 To booktalk and critique specific controversial titles, certain assumptions about audience, know about challenges and selection Chance: despite breaking taboos, teen protagonists "must remain true to themselves" & "do the right thing" Lyga's Boy Toy has 4.6 reading level, so it is often placed incorrectly in lower school libraries, which leads to challenges Lyga's latest: "heroic" boy removes patriotic ribbons from vehicle at behest of veteran father, caught by local reporter Peter's Luna has 3.0 reading level, but even young kids in conservative communities already know about transgender youth Nancy Garden's groundbreaking Annie on My Mind paves way for Peter's short story collection grl2grl Coe Booth's 1st novel Tyrell (4.4 RL) 15 yr old struggles 4 food, motel shelter, safety amidst poverty & family struggles Tyrell's constant profanity raw language, sexuality "not as obscene as events" (Fallen Angels) but Booth knows this lifestyle Tyrell reappears in Booth's Kendra as a DJ, about Kendra's emerging sexuality & 3 adults who don't help her as she matures Hunger Games (5.3 RL) Coincidence that horrendous views of the future have come out over last 8 yrs? Tender Morsels (6.1 RL) uses faerie tale archetypes, unimaginable brutality, lyrical writing about resilience of spirit Breaking Dawn (4.8 RL) most disturbing of the 4: sex, Bella becomes pregnant, not for younger Twilight readers Scott's Living Dead Girl, "Alice" abused by Ray for 5 yrs, family threatened, kept small & childlike by starvation Lyga didn't get backlash from Boy Toy he anticipated, but Mackler & Maureen Johnson banned in his own school district Bookstores "not carrying" Boy Toy, though have his 1st & 3rd novels, and he heard librarians "can't" recommend it "This is how they win," said Lyga. (Lack of) selection as censorship. Lyga lacks "target to shoot at," no one knows it exists "Insidious to never let it appear" so people don't have the change to challenge controversial material, says Lyga "healthy debate" among user reviews on amazon, but lack of availability in stores/libraries does not facilitate that debate Despite explicit condemnation of school shooting, Fan Boy & Goth Girl not considered for state awards because of bullet mention If books "never get out there," said Lyga reviews & awards do not matter, since they will never educate & entertain kids Julie Ann Peters: "I want my books to be banned because that means they got into the library" Peters says school library creates the climate of the school, can support emotional, physical, & psychological health Peters' letters from fans, heartbreaking but also hysterical Some school librarians refuse to order "controversial books." Peters' letter from librarian says school libraries tend to be more restrictive than public libraries about GLBT materials hmm Coe Booth says she doesn't know her books have been challenged, but every Kendra review mentions anal sex, so "bracing herself" Tyrell "the 1st book" many 15 or 16 year-olds have ever read, hears Booth Booth says the "n-word" is never used in a derogatory way in her book, but teachers want to avoid this vocabulary altogether As a social worker in the Bronx, Booth saw kids living "much worse" than Tyrell. Sheltering students does not serve the child White privilege keeps teachers from using books with this vocab, but how will kids know hy, rather than modern colloquial use |