THE HATE U GIVE: Angie Thomas Shares Her Thoughts On Challenges

Recently, Angie Thomas was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, where she discussed her best-selling book The Hate U Give and her thoughts on the recurring resistance her book has faced since its publication. 

Many of the adverse parties are concerned about the graphic depictions of drug use, police brutality, and the regular use of explicit language throughout the story.  Thomas responds as such:

“When you say ‘Black Lives Matter’ to three different people, you get 30 different reactions,” Thomas says. “There are so many misunderstandings. There’s the assumption that it’s an antipolice book, when the fact is it’s anti-police brutality.” She continues, in regard to the language: “There are books with way more curse words in them, for one. And two, there are 89 F-bombs in The Hate U Give. But there were 800 people killed by police officers last year alone.”

Read the whole article HERE.

With the film adaptation being released in select theaters this month, the book and its story are likely to be a topic of conversation for quite awhile.

And speaking of the movie, have y'all seen the trailer?!  

Banned Books and Fear

You know that song about the holiday season being the most wonderful time of the year?  Well, it's wrong . . . the most wonderful time of the year is right now, during Banned Books Week!  I love the community engagement and education that is possible during this time of year, including but not limited to patron queries into why on earth we are celebrating the banning of books!

This year, there have been a number of patrons asking me why the library would celebrate people banning or challenging books, and it has been my enormous pleasure to let them know that we are celebrating the right to read, rather than bans and challenges.  One of my favorite discussion points during Banned Books Week is how banning and challenging books has changed and evolved over time.  I think that THIS Times article does a great job of exploring how the reasons behind calls for bans or censorship have changed and some possible reasons why.  Happy Banned Books Week to all, and to all a good night!

Banned Books Week for Kids and Teens

Banned Books Week is celebrated this year from September 25 to October 1, but recognition of intellectual freedom and the freedom to read and to listen is a year-round commitment.

For insights on reading and listening to challenged books, read this School Library Journal article Hear No Evil co-written by YSS member Sharon Grover, co-author of Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy. You can also view ALA's lists of Frequently Challenged Young Adult Books and Frequently Challenged Children's Books compiled by Patricia Peters in August 2016, as well as Frequently Challenged Books with Diverse Content.

Be sure to attend this topical session at this year's WLA conference on Thursday, October 27 from 2:45 to 3:30pm:

Meeting the Challenge: Collection Development of Youth Materials

Track: Building Collections/Back to the Book

Megan Schliesman, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), UW-Madison; Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Department of Public Instruction, Madison

Should you buy a buzzed-about book if reviews point out serious shortcomings? How do you handle an award-winner that rubs you the wrong way? Are you uncertain after reading blog posts calling out books for racial insensitivity? Do worries about challenges make you hesitate with some titles or topics? This safe and instructive conversation will also explore the essential role intellectual freedom plays in the work you do every day.  Library newbies and veterans welcome.

Welcome Banned Book Week

What are you reading today?

First thing this morning, I was in the YA stacks pulling books that I knew were on the ALA Most Challenged List and books that had been challenged in my own library.  I grabbed some of my favorite reads; The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Luna by Julie Anne Peters. I took a few minutes to page through King & King, smiling at the illustrations, charmed by the writing. I printed out graphics to tape to the shelves. I am hoping to draw the eye of passer byers. (Is that a word?) For shock value I even included Harry Potter and Roald Dahl.

I wanted to make sure I had the right Julie Anne Peters title. I knew many of her books have been challenged but I wanted to verify Luna was on that list. So I was googling it and I found this incredible blog. Burning Desire for Banned Books. I love the tag line. This Blog is Censored! Do Not Read This Blog. Stop. Do Not Keep Reading. And Unwind is a fantastic book. It's not updated regularily. It almost looks like the blog was created for a class project. I hope she/he got an A+. But the content is timeless so that works for me. The author also includes a lot of book trailers which is also a feature I love.

 

If you were going to take a banned book home tonight to read, which delectable title would you choose and why?

New Website to Promote Banned Books Week

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the American Library Association (ALA) announced today that they are launching a Web site to help bookstores and libraries promote Banned Books Week, which will be held this year from Sept. 27 through Oct. 4. The Web site, www.bannedbooksweek.org, is intended to help the public learn about Banned Books Week and suggest ways they can support it. The key feature of the Web site will be a list that visitors can use to find participating bookstores and libraries in their communities. “Hundreds of bookstores and libraries participate in Banned Books Week every year. Bannedbooksweek.org will make it easy for the public to find them,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said. Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said the Web site will help promote Banned Books Week nationally as well as provide support for local efforts. “We wanted to increase the attention for Banned Books Week on the Web while simultaneously providing increased support for the bookstores and libraries that are mounting displays and sponsoring free speech events,” she said.
Bookstores and libraries that would like to be listed on the new Web site can submit details of their Banned Books Week celebration directly to the Web site. Use this link to submit information, http://bannedbooksweek.org/signup/. Once the information has been reviewed, it will be posted.