Thanks Alan Gratz
I've been reading a TON of children's literature this summer (if you enjoy data, I've read 212 books since school got out). However, it's been quite some time since I picked up a chapter book and finished it in ONE DAY and then kept talking about it to everyone I meet. It's called "Ban this Book" by Alan Gratz.
It's about a girl named Amy Anne. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her mom and dad, two little sisters, and her big dogs named Flotsam and Jetsam. Amy Anne loves to read and has strong opinions but often feels too embarrassed to share her opinions with anyone. One day she goes to the library to re-check out her favorite book, "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E. L. Konigsburg, only to find that a parent has challenged this book (along with several others) and so it has been removed from the library. Amy Anne is outraged and the librarian, Mrs. Jones, invites Amy Anne to come to the school board meeting where they are discussing the matter. Amy Anne makes a list of reasons why she thinks the book should stay in her library and her parents take her to the meeting, but when it's time to stand up, Amy Anne is too afraid to say anything. Everyone is disappointed and the book is removed from the library. But Amy Anne's parents buy her a copy of the book so she can have it and her friend asks if she can borrow it. Amy Anne loans her the book and then finds that lots of other kids want to read the books on the list, some of them want to read the book because it's on the list. Amy Anne sets up a little library in her school locker and starts loaning the books out to her friends. What's really great about this is to watch how Gratz lets Amy Anne develop her own voice. At the beginning of the book, she is censoring herself but by the end of the book, she's learned that speaking out can have big consequences (good and bad). This is a very timely book, because in here in Florida, our state legislature has just passed a law that allows anyone to challenge a book (textbook or library book).
For those of you unaware of this process, in the past, in public schools, if a parent found a title objectionable, they could go to the school and challenge the book. Typically, there has to be some criteria for the challenge, like it has sexual content or language that is considered to be inappropriate for the audience. Or it has issues that are considered too mature for the students. The usual process was to have a conversation at the school level with the librarian as well as other people who work there to discuss how the book came to be in the library (or on the shelf) and what is the librarian's (or textbook manager) justification for having the book. Usually people would come to an agreement there and the book would be removed from the library (or not) and everyone moved on with their lives. The concern NOW is that if ANYONE is allowed to challenge a book that it might be very limiting to intellectual freedom. So, I guess we'll have to wait and see how things shake out in the coming years. But thanks Alan Gratz, for giving us a great story about how and why people challenge books and why it's a good idea to have conversations about what is appropriate or not appropriate for kids to be reading.
In case you're wondering what kinds of books DO get challenged (in real life, not just in a book!). Here's a link to a list of the top 10 books that got banned over the last several years.
I can't wait to get this one into my library. My students are going to LOVE this one.
It's about a girl named Amy Anne. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her mom and dad, two little sisters, and her big dogs named Flotsam and Jetsam. Amy Anne loves to read and has strong opinions but often feels too embarrassed to share her opinions with anyone. One day she goes to the library to re-check out her favorite book, "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E. L. Konigsburg, only to find that a parent has challenged this book (along with several others) and so it has been removed from the library. Amy Anne is outraged and the librarian, Mrs. Jones, invites Amy Anne to come to the school board meeting where they are discussing the matter. Amy Anne makes a list of reasons why she thinks the book should stay in her library and her parents take her to the meeting, but when it's time to stand up, Amy Anne is too afraid to say anything. Everyone is disappointed and the book is removed from the library. But Amy Anne's parents buy her a copy of the book so she can have it and her friend asks if she can borrow it. Amy Anne loans her the book and then finds that lots of other kids want to read the books on the list, some of them want to read the book because it's on the list. Amy Anne sets up a little library in her school locker and starts loaning the books out to her friends. What's really great about this is to watch how Gratz lets Amy Anne develop her own voice. At the beginning of the book, she is censoring herself but by the end of the book, she's learned that speaking out can have big consequences (good and bad). This is a very timely book, because in here in Florida, our state legislature has just passed a law that allows anyone to challenge a book (textbook or library book).
For those of you unaware of this process, in the past, in public schools, if a parent found a title objectionable, they could go to the school and challenge the book. Typically, there has to be some criteria for the challenge, like it has sexual content or language that is considered to be inappropriate for the audience. Or it has issues that are considered too mature for the students. The usual process was to have a conversation at the school level with the librarian as well as other people who work there to discuss how the book came to be in the library (or on the shelf) and what is the librarian's (or textbook manager) justification for having the book. Usually people would come to an agreement there and the book would be removed from the library (or not) and everyone moved on with their lives. The concern NOW is that if ANYONE is allowed to challenge a book that it might be very limiting to intellectual freedom. So, I guess we'll have to wait and see how things shake out in the coming years. But thanks Alan Gratz, for giving us a great story about how and why people challenge books and why it's a good idea to have conversations about what is appropriate or not appropriate for kids to be reading.
In case you're wondering what kinds of books DO get challenged (in real life, not just in a book!). Here's a link to a list of the top 10 books that got banned over the last several years.
I can't wait to get this one into my library. My students are going to LOVE this one.
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