Top Ten Books We Shouldn't Forget — Banned Books Week Edition

This week is Banned Books Week, and I have been trying to think of something to post about it. Luckily, this week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) theme is books we don't want people to forget, and that works just perfectly with Banned Books Week. The best books to remember are the ones others want you to forget.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Hands down one of the best, if not THE best, young adult novel I've ever read. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favor and do it this week.

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Another brilliant novel, which is also often challenged. In happier news, this was recently made into a movie and is in theaters now. I would really like to see it!

3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is a classic in YA lit as far as I'm concerned. Who remembers the Scroggins challenge?

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I don't think anyone in America went through high school without reading this book, it is that much a part of American literature and our culture. A masterpiece, one that will never be forgotten.

5. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. The first in a series of historical fiction about a black family in Mississippi, in 1933. Needless to say, there is abundant racism, and it's been banned for language, yet how can we forget this time in history and ignore what happened? I listened to this on audio, narrated by Lynne Thigpen (I remembered her from the game show Carmen Sandiego), and it is excellent.

6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This is just a great book that I feel doesn't get enough attention anymore.

7. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Another classic in children's lit, now complete with the release of Son today!

8. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. An older paranormal romance, before they got truly eyeroll-inducing. I thought this werewolf story was very well done, with the ending I wanted (maybe not the one you would want, but I was happy with it). This one has been challenged for sexuality and unsuitability to age group.

9. Anastasia series by Lois Lowry. I've only read the first in this series, but it was so funny that it's hard for me to forget it. I really should continue the series.

10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This will forever be my favorite and have a place in my heart.

There you have it! My top ten favorite banned/challenged books that shouldn't be forgotten. I'm sure this list could be added to, because unfortunately many cases are made each year for banning or censoring books. Celebrate your right to read this week by reading one from this list, or really any book you want.

The YA Darkness Maelstrom

I was going to not write a post about the whole Wall Street Journal article that pretty much bashes and dismisses young adult literature, but I feel like I should at least say something about my stance. Especially when I see it's gotten more than 8,000 Facebook "likes" from people.

If you know me, you will know that I am distraught by the complete ignorance and lack of empathy Meghan Cox Gurdon displays in her article, titled "Darkness Too Visible." She basically claims that teens don't need to worry about the dark themes that are present in many young adult titles today.

Unfortunately, she is very wrong.

Let's just look at a few statistics. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide was the third leading cause of death in young adults ages 15 to 24 in 2007. According to Childhelp, a report of child abuse occurs every 10 seconds. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8.

Do we see something here?

Teens and tweens do not always have lives full of sunshine, rainbows and lollipops. I actually have yet to meet a teen whose life is that awesome. I remember what it was like when I was in middle and high school, and life sucked hardcore. I went through a period of pretty intense depression (though it was never diagnosed or anything), and I felt so alone and miserable, despite my loving family and decent economic standing. I did not get the idea to be miserable from books. Books helped me to escape, and to see that I wasn't alone.

This is the reason why I'm studying to be a librarian and hope to work with teens. I want to find books for them that will help them, that are relevant to their lives and are something they can hold on to. Now, don't read this to say I will give every teen that walks through the library doors books about rape and suicide. No. I will assess the situation and use my training to see what interests the teen, to see what they are looking for and what they want or need. Then I will do my best to find a book that is a match for them, and, if necessary (and if possible), one that fits with their parents' desires too (it can be done, believe it or not). The good news is, there are too many books to count in the world. There is one out there to fit nearly every situation.

It will just be my job to find them.

Rock the Drop today!

So you all know how I'm studying to be a teen librarian? Well, today is Support Teen Lit Day, a part of National Library Week. And readergirlz is hosting Rock the Drop, a day when all YA lit lovers spread the love! As I love teen lit like it's my job (oh, wait...) I have released two teen books into the wild.

This first book is ttyl by Lauren Myracle, great YA author and often found on top banned books lists! Automatically she is awesome. And this book is the reason she makes it on there, though it is a shame some people are deprived of it. It's written all in IMs, which is really fun, but deals with tough issues and growing up (apparently this is a good reason to ban books). I hope someone finds it who will enjoy it! It's on a bench in the center of Burlington, near the gazebo.

This second one is a mystery, Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams. I left this one in True North Cafe on Cambridge St. I hope someone who will appreciate it finds it!

Go ahead, world, spread the YA love today! Even if it's just reading a YA book or talking about them. Teen Lit Power!

