Free thought in the schools???

[cammykitty]

Someone didn't even wait to start off banned book week by protesting against Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak because it was "soft pornography." If you've read the book, that's a preposterous claim. & as you would expect, the call to ban it isn't hurting the books popularity at all

Comments

[robinellen]

...affirm that it's acceptable???

Gah! This makes me want to scream -- and then go and hand teens books like Geography Club or Ash or Bermudez Triangle. The more kids who understand that love is good and wonderful, regardless of genders, the better life will be for all of us.

[cammykitty]

That's exactly my reaction. & this summer, I was bothered by Virginia Ewer Wolfe's book, True Believer, that was a Printz honor book. In it, a girl gets a big crush on a gay friend. It bothered me because it made such a big deal about how horrible it is for your crush to turn out to be gay, when my gut reaction is so what, he's still your friend. The average girl would be just as dramatic about any boy turning them down, gay or not. Now, imperfect as it is, I'll hand out True Believer, along with Ash, Going Bovine, Heartbeat, Poison Eaters and any other book with decent glbt characters in it.