Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

CELEBRATE THE FREEDOM TO READ

September marks the annual celebration of Banned Books Week (September 25-October 1), and I’ve already had a question from the press that I get every year: Why is it so important to celebrate banned books? Banned Books Week is an awareness week that celebrates and promotes free thought. Some critics believe that too much emphasis is placed on actual books that have been challenged or banned. But, the public might never know that there is a concerted effort by organized groups and individuals to abridge free speech and limit the freedom to read in America if Banned Books Week didn’t exist.  

Since censors tend to target books for children and young adults, most book challenges occur in school and public libraries. While it is quite common for the same books to appear on the list year after year, there are always new titles to defend. Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War has been of interest to censors since the day it was published, 30 years ago. Is it the language, the bullying, or the attempt to disturb the universe that makes some adults uncomfortable? The graphic descriptions of the birth of a calf in A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck has kept it under the watchful eyes of censors since 1973, when it was published and became part of the English curriculum in many schools. In recent years, fantasy has topped the list. Books like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), and Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach are a concern to those who feel that fantasy focuses too much on evil and magic.

Censorship is often related to political and social issues in the news. After the 1999 incident at Columbine High School, school administrators began to censor books that dealt with brutal violence and ruthless pranks. Novels like Shadow People by Joyce McDonald and Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan began to disappear from school libraries. Now, the debate about same-sex marriages and other issues related to alternative lifestyles have censors targeting books like Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan and the historical novel To the Edge of the World by Michelle Torrey. Banned Books Week helps to promote these books, and thousands of others that have come under fire. It is our job to let young patrons know that freedom is far healthier than any type of censorship.

Random House Children’s Books offers Teachers Guides and Discussion Guides on topics like “Talking about Guns,” “Bullying,” and “Censorship Issues.” There are also guides that deal with specific books that have been challenged like The Chocolate War, A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, Tar Beach, Nappy Hair, and The Egypt Game that teachers and librarians can use during the celebration of Banned Books Week. The discussion questions in these guides deal with the controversial issues in the novels, and ask children and young adults to think critically and creatively about the issues. The guides can be found at www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides. In addition to these excellent tools, there is a newly updated First Amendment First Aid Kit to guide book stores, public and school libraries, and teachers as they prepare to deal with book challenges. You can access this kit at www.firstamendmentfirstaid.com.

You may email me at pscales@scgsah.state.sc.us.