Authors and Illustrators for Children... Voting for Hillary Clinton

So in the USA, we've got this presidential election coming up.

It's a big deal. Are we going to go backwards (Donald Trump), or continue to move forwards to a more just future that includes a respect and appreciation for diversity - including people of color, women, muslims, immigrants, and LGBTQ people (Hillary Clinton.)

Okay, so now you know who I'm voting for.

There's an idea out there that authors and illustrators shouldn't be political - that it could hurt their careers, if they alienate any possible customer. That speaking up is dangerous. But that robs us of our rightful voices in an election that's about SO much we care about.

As Michele Obama said in her speech the night Hillary Clinton accepted the democratic nomination for President,

"In this election, and every election, it is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives."

I'm joined by over 1,000 authors and illustrators of books for children and teens in speaking up on social media via Authors and Illustrators for Children. On Twitter. On Facebook. On Instagram. Here's a sample of what's being shared:

Check out the AIforC website here.

Grab the images. Share them widely. Use the Hashtag #AuthorsAndIllustrators4Clinton
And speak up! Your voice deserves to be heard, too.

Perfect – Ellen Hopkins’ Bestselling YA novel in poems about four high school seniors whose goals of perfection are as different as the paths they take to get there

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.

Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love... with another girl.

Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there.

To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back.

And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.

Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

Another powerful novel in verse from Best-Selling Author Ellen Hopkins. Check out her website's "What Makes You Perfect" Wall of reader comments - it's really amazing.

Add your review of "Perfect" in comments!

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!

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

Ellen Hopkins: The Exclusive Pre-Conference #LA11SCBWI Interview!

Registration for the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference opens today! (And there are some amazing intensive classes that will fill up fast.)

I sat down with New York Times Bestselling Author, SCBWI Board Member and SCBWI Regional Advisor for Nevada Ellen Hopkins and got the scoop:



So go check out the offerings, register, and I hope to see you there!

And remember, you can stay on top of all the pre-conference interviews and news by checking in on our Official SCBWI Conference blog and on Team Blog Captain Alice Pope's indispensable SCBWI Children's Market Blog - bookmark them both!



Namaste,
Lee

Food For Thought Thanksgiving, Part 1: Truth To Fiction: The Personal Connection That Makes An Author's Book The One They HAD To Write

I asked Cheryl Rainfield, author of "SCARS,"




"Do you have a personal story behind "SCARS" that made it the book you had to write?" Here's her powerful response:

I know what it's like to be a queer teen who was raped, sexually abused, ritually abused, bullied, a misfit--and in so much emotional pain that I often wanted to die. I know what it's like to use self-harm to try to get through the pain (as well as art and writing). And I know how alone I felt. To feel like you're the only one, to have a society hate you for who you love, to have to struggle so much to get through a day--it can feel unbearable. And to have those things have to be kept secret--especially the sexual abuse and the self-harm--it makes the emotional pain so much worse.

All those things I put into SCARS. I had to write it--for myself, to break the silence, to get out some of the pain, to be heard--and for others, to let them know that they're not alone, to encourage healing, and, for people who don't have those experiences (self-harm, sexual abuse, being queer), to encourage greater compassion. I also wrote SCARS because it was a book I needed and couldn't find as a teen--even as an adult. I think we all need to see our lives reflected (in a positive light) and to know that we're not alone. And I think truth needs to be shared.

So though SCARS is fiction, is has huge chunks of my own story in it, and a lot of my heart, my soul. It's actually my arm on the cover of SCARS; the scars are my own. The outside scars only hint at the pain inside. But there is also hope in SCARS--hope, love and healing--things that are so important for me, for us all.

I am grateful that SCARS is reaching so many people, that it's helping them feel less alone, or more understood. That feels like such a gift to me. I hope SCARS will be a book that speaks to you.

