Please note in my above statement, I referenced banning being acceptable from the standpoint of someone’s personal library, and not the public libraries. The American Library Association (ALA) takes a firm stand on the unconstitutionality of banning of books because it violates our First Amendment rights.

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. ~ Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.

Who is the target audience for the majority of the banned or challenged books? Primarily children and young adults. Challenges are generally motivated by a desire to protect children from inappropriate sexual content or offensive language. While I applaud the motivation, the assumption that the group who wishes to protect our youth knows what constitutes inappropriate or offensive content for each and every child or teen is laughable. Each child’s readiness to handle the content varies, and it is not possible to even designate by age guidelines. In an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights adopted by the ALA, the Free Access to Libraries for Minors states:

Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.

Another factor is that children and teens tend to self-regulate. If they are not ready to handle a particular topic or find something within a book to be offensive, they simply stop reading. In addition to this, sometimes the book which has deemed to be a bad influence, may have a positive effect. A prime example of this is Go Ask Alice which is perennially on the challenged or banned lists. Does this book have strong content and language? Absolutely. Does it discuss the drug culture and the effects of taking drugs? Again yes. Those who wish to ban this particular book feel by exposing youth to the content they could be harmed in some way. Maybe they feel using drugs would then become attractive. I can honestly say when I was young, the made-for-TV-movie, which we watched as a family, had a strong impact on me. Then later, for one of my classes, Go Ask Alice was required reading material, with the permission of parents.

The movie provided a safe environment to experience the content found between the covers of the book, and we discussed it in depth afterwards, so I thought I was amply prepared to meet the actual diary. There are parts of the book I skipped because I was not ready to handle the content (if the truth be known, I’m probably still not ready). But, the lasting impact of the story was a lifelong fear of recreational drug usage. Because of this one book, I have never once in my life been tempted when offered any street drugs. Effective book? Although unpleasant in places to read, I don’t have any regrets about reading it and will always be glad I did.

Banned Books Week is September 26–October 3, 2009. Get out there, read a banned book, and support intellectual freedom.

Posted on the LL Book Review

The post Support Intellectual Freedom – Read a Banned Book appeared first on Be the Cat.

YALSA believes strongly that teens deserve the best, yet many libraries have inadequate numbers of trained staff and resources to address the needs of teens.  According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, there will be more than 42 million teens by the year 2008 (Projections of the Total Resident Population by 5-Year Age Groups and Sex with Special Age Categories: Middle Series: 2001-2005. Population Projection Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).  Furthermore, studies indicate that teens are reading less often and fewer of them are obtaining critical literacy skills.  More than 60 studies have been done since the 1970s that link increased student achievement with access to well-stocked and professionally staffed school library programs.

To address these issues, YALSA’s mission is to advocate, promote and strengthen library service to teens, ages 12 through 18, as part of the continuum of total library services, and to support those who provide library service to this population.

One group which has taken the Teen Lit Day to heart is readergirlz who have developed Operation Teen Book Drop in conjunction with YALSA, and in 2008 coordinated efforts of twenty publishers who donated 10,000 books which YALSA distributed to 12 children’s hospitals nationwide and in Canada so recuperating teens had something great to read during their hospital stay.  Readergirlz is making this an annual event, so check out the Operation TBD video or visit their site for more details.

If you’re looking for suggestions on how to celebrate Support Teen Literature Day, then visit the ALA wiki which at current count has 37 suggestions.  Here at the Lulu Book Review, we are celebrating by helping to highlight young adult/teen fiction books.  Double Life, which was our most recently reviewed book (Review 72), is actually written by a teen, Dawson Vosburg.  Please check back and read the next review on, Scary Mary, by S. A. Hunter, definitely a book worth your while.  Other teen books which have been highlighted on the Lulu Book Review are:

1. The Time Cavern by Todd Fonseca (Review 12)
2. Chappaqua by Robert D. Toonkel (Review 30)
3. Misfit McCabe by LK Griffie (Review 32)
4. Mortal Ghost by L. Lee Lowe (Review 38)
5. Knowing Jack by Julie Elizabeth Powell (Review 64)

One additional book, which has not yet been reviewed by the Lulu Book Review, but does warrant a special shout out, is Space Dog and the Solar Stone Code by Saul Marquez. Saul is also a teen author and has recently had some success with his Space Dog book, which is the first of a trilogy, in visiting local schools and speaking to children about writing.

The only question that remains is how are you going to Support Teen Literature?

Article originally written for the Lulu Book Review

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LK Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
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For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

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