenged?

Frank Portman: My books are an attempt to show the world through the eyes of characters who are not like everybody else. They think and do some bizarre and occasionally unpleasant things. How could they not? Read them if that type of thing interests you. Don't if it doesn't. If there's something you don't like, you can always write me and complain about it.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Ellen, E., Jo, Jacqui, Sarah and Frank for taking the time out to share with us the real scoop on having their books challenged.

And remember, the best response to a book challenge... is to READ the book! And now we all have seven great new books to read!


Namaste,
Lee

So Your Book Has Been Challenged: Ellen Hopkins, E.Lockhart, Jo Knowles, Jacqui Robbins, Sarah Brannen and Frank Portman Tell It Like It Is! (part 1)

With all these books being challenged, pulled from collections, banned, threatened with burning (I wish I was kidding about that) ...with author visits being canceled and seemingly everyone up in arms during this year's observance/celebration/banging-our-collective-heads-against-the-wall for Banned Books Week, I thought it would be fascinating to have a virtual sit-down and talk with six authors who have had their books challenged this year.

Ellen Hopkins, who is this very week in a firestorm of controversy about one of her school visits being cancelled at the last minute due to a parent complaint about the content of one of her books, E. Lockhart, Jo Knowles, Jacqui Robbins, Sarah Brannen and Frank Portman were all kind enough to tell it to me like it is, so I could share it with you.

Here's part one of our two part Roundtable:

Lee: Hi Everyone! Please tell me about the recent challenges to your books.

Ellen Hopkins: The challenge was for GLASS, by a middle school parent. Challenged for language and sexual content.



The parent went on to say that NO kids should read my books, or hear me speak at a school visit.

E. Lockhart: The Boy Book, book 2 in the Ruby Oliver series, was challenged in April in Keller, TX. Here's a link to the news story.



I only found out about it this September. A parent wanted to pull the book from the shelves of a middle school library because it talks about the possibility of people touching other people's boobs (on page one) and because of drinking in chapter three. It looks like the school board kept the book in the school, but the parent threatened to file for a formal review. I do not know any more, but my publisher is investigating the end of the story.


Jo Knowles: Lessons From A Dead Girl is being challenged at a school in Kentucky.



The teacher gave me the following list of objections the parent provided in her filed complaint:

homosexual relations
co-ed sleep-overs
parties
drinking
suicide
drug usage
language
anti-Christian

Jacqui Robbins: My picture book, The New Girl...And Me, was challenged as part of an anti-bullying curriculum that also includes books that support tolerance for a wide variety of family structures, including gay marriage.



Sarah Brannen: UNCLE BOBBY'S WEDDING, a picture book I wrote and illustrated, was published in March, 2008. It tells the story of a little girl (well, guinea pig) and her feelings about her favorite uncle getting married to his boyfriend. The story treats the wedding in a totally matter-of-fact way and focuses on the girl's relationship with her uncle.



The first challenge I heard about was in Parker, Colorado, where there was also a big letters-to-the-editor "war" in the local paper about the book. The Douglas County Libraries head librarian wrote this impressive response

The book was also challenged in Gainesville, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and at a school outside Washington DC, I think in Maryland. Those are the ones I know about, but I think there were more. All the challenges I heard about felt that the depiction of a wedding between two men (guinea pigs) was inappropriate for young children.

Frank Portman: Most recently, one of my school visits in the Portland, OR area was cancelled due to parental complaints -- my understanding is that it concerned the occultism in my new book Andromeda Klein,



as well as more general worries about high school speakers sparked by the Barack Obama school speech controversy. It was a real week for complaining about high school guest speakers, so maybe they were just joining in the fun, not wanting to be left out.

Also just the other day I came across a blog post from a school librarian in Hong Kong who was dealing with complaints about my other book, King Dork.



Things like this happen all the time, but I was impressed that it was Hong Kong. Because that's far away.

Lee: Were your feelings hurt when you found out your work was being challenged?

Ellen Hopkins: It is a person's right to challenge and place books into the review process. I understand that so no, my feelings weren't hurt about that. HOWEVER, I was incensed that this parent managed to cancel a school visit from me. I've done hundreds of school visits without corrupting anyone or "indoctrinating children," except to make them think about their own choices.

E. Lockhart: No. My feelings don't get involved with the reception of my books. They do sometimes get hurt when people write me unkind emails. That seems personal. But the book is not me.