Throwback Thursday: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

It's been a while, Throwback Thursday fans! I've been meaning to do this book for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. Lucky for me Banned Books Week is a perfect time to revisit a childhood favorite and a classic young adult book. Today we revisit The Giver by Lois Lowry, Newbery Winner and my very first dystopian book (or did I read Fahrenheit 451 first?). The first time I read this book was in the 8th grade. We were reading it in class, and like a couple other books that year (including Fahrenheit 451, actually), we didn't finish the reading in class. Well, this wouldn't do. I had to know how it ended! And so I did what any book lover would: I "borrowed" it from my classroom and brought it home with me. I brought it back, don't worry! I just wanted to finish it. Then I had to have a copy for myself, and of course bought one. So without further ado, here it is!


Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Bantam Books, 1993
Where I got it: I bought myself a copy from Barnes & Noble.

Jonas lives in a perfect world. Everyone is the same: families are assigned to each other (four in each, a mother, father, son and daughter), everyone gets the same privileges at particular ages, everyone lives in the same houses, everyone is assigned a job. There is no color. And people don't die until they are supposed to, with rare exceptions. With this "sameness" in their society, the result is a world with no emotions.

When Jonas turns 12 and he is assigned his position, he is surprised. He will be the new Receiver of Memory, a mysterious position that he doesn't know much about. He meets the old Receiver, now known as the Giver, who begins to show him the true joys, and with this comes the true pains, of life that his community has lost. He keeps these experiential memories as a burden so the others don't have to experience them. But when Jonas' father, who works at the birthing center, brings home a child named Gabriel who is taking a bit too long to develop, Jonas realizes he must make a choice, one that could condemn him and Gabriel to an unknown fate.

Lowry gives us the classic dystopia here, but disguises it in the form of a utopia. There is no pain in this world, no worries or fears. But this means there is no true joy, happiness or love. Family and love are only ideas, concepts that the people of this community know about but don't understand. Jonas is given the responsibility that no 12-year-old should have to have; being the Atlas of his community, holding each memory, good and bad, that they are no longer privileged to have, and not tell others what they are missing in life.

Despite the community having no problems or pain, there are some things clearly wrong with the society, horrifying things that Jonas finds out through the course of the book. There is no such thing as a completely perfect society, since problems and the unexpected crop up no matter how much you plan. And these problems and unexpected occurrences need to be fixed.

There is not a whole lot to say about most of the characters, since they largely have no personalities. They all have their own preferences, yes, but the needs and desires of the society are stronger and unquestioned. The only characters who are really worth taking a look at are Jonas and the Giver. Jonas is an inquisitive boy who doesn't completely bend to the will of the community like his peers, which perhaps singles him out for the job of the Receiver. He has a clear sense of right and wrong, even though he is not taught this. He is also brave in his departure from the normal, showing remarkable courage in the face of adversity and possibly death.

The Giver is a wise old man. He is the only one who knows true pain and loss, and has also felt true love and devotion. We learn of a previous Receiver who he attempted to pass on the memories to, and what happened to her. He has had his heart broken more than once by his memories and by the things he has had to endure, being the only person who truly remembers the way it once was. He gives Jonas all of the courage and support he can when it is necessary.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

Again, Banned Books Week. This book has been banned many times over the years because of the society's use of euthanasia and suicide to help create this perfect community. Death is painless, but once you reach a certain age, that's it. You are done and need to be "released." Most of the elderly are happy to go, but there are some people (not necessarily elderly) who are taken unwillingly. And those banning this for these reasons are simply missing the point of the book. This is a society we clearly don't want to be a part of. Choice is taken away completely (kind of like the world book banners are trying to create—they take away our choice to read). Yes, there are attractive aspects of this society, but they are largely outweighed by the subtle horrors that are hidden from plain view. I'm also pretty sure I've read somewhere (can't remember where) that it has been banned for its positive portrayal of a communist society, which is just plain silly.

Review: "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Puffin, 2001
Where I got it: I bought it from Barnes & Noble.

*Starred Review*

Melinda Sordino is a freshman in high school. She is also a pariah, an outcast for reasons which are slowly revealed through the telling of her story. Her friends abandon and revile her, leaving her to fend for herself in a new school where everyone seems to hate her. She refuses to speak, except in her own head, where we as the reader's are able to see her thoughts, observations, and fears.

Speak is very powerful and frustrating at the same time. Melinda's silence is her idea of staying safe, and readers will want her to speak, to tell her story. Unfortunately, she doesn't quite realize what happened to her at that party right away and can't tell anyone what she went through, or must go through during the course of her freshman year as a social outcast. Her grades suffer, she has no social life, and yet she continues to live day after day, just trying to get through high school without having a breakdown. And what a disturbing look at high school we're given. High school was not that bad for me—it makes me wonder how many high schools out there are actually that cliquey.