I also asked Author April Lurie the same question





- "Do you have a personal story behind "The Less-Dead" that made it the book you HAD to write?" Here's what she said:

The Less-Dead began solely as a mystery. I planned to write a story involving a serial killer, but when I realized that it was going to be a homophobic serial killer, I decided to explore my own personal experience of growing up in a strict, evangelical home.

I grew up in the seventies, and when I was taught that homosexuality was a sin and that gays led perverse lifestyles, I didn’t really think twice about it. After all, I was straight and I didn’t know any gay people. They certainly didn’t attend our church!

But when I went to college and my world broadened, I began to see the incredible hypocrisy of the statement, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” Why was being gay a sin? Why were my loving and wonderful gay friends sinners – destined for hell if they didn’t change their sexual orientation? It made no sense.

In The Less-Dead, my main character Noah became an extension of myself as a teen. He’s the son of the Bible Answer Guy, a radio talk show host who interprets the Bible literally, including the passages on homosexuality. Noah is fed up with all-things-church, and he believes that his dad is spreading hate. Suddenly my story became very personal.

But it became even more personal when I was writing the second draft of the book. During that time my daughter’s friend – a sweet, talented and charming young man – came out in his middle school. He was attending a private Christian school at the time, and when the administration heard the news, they told him he had to leave. They were not going to allow an openly gay student attend their school. I was told that his parents immediately put him into counseling in order to change his sexual orientation.

That’s when I decided to include the lengthy author’s note at the back of The Less-Dead, where I refute the six “clobber passages” in the Bible that pastors use to condemn homosexuality. I also listed several websites and organizations where gay teens can go to for help.

Lately in the news we’ve seen so many heartbreaking stories of gay teen suicides, and while there are many factors that contribute to the prejudice that gay teens face, the teachings of the evangelical church remain a root problem. If a teenager is raised to believe that being gay is a sin, and that loving a person of the same sex is shameful, how can he or she rise above that? If straight teens are being taught from the pulpit that gay kids are perverted and going to hell, how will the bullying and hatred ever stop?

The Less-Dead is a mystery surrounding a serial killer, but it’s also a story about a boy who challenges what he’s been taught. I hope the book will not only entertain, but spark discussion and encourage teens, both gay and straight.

Now for New York Times Bestselling Author Ellen Hopkins, she's spoken and written about her personal connection to her first book "Crank"



(followed in the series by "Glass" and most recently with "Fallout.")




Ellen's shared it was "loosely based on my older daughter's story of addiction to crystal meth. ...Crank began as a personal exploration of the "why's" behind my daughter's decisions, and what part I might have played in them. By writing the story from "my daughter's" perspective, I learned a lot, both about her, and about myself. But I also learned a lot about the nature of addiction..."

But Ellen has also written four books outside this series; "Burned,"

"Impulse,"





"Identical," and "Tricks,"





- and I asked her, "Was there a personal story behind every one of your books that made it a book you HAD to write?

Here's her answer:

I actually do believe we bring threads of real life into our work. Sometimes it's a personal story. Sometimes it's tapping into the emotion of a previous event in our lives. First kiss, for instance. Or first time we have sex. Or having a baby (or perhaps losing one).

BURNED was inspired by a rash of school shootings in the news. I wanted to explore what might put a girl behind the trigger. As I wrote her, she began to resemble a friend of my daughter's, who was Mormon and had weapons experience. Aunt J in that book looks very much like a woman who runs a bed and breakfast in eastern Nevada, where I spent time as an artist-in-residence. So the whole setting--Caliente--is a place I came to know and love.

With IMPULSE, I wanted to gain some understanding of why a teen, who has so much to live for, would choose suicide. I live in a small valley and we lost two teens to suicide in a year. One was the brother of a classmate of my daughter's. Vanessa in the book is a combination of two friends--one my age, who is bipolar and who has been suicidal; and a young friend who is a cutter.

IDENTICAL is dedicated to three friends, all of whom were sexually abused by their fathers as children. Their stories inspired the book completely.

