Young Adult Fiction for Adults discussion

Up for grabs are a signed paperback set of the 3-book Internet Girls Series (ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r) by Lauren Myracle, a hardcover of the newly released Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, a hardcover of the most banned book 3 years running (and fabulous children's book), And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and a paperback copy of Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Ends October 1st.

Karis, even though I've written a book for YA (I may do another giveaway), I am very rarely on this part of GR. I am not up on banned books. Why is a fabulous children's book banned? (I am not a US citizen)

Rose wrote: "Karis, even though I've written a book for YA (I may do another giveaway), I am very rarely on this part of GR. I am not up on banned books. Why is a fabulous children's book banned? (I am not a US..."

Books are challenged in the United States for a number of reasons. Top complaints are sexually explicit content, offensive language, content unsuited to age group, and violence. Parents are the overwhelming majority of challengers, and most challenges occur in school settings, either for class-assigned books or in the school library. Public libraries also experience challenges.

For specifics: And Tango Makes Three was the most challenged book in 2010 because of "homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group." The Internet Girls series (starting with ttyl) were the most challenged books in 2009 because of "drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group."

You can find out more on the American Library Association's website

Thank you. I'll check it out. But it shows how very far behind their children many parents (and schools) seem to be. Fears from another age (and possibly some guilt) must translate into over-protection and over-reaction. I had no idea. (I am a parent of now grown-ups) I remember vaguely that "Summer Sisters" by Jude Blume - a lovely book and quite innocent - was banned in the US. I thought that now, in 2011, things had calmed down.

To be fair, there were 348 challenges reported to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom in United States in 2010, not a huge number for a country with over 100,000 school and public libraries. I think it mostly comes from parents' needs to take care of their children, to protect them, and which in rare cases can go to an extreme. Another thing to mention, not all challenges result in a book being removed from a classroom or library. Sometimes the challenge is overruled and nothing is changed. Sometimes an alternative book may be offered, or a book may be shelved in a different part of the library.

Thank you for that explanation, Theo.

There are other "potential" challenges that never make it far. I am a school librarian, and I have had a handful of parents complain about books, but for the most part I have been able to appease them (a particular vampire book "restricted" to 2nd graders and above for example). I often stress that parents need to make it clear to their children what they are and are not allowed to check out of the library. If I suspect a student is not allowed to read something, I ask them about it. I cannot be sure that a student has permission to read something, and in one case I had a 3rd grader tell me that he wasn't going to tell his dad what he was reading anymore (which I thought was sad as it was only Sideways Stories from Wayside School). I have also had support from my school principal, which helps as well.

Since the fear of lawsuits runs through our society, imho some school boards cave in quickly because they fear a lawsuit.

Also, one or two determined people can make quite a fuss. Somestimes that is a good thing--but not in the case of banning books.

Rose wrote: "Karis, even though I've written a book for YA (I may do another giveaway), I am very rarely on this part of GR. I am not up on banned books. Why is a fabulous children's book banned? (I am not a US..."

I think it is mostly parents wanting to pawn off parental responsibility for what their children read on the libraries and schools. I personally, read anything my kids read if I am unfamiliar with it. If it's inappropriate, I say "no" or "not yet". I think it is deplorable that people would want to keep books like Harry Potter or To Kill A Mockingbird out of the hands of my kids because they think they are inappropriate. I want my kids to read a great many of these books and I want them to have access to them at school in in the library.