Being inside Melinda's head allows us to experience her pain, embarrassment, ennui, bitterness, cynicism, and occasionally small joys. We see all of her thoughts, including the horrifying piece-by-piece reconstruction of the party that changed her life and what exactly happened. Though she tries to block it out completely, brief images flit through her head that end up giving us a more complete story. We don't find out what happened until she admits it to herself.

I also really loved how she was working through her emotions through her art projects. Though it wasn't quite the same as speaking up, art did give her a way to cry out for help and work through some of her issues; it is her emotional outlet.

Halse Anderson's language is perfect for Melinda's story. Melinda's voice is bitingly sarcastic, and often very funny despite the seriousness of her situation. Repetition and stream of consciousness are used frequently, and with very evocative and satisfying results. It gives us a clearer picture of what Melinda is going through.

Speak is a very powerful and inspiring story of an outcast in high school that must admit first to herself and then to the rest of the world that she is a victim, and then rise above it. But as many of you know, it has recently come under fire for distressing reasons. You can read my response to that here.

Review: "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2009
Where I got it: I bought it from Barnes & Noble.

*Starred Review*

Arnold "Junior" Spirit has lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation for his whole life, all 14 years of it. But he knows he needs to get out or he'll never make it out of there alive. His only other option? To transfer to Reardan High School, 22 miles outside the rez and full of white people.

Junior's got a lot to deal with. He's the only Indian in this strange new place (aside from the school mascot) with strange new rules. He has to deal with being shunned by his own people, who accuse him of being a traitor to his tribe. And he has to deal with major life changes and tragedy, all while trying to just make it from one day to the next.

Alexie examines serious issues like alcoholism, death, racism and poverty, yet still manages to be funny throughout. Junior gets through everything with as positive an attitude as he can and is able to make the most depressing situations humorous. It's often gallows humor, yes, but it's still laugh-out-loud funny. Junior talks to his audience in a very conversational and familiar tone, creating a kinship with the reader.

Of course, there are many heartbreaking moments that just bleed grief—Junior won't come right out and say what happens at first, but will ease the reader into it, sometimes giving them a shock in the process. His pain is palpable and you can almost hear him wail in mourning behind his written words and cartoons. Yet he's always able to pick himself up and move on, bringing back his unique perspective on the life he was given and the life he chooses for himself.

Junior's cartoons throughout (the work of Ellen Forney) add an extra-textual element that greatly enhances Junior's narration. It often makes the tone light, yet communicates pain and fear through this lightness, creating a complex and more complete story. It also provides us with a little more insight into Junior's mind and the way he sees the world.

This book is largely autobiographical, as Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and transfered to the nearby white high school. Wellpinit and Reardan are real places, and Alexie pays them homage in his dedication. Because this is based on fact, Alexie's depictions of life on a reservation can be trusted—not many teens are aware of what that's like even though it should be taught to them (I learned quite a bit too). Alexie provides an honest and blunt picture for his readers; it's presented in a light-hearted fashion, yet retains a sadness that tends to stay with you.

As many of you might notice, I'm posting this during Banned Books Week. Why, you might ask? For what possible reason could someone want to ban such a wonderful and necessary book? "Rough language and sexual situations," according to this KY3 news report on the book's removal from the high school curriculum and library in Stockton, MO earlier this month. One woman said "it's sure not for kids," which I think is a little funny considering the most "sexual situation" within the book is masturbation—an act with which almost every student from middle school, let alone high school, is at least familiar, if they're not experts on the subject. This book provides a valuable learning opportunity and incredibly worthwhile discussion about multicultural issues and what is going on in our own country, but by banning this book, the students in Stockton, MO are losing out greatly on this opportunity. Once again, ignorance takes the lead.

Side note: I just ordered this awesome collector's edition of this book and I'm very excited about it! Support Alexie and buy a copy for yourself or a friend.

Review: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster, 1999; Recorded Books, 2006
Where I got it: I listened to this on CD, which I got from the library.

Charlie is a sensitive and intelligent 15-year-old high school freshman, who has had to deal with his best friend's suicide before starting high school, now without a friend with which to share the experience. Charlie tells us what happens during his freshman year—his family's dynamics, how he meets and interacts with his new friends Patrick and Sam (Samantha), his private sessions with his English teacher who realizes Charlie's potential, and the typical high school problems of sex, drugs, bullying, and dealing with death (including his aunt's death years ago, with which Charlie is still trying to come to terms), among other less typical issues. All of this is told through letters to a nameless "friend," someone Charlie heard about through the grapevine and thought would understand.

I know many people have disliked this book because of its loftiness and Charlie's extreme sensitivity (he cries a lot), and I can understand where they are coming from. Charlie gives us a lot of inspirational one-liners and observations about the world. But I didn't find them to be annoying or out of place—on the ccontrary, I found many of Charlie's meditations to be poignant and thought-provoking, as barf-tastic as that sounds. But it's true. One of my favorite quotes from the book is "We accept the love we think we deserve" (24), something Charlie's teacher, Bill, tells him when Charlie lets it slip that his sister's boyfriend hit her and she accepts it.