And in TRICKS, all three of the female main characters' stories came from readers, who shared their heart-wrenching personal histories with me. And Seth (the character, not his story) probably resembles my oldest son, who is gay.

I find it fascinating, as a writer, to consider that no matter what I write that's "fiction" there's an element of my own personal truth to it - otherwise I don't know that I could make it sing. Make the characters feel real. Make readers care.

What about you? Is there a personal connection that you have to the fiction YOU write?

And for those of us in the U.S.A., Happy Thanksgiving!

Namaste,
Lee

UPSTANDERS: How a group of Authors are standing up to Censorship and making us all proud

Imagine you're an author scheduled with a group of other YA authors to appear at a large book fair event for teen fans in a school district.

Now let's say there's a small group of people - maybe just one librarian, and a handful of adults - who don't like what one of your colleagues has written. The author may be a New York Times Best Seller, she may write works of deep beauty and meaning that resonate with Teen readers, but they complain. The superintendent of the school, over the protests of other librarians in the district, decides to un-invite that author.

What do you do?

Are you a bystander? Do you attend the event anyway?

Or are you an UPstander? Do you stand up - again censorship, and take a stand? Do you pull out of the event yourself?

This isn't just a theoretical situation. It's happening, this week.

The festival is the biennial Teen Lit Fest (TLF) in Humble (a suburb of Houston, Texas), scheduled for January 29, 2011 and organized by the Humble ISD Librarians.

The author who was dis-invited last week was the incredible Ellen Hopkins.

Censored Author Ellen Hopkins

And on Monday, Author Pete Hautman withdrew from the festival in protest.

He wrote a great piece about this on his blog, where he shared that

And you know what’s really scary? Here is how the Humble ISD superintendent responded to a letter from one of the librarians who objected to his decision:

“…there are more authors that we would want at our Teen Lit Fest than we could ever have enough Teen Lit Fests to accommodate.”

Pete also published on his blog that

Tera Lynn Childs also withdrew from the festival on Monday.

Matt de la Pena withdrew from the festival on Tuesday.

*UPDATE 8/18/10* And I found out in one of my reader comments that Melissa De La Cruz has withdrawn from the festival as well.

THE UPSTANDERS:

Author Pete Hautman

Author Tera Lynn Childs

Author Matt de la Pena

Melissa De La Cruz

There's a facebook page for the festival here that lists the remaining authors scheduled to attend.

BRIAN MEEHL, TODD STRAUSSER, & SHARON FLAKE

I hope these authors become UPstanders as well - and that NO other authors take their place.


We, as a community of authors and readers, of parents and students, of believers in the power of Children's Literature cannot stand by.

We must stand together, and stand up!

The concept of UPstanders is a wonderful one, coming from this great organization, "Facing History and Ourselves" - which links lessons from history (like the Holocaust) to moral decisions Teens (and the rest of us) face today.

I think this is a great example of authors facing a moral dilemma.

What would YOU do?


Bravo to Pete, Tera, Matt, and of course to Ellen Hopkins!

Let's go buy THEIR books.

And let's see what happens with this festival...

Namaste,
Lee

Tricks

By Ellen Hopkins

Sex. Sound fun?

Sex for money. Sound glamorous?

Sex to survive. Get Real.

In this wrenching and powerful novel in verse, five different teens struggle to figure out what sex and love are all about.

Eden's a preacher's daughter, in love with a boy her parents will never accept.

Seth is gay, the son of a farmer, afraid to come out to his dad.

Whitney lives in her big sister's shadow, wishing someone would pay attention to her.

Ginger's Mom is a whore - and Ginger has to take care of her siblings at the cost of taking care of herself.

Cody's stepdad is an okay guy, but then he gets sick... And Cody has to become the adult.


For five different reasons, each of them gets dragged into turning "Tricks." Can they survive? And if they do, can they ever feel okay about themselves again?


