Banned Books week booktalks are always fun. This year, the kids in both of my classes asked more questions about how books get banned or challenged, than all other years combined. Here are the books that got them fired up.
The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
This One Summer by
Harry potter and The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne
I am out for a meeting today, tp there is no Friday booktalk.
It is banned Books Week, so I booktalked some books in my library that have been challenged over the years, in various places.
MONDAY, I presented This One Summer.
It was a popular check out last year and has already been checked out a couple of times. I was worried it wouldn’t be on the shelf for me this week.
TUESDAY, I shared The Seventh Wish.
WEDNESDAY, I talked about The Golden Compass. There is a new book in the series, La Belle Sauvage, coming October 19th. It seems an opportune time to introduce students to the series.
I am at a conference Friday & Saturday, so my last booktalk was THURSDAY. I saved Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the end of the week.
It is the only book in the HP series in my classroom library. I haven’t read it and don’t plan on reading this book. I like to leave Harry at the end of the Deathly Hallows. I live the life of a middle-aged person. I don;t need to see him as one.
Jury duty day 2 was even less eventful than day 1. The jury coordinator stepped up to the mike 3 times to call the names of people to go up to courtrooms. Mine was not one of them. At 11:00 she came up for a fourth time to tell us that we could go home.
While waiting that second morning, I read The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner.
This one got a bit of buzz in the media because some schools were hesitant about putting it in their library because it talks about the impact of heroin addiction on families. In fact, a school visit by Messner was canceled when an administrator got nervous. You can read Kate’s post about it HERE.
Publisher’s Summary:Charlie feels like she’s always coming in last. From her Mom’s new job to her sister’s life away at college, everything else always seems to be more important than Charlie’s upcoming dance competition or science project. Unsure of how to get her family’s attention, Charlie comes across the surprise of her life one day while ice-fishing . . . in the form of a floppy, scaly fish offering to grant her a wish in exchange for its freedom. Charlie can’t believe her luck until she realizes that this fish has a funny way of granting wishes, despite her best intentions. But when her family faces a challenge bigger than any they’ve ever experienced, Charlie wonders if some things might be too important to risk on a wish.
With the same warmth and fun that readers loved in All the Answers, Kate Messner weaves fantasy into the ordinary, giving every reader the opportunity to experience a little magic.
Kids should be able to read about hard topics. This can be hard for many adults because it might lead to kids asking questions some adults don’t want to aster. From experience, I can tell you that, if a kid isn’t ready, they will abandon the book, or finish it and say they didn’t like it.
Fortunately, the situation at the school that cancelled Kate’s visit is working towards resolution. From the end of her blog post:
Updated 6/13: On Saturday, I received an email from South Burlington’s Chamberlin School principal Holly Rouelle, who told me that a decision has been made to carry THE SEVENTH WISH in her school library. She also sent home a note letting parents know about an upcoming event at the public library on June 28th. In addition, I’ve offered to reschedule this free author-visit presentation in the fall and hope Chamberlin will take me up on that offer, once school is back in session and they’ve had a chance to prepare the students.
I think the kids at that school have learned some very important lessons about censorship. Every Fall, ALA celebrates Banned Books Week. I hope this school joins in.
Banned Books Week (BBW) is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2015 celebration will be held Sept. 27-Oct. 3. BBW was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported.
The 10 most challenged titles of 2014 were:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Source: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depictions of bullying
Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Source: Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”
The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Why Challenged: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”
The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury Publishing Source: Bloomsbury Publishing Why Challenged: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence
The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Source: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Why Challenged: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”
Drama By Raina Telgemeier Graphix/Scholastic Source: Graphix/Scholastic Why Challenged: sexually explicit
Chinese Handcuffs By Chris Crutcher Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Source: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Why Challenged: depiction of incest, rape, animal torture, teen drug use, breaking and entering, illegal use of a video camera, profanity directed to a school principal, and graphic sexual references
The Giver By Lois Lowry HMH Books for Young Readers Source: HMH Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: depictions of adolescent drug use, suicide, and lethal injections
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Source: Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: mature content, social issues
Looking for Alaska By John Green Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Source: Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Why Challenged: Sexual content, inappropriate/graphic language
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