Every character is flawed in some way, whether it is because they're blinded by love or hatred; don't want to admit or hide to their true nature or feelings; or any of the infinite number of little quirks that can make someone less than perfect. And yet Charlie is so forgiving and tries to always think the best of everyone, for fear of painting them in a bad light to his reader and of being unfair. He is incredibly innocent, despite his drug use and sexual encounters throughout the book—this all comes through in his writing, which has a certain naiveté that pairs well with his observations that we would look right over. In fact, it is because of this innocence and naiveté that Charlie is able to think in this way and show us  what we usually miss.

One of this book's really great features is its introduction of a number of more modern classics. Bill gives Charlie extra books to read and write about in his spare time, asking for papers on Charlie's perspectives and interpretations on the literature. These include Walden by Thoreau, On the Road by Kerouac, Naked Lunch by Burroughs, The Fountainhead by Rand, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Readers are given some sort of insight into the books, which could very well make them go out and read them after finishing this one.

I listened to this on CD, and though the narrator annoyed me at first and sounded too old to be Charlie, he grew on me as I continued to listen. His subtle inflections and tones added to my understanding of the book, though I wouldn't say it's necessary to listen to this rather than read it.

This is a book about grief, acceptance of self, and celebrating life in the simplest ways. It is about friendship; abuse and how to deal with what is left afterward; and love. As corny as all this sounds, all of that is in here, and then some. Chbosky managed to fit everything in this one little book, fit all these problems into Charlie's freshman year of high school, without making it seem unbelievable or ridiculous. I found great insight here, and I hope others will too.

Oh yeah, this was one of the most challenged books of the past year, according to the ALA. God forbid students read about things sexuality, religious views, suicide, drugs and dysfunctional families.

Disclosure: I bought this book.

Review: "Forever..." by Judy Blume

Title: Forever...
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster, 1975
Where I got it: I took this out of the library.

When Katherine meets Michael, she begins to feel things she hasn't felt before. Among these are sexual desires, and Katherine must decide if she's ready to lose her virginity. Forever... tells a sweet story of first love and sexual awakening, as well as taking responsibility for the decisions that go along with it.

Katherine and Michael's relationship is pretty accurate of how a teen's first relationship feels like. Katherine narrates her story in an almost diary-like format, telling us all of her experiences and emotions through this first serious relationship in her life, and her first real sexual encounters. Anyone who has been a teenager will understand what she's going through, even if they didn't have sex at the time (or still haven't). Readers will identify with the relationship aspect and the decisions that have to be made within a relationship.

Unfortunately I found the writing a bit bland. There wasn't much of a plot, as it was really just about the sex and, in essence, meant to educate about how to do it safely. What really bothered me was the constant use of elipses, which don't just make an appearance in the title. There might be pauses in real speech like that, but I don't particularly care to read it in almost every sentence.

So why am I including this as a Banned Books Week post?

Over the years, Forever... has been challenged many times, so much that it is number 8 on the American Library Association's top 100 banned books list for the decade of 1990-2000. The reason for the challenge is clear: Blume gives detailed descriptions of sexual activity and has Katherine go on the birth control pill. Yet, it doesn't out and out say all teens should go out and start having sex. Rather, Blume educates her readers on the proper precautions they should take should they decide to become sexually active, which, let's face it, many teens do (regardless of whether they read books like Blume's or not).

Instead of banning this book, parents and educators should take the time to talk to their children and students about sex. In fact, this book provides a great starting point for broaching the subject. They know what sex is, and they may have already had sexual experience. If it's not discussed and if all literature pertaining to it is banned, there is no way for them to know how to protect themselves. Sex is a choice that everyone must make. Some will decide to abstain, others won't. It has been like that, well, forever. So don't take the chance for others to learn away by taking this book off the shelves. It might not be the greatest literature out there, but it serves a worthwhile purpose.

Want to win a copy of this? Just fill out the form below. All contests will end October 3 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Banned Book Week begins today.

Today begins Banned Book Week, a time to celebrate free speech and challenged and banned books. It is also a time to mourn the loss of literature and ideas that result from the removal of materials from libraries, bookstores and classrooms. Though we fight against challenges and bans all year long, this week gives us a chance to remember and educate those who think banning is a thing of the past.

This week I'll be posting reviews of banned and challenged books, and I'll also be hosting giveaways of each book I review. Please keep checking back to see if I've posted the reviews, and keep reading (no matter who tells you you shouldn't)!