Add your review of "Tricks" in comments.

I'm Interviewed by THE KIDS RIGHT TO READ PROJECT of the National Coalition Against Censorship! And Ellen Hopkin's "MANIFESTO" for Banned Book Week!

My Interview is here!

And The Kids Right To Read Project of the National Coalition Against Censorship website is full of other great things, like their "Voices Against Book Censorship" interviews which has an hysterical video "I Am Not A Pornographer" by the Amazing John Green.

And their site is where I found this amazing video - Ellen Hopkins wrote and performs her poem, "Manifesto," that says it all much more eloquently than I:




I'm humbled and honored to be one of the many voices, in such esteemed and brave company, fighting for KIDS' RIGHT TO READ.

So, in celebration of BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2009, go out and get a Banned Book! Heck, get two! And READ THEM!

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 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

Ellen Hopkins: An Exclusive SCBWI Team Blog Interview!

Ellen Hopkins is not afraid. She’s an awesomely brave and staggeringly honest writer, who explores some of the depths of human experience in her books. Suicide, Cutting, Sexual Abuse, Addiction, Sex, Friendship, Love – the palate of her stories seem to go darker than most. Written as novels where each page and moment is its own concrete poem, the shapes of the words on the page and the spare emotions of the characters sear under our skin. Reading her books, like the New York Times Bestsellers “Crank” and “Impulse,” is an addictive, bitter-sweet, and wrenching experience. She’s a huge talent, and I’m a huge fan.

I had the great fortune to land an exclusive SCBWI Team Blog interview with Ellen Hopkins as part of the countdown to SCBWI’s 38th Annual Summer Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children, coming up August 7-10, 2009 in Los Angeles. (You can still register!)

Here, for your enjoyment, is our virtual conversation.

Lee: Hi, Ellen. Thanks so much doing this interview with me. I’m super excited about it. Okay, First question: There’s all this noise out in the news media about how fictional character’s mid-deeds lead to real-world teens mis-behaving. Like, in some movie, kids lie down in the middle of the street so cars will drive over them, and then some idiots do that in real life. And all these people blame the movie. And yet, catharsis has- at its core - the exchange of watching someone else make bad decisions so in a sense we’re freed from making those same mistakes ourselves.

You have characters making terrible decisions with serious consequences in your novels – what’s your take on fictional bad decisions – are they bad role modeling? Or are they cathartic?


Ellen: I've had many, many readers write to thank me for allowing them to live vicariously through my characters, and that they will now NEVER do drugs or cut or any of the issues that touch my characters' lives. By seeing how these actions affect not only the person doing them, but also those around them, it gives a real insight into the end result of bad behaviors. I doubt many readers finish CRANK then want to go try it!


Lee: Yeah, absolutely! That's what I believe, too.

Continuing with the idea that fictional characters are stand-ins for real people making choices, I wonder what’s your take on the way authors represent minority characters – there’s a pressure out there that since there are so few representations, the characters can’t be BAD – because then it’s like you’re stereotyping the whole group. How do you deal with this?


Ellen: I think you have to be true to the character whatever their race or sexual orientation. If you listen to your characters, they will speak for themselves. Obviously, there are Latino and black gangs. If you're writing urban fiction, I don't see how you can NOT write those things into your story. Be true to your story, be true to your characters and who cares what the naysayers think!


Lee: In “Impulse,” connecting Tony’s “gay” identity with the abuse he’d experienced made me pretty nervous as a reader. Yet, because other characters were abused and didn’t end up “gay,” and because Tony was so multi-dimensional, it worked for me. Did that connection (abuse to gay orientation) concern you when you worked on the story?


Ellen: Tony is actually my favorite character out of all of them. His sexuality interested me a lot because as I see him, he wasn't "gay" per se. All his early sexual experiences were with men, and because his mother dared to tell him as a little boy that he must be gay, or why would her boyfriend want him, he wasn't sure who he was. I had a gay bookseller once say something about Tony, but he came to think by the end of the book, that "love is love." I see it that way, too.


