Freedom to Read

It's Freedom to Read week here in Canada. I'm over at From the Write Angle today talking about it - hope you'll drop on over and join in the discussion! :)

Banned Books Week

As most of you know, this has been Banned Books Week in the US. We Canadians have our Freedom to Read week in the new year. I love that the weeks are different - we get to celebrate twice!

I don't think it's any secret that I always let my own kids read widely when they were growing up and I encourage my students to do the same. I've never had a student read beyond his/her emotional yet. They always put down those books, call them 'boring' and choose something at their level. Strong readers will encounter mature topics earlier than other readers, but I've never found one not able to handle it.

I like skimming the lists to see how many are in my classroom. Kinda fun! Here's a Wikipedia List of the top 100 most commonly banned books. I have around 40 from this list in my MG class.

RL Stine's Goosebump series always makes these lists. They are 'horror' books - but they're usually more comedy than real suspense. One year I taught a girl in Grade 6 who had never read a book on her own. Too hard. I read one of the Goosebumps books into a tape recorder and she read/listened to it via headphones during our silent reading time. She asked for me another. And another. I couldn't keep up. So she told me she'd go ahead and try one on her own. She read two on her own that year.

I had her again in Grade 7. She read 17 more Goosebumps books that year. And then she tried the Fear Street series (tougher reading level). Then she moved on to more.

She came back to visit me years later and told me those books saved her. They opened her to the world of books and they helped her cope with a less than loving home life. She finished high school and college and was working towards owning her own business last I saw her.

She couldn't read more than a couple of dozen words at the beginning of Grade 6.

She read banned books.

Thankfully.

What's your favourite banned book?

Frustration

Few things are more frustrating to me than hearing about people banning books or threatening to ban books. First of all it's the age of the Internet. Do these people seriously think they can control all the information people are accessing by banning a book from schools or libraries? Seriously?

One of my favourite parts of hearing about people trying to ban a book is the inevitable backlash. They always seem to underestimate this. It's fun to watch the sales of the threatened book soar. I'm sure Speak's sales have been pretty good over the past week or so! :)

This ALA list of banned and threatened books blows my mind. I have about 30 of these in my Grade 5/6 classroom. Some of these books are among my favourite books of all time! Everyone needs to read The Giver and To Kill a Mockingbird. Those books are full of ideas, love, honesty, integrity, passion, strength, the beauty of the human spirit. They teach invaluable lessons about the Power of One. They remind me of the wonderful quote by Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

I've read several books from this list aloud to my students over the years. The Giver is always a favourite. As are Harry Potter, Julie of the Wolves, A Wrinkle in Time, Killing Mr. Griffin, Bridge to Terabithia and The Face on the Milk Carton. If I taught older students, Fahrenheit 451 would definitely be on my list. Bradbury's