Jo Knowles: You know, I’ve been struggling with exactly how I feel about all this and Tanya Lee Stone summed it up perfectly. She said that it’s hard to hear that someone thinks your book could hurt kids when your intention was to do the exact opposite. She’s right. It’s a terrible feeling. I think the last thing any author wants to do is put a child in danger in some way, but that’s what it feels like you’re being accused of.

What saddens me the most is thinking about how the kids in that district who are gay, or who’ve been abused, must feel when they find out books in their school are being challenged because a group of people think it’s inappropriate to read about or discuss these very topics. What kind of message does that send them? That they should keep quiet? Be ashamed? Blame themselves? I don’t know. But I think it is a far more harmful message than it would be to keep these books available to the kids who need them.

Jacqui Robbins: Actually, I found it kind of hilarious because it reflected such ignorance (both of my book and of the world).

Sarah Brannen: It's not exactly a pleasant feeling, but I expected it and I wasn't surprised.


Frank Portman: No, that's not the sort of thing that would hurt my feelings. Now, if one of my books got "challenged" by a group with a name like Concerned Parents Against Books with Weak Narrative Voices and Plots that Just Go Nowhere and Are Really Annoying, well, that would probably sting a little.

Lee: Why do you think people want to stop others from reading something they don't like?

Ellen Hopkins: I think some of them have the purest of motives... maybe we can make "those bad people" become "good people like me." Or, they think they can protect kids by not letting them read about the bad things in life. Uh, seriously? Get real. As I say in my Manifesto poem, "ignorance is no armor" against the things kids see/face/deal with/ choose to do or not to do every day.

E. Lockhart: I think they are afraid. The things teenagers are confronting and discovering are terrifying to parents. We want so desperately to keep our kids safe. I think these people genuinely don't know how to talk to their teens about these subjects (and granted, that is a very hard thing to do) and they are perceiving themselves as community activists for the safety of young people, while that activism is actually masking a deep fear and confusion when faced with the difficulty of having a conversation with a teen about a difficult topic.
Either that, or they're undereducated and enjoy attention.

Jo Knowles: I don’t think it’s a matter of whether or not they like something. I think it has a lot more to do with fear and discomfort. Maybe they don’t want to have certain discussions with their kids, and they think that by keeping books about these topics out of their kids’ hands, they won’t have to. Maybe they think their kids just aren’t ready to read about a certain topic yet. But while these may be legitimate reasons to keep a book from your own child, I don’t think they are legitimate reasons to try to ban a book and thus keep it from all children.

Jacqui Robbins: I think some people feel threatened when faced with choices or circumstances that throw the supreme "rightness" of their own lives into question. They don't want their children to read about those things because -- gasp! -- then they'd have to talk about them.

Sarah Brannen: That's an interesting question. I think that the parents who don't want their children to see my book should be aware that there are other children with same-sex, married parents who might love it. My impression of the challenges to my book is that they are part of a campaign to wipe out homosexuality from America. They don't admit this, but it's what it looks like to me.

In general, you'd think that people wouldn't try to take books off the shelves so no one can see them. They must be really afraid that some books will influence other people to think and behave in a way that will change the world we live in.


Frank Portman: I honestly find it unfathomable.

I suppose that there is an assumption in some quarters, particularly when it comes to teen fiction, that the proper role of novels is to instill good values and train good citizens and discourage bad behavior and so forth. If you think of literature primarily as a kind of social work or therapy, then I guess you'd tend to find books that don't advance your agenda to be useless or counter-productive, or even dangerous. But of course, I'm not writing Social Work Novels. They're meant to be real novels. And they're meant to challenge people, like all novels attempt to do on some level. Maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that people challenge them right back after all. It's still a state of mind I can't quite grasp, however.

Fascinating answers, aren't they? Click back tomorrow for part 2, the conclusion of this amazing Challenged Authors Roundtable!

Namaste,
Lee

Dramarama

By E. Lockhart

Sarah is a big white girl, Demi is a gay black boy, and together they're off to summer musical theater camp!

This bit from the author's website was too good not to share:

It's a season of hormones,
gold lamé,
hissy fits,
jazz hands,
song and dance,
true love,
and unitards
that will determine their future
--and test their friendship.

The author even has all the songs from the book on an imix on her website (right column, under "Sayde's imix") which is pretty cool - it's not even a movie (yet?), and it already has its own soundtrack!

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Fly On The Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything

By E. Lockhart

Gretchen is 16 and wishes she could be a fly on the wall of the boy's locker room to find out what they think of her (and what they look like without clothes!)

Her Kafka-esque wish comes true, and she discovers a lot about anatomy, relationships, and homophobia.

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