Lee: Yeah, Love is Love. And sexuality is complex. I think you were really brave in how you handled the fluidity of that character's self-awareness and sexuality.

You tackle some dark spaces in your novels - “Crank” pulled no punches and left me raw. Nowdays the line between YA and Adult books seems to be blurring (Often the way to tell is how much explicit sexual content is there and what’s the age of the protagonist.) And yet, I wonder if there’s something about the themes, or some sense of hope, that makes a YA book different. Do you think YA books are intrinsically different?


Ellen: I think YA authors generally approach issues with a different sensibility than adult authors do. Let's face it. Teens are either having sex or thinking about having sex, so isn't it better to provide adult perspective to something that is such a deep part of every human? Can we not show how important it is to have love be part of sex? I think YA approaches it that way, rather than as titillation.


Lee: That makes a ton of sense to me. Sorry it doesn't fly for so many in West Bend, Wisconsin (with their whole book burning controversy)!


Ellen: Book banning is a real hot button issue for me. And burning? AAAAGH! No one has the right to choose for everyone what is or isn't "fit" to read.


Lee: Yeah. It makes me want to scream, but that's not so effective. People who want to shut off information to other people aren't keeping their minds open to discourse... So I think the best response is to use the controversy to promote the heck out of the books - and hope that MORE people read them after a challenge than before - that may be the only way to ultimately stop the conservative impulse to remove books from other people's reach.


Ellen: As the article said, put "You May Not Read This" on the cover, who wouldn't want to read it to find out why not? Especially teens!


Lee: LOL - I'm remembering being a teenager and scanning the TV Guide for movies rated "R" - I didn't really care what they were about, I was just soooo curious. It was such a quintessential teenager moment for me.


Ellen: Well see, as a teen myself, there wasn't a lot of great YA available... Judy Blume was about it. So I went straight to very adult fare, including Erica Jong and Jacqueline Susann.


Lee: That's reading UP! And, speaking of that, we hear all the time that kids read UP. But, sometimes (like when I hear about a third grader reading “Twilight”) I get nervous that they’re reading too far up. What’s your feeling about the age of YOUR readers?


Ellen: Every teen's experience is so different, it's hard to really say what is "too young." I've had readers as young as 11 write (seems very young, but they seemed very mature) and as old as 72. There is some fairly heavy content in my books--some more than others. TRICKS, which releases next month, is about teen prostitution. No way to write that book "real" without including some fairly graphic scenes. That, I guess, is where parents come in to look at what their kids are reading and say okay or not.


Lee: Yeah, as a parent, I care what my kid reads! I do want to ask, since we're talking about keeping books "real"... You are a MASTER at voice - your characters do feel "real!" Is there a tip you can share with us, for ‘how to find the voice of your character?’


Ellen: Well, I will go more in depth with this at the teen voice workshop I'm presenting in LA, but basically I know my characters well before I write anything. Then I let them talk not only to me, but through me. I don't dumb down language. Don't try for vernacular. I just listen.


Lee: That sounds like an amazing workshop - I can't wait! Since you're both a NYTimes Bestselling Author AND a SCBWI Regional Advisor (for Nevada), what single piece of advice would you offer to someone planning to attend this summer's conference?


Ellen: LA is an amazing conference, but with so much there, it can feel overwhelming. Don't try to do everything. Look at the schedule and decide what you HAVE to see. Then let it be okay to take an hour to nap or write or just unwind somewhere.


Lee: That's great advice. Some of the best conference moments for me in years past were when I skipped a session in favor of sitting down to talk with someone more...


Ellen: Oh yeah. The networking is one of the best parts. I've made great, lifetime friends in LA.


Lee: And speaking of more, we're almost done! 2 questions left:

You are also a MASTER at social networking and marketing your books. (Of course, your work is brilliant, so once people check it out, they’re hooked – but you get them to check it out!) You mentioned at the SCBWI Asilomar Conference this past February that you have a ton of fans on myspace (16,556 as of today!), I’ve seen you on Twitter, and this interview is being done through your facebook and my facebook IM/Chat feature. For most of the rest of us mortals, it’s hard to do it all. Can you help prioritize and explain the differences as you see it between Myspace, Facebook and Twitter?


Ellen: A YA author needs MySpace, where you really connect with a wide range of readers. Facebook tends to be older readers, or at least a bit more mature. Many of my old MySpace readers are now on Facebook. Twitter for me is a real connection to industry professionals. Yes, readers are following my "tweets," but most of the "talking" I do there is with other authors, editors, agents, etc. This also lets our "followers" feel like they're almost voyeurs, I think.


Lee: I just started on Twitter this week - it's a fascinating beast. (140 characters at a time!)

Last question: Can you let me scoop the name of your keynote at the conference? (also, if you give me the day and time, I'll include that!)


Ellen: Saturday, 1:45 (after lunch). Not For the Faint of Heart: The Climb to the Top


Lee: Wonderful! I'll be there, in the front row! Thank you so much, Ellen. We covered some great stuff, and I can't wait to see you at the Summer Conference!


Ellen: Thanks, Lee.


Lee: You ROCK!

Isn't Ellen AMAZING?

Thanks for reading this in-depth interview - and keep clicking back for more great SCBWI Summer Conference scoops and interviews as we continue the countdown to the summer conference! (Now only 11 days away!!!)

Namaste,
Lee

Impulse

By Ellen Hopkins

Three teens.

Tony popped too many pills.

Vanessa cut herself.

Connor put a gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

And yet, they all failed at suicide.

Now they're in a Betty-Ford-style upscale treatment center, and though they're from completely different worlds, they come together and form the most unlikely of friendships.

Sex, abuse, addiction, sexuality, and love are all huge drivers that landed them inside. But can they figure out a way to survive not just life inside, but the life outside that drove them to try to kill themselves in the first place?

Told in a rush of poems, this New York Times Bestselling novel grabs you and doesn't let go!


Add your review of "Impulse" in comments!

Countdown to the Summer SCBWI Conference... 4 weeks to go until the 4 day "Kidbookapalooza!"

Okay, 24 days until the big 38th Annual Summer Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children, August 7-10, 2009, in Los Angeles, CA!

The conference will be AMAZING, with opportunities to learn and schmooze and grow with writers and editors and agents and illustrators and art directors and other industry professionals!

And, to help us all get excited about the veritable candy-store of good stuff that the four day conference will present, as part of SCBWI TEAM BLOG,

I know, I know, perhaps it's a bit too much "branding,"
but I like having the logo!

I'll be sharing some exclusive interviews with some incredible people over the next 23 days...

I'd tell you who now, but then, where would the surprise be?

Here's what's NOT a surprise - this list of jaw-droppingly talented people speaking at the conference!

Can you believe we'll get to hear luminaries like these???

Holly Black (Tithe! Spiderwick Chronicles!) New York Times Bestseller and Andre Norton Award Winner!

Ellen Hopkins (Crank! Impulse!) New York Times Bestseller!

Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian!) National Book Award Winner!

David Wiesner (Flotsam! Tuesday!) All those amazing no-word picturebooks! Multiple Caldecott Award Winner!

Kathleen Duey (Skin Hunger!) National Book Award Finalist!

And all these Golden Kite Award Winners!

Honestly, it's going to be amazing. You can still register!

And stay tuned here at "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?" for some GREAT early Conference SCOOPS!

All right, can you tell I'm excited about this? Or have I been too subtle, having used 19 exclamation points in, um... (wait, I'm counting...) 16 sentences?

Hey, let me know in comments if you're planning to be there! (argh! 20! oh no, that makes 22, I can't control it...)

Namaste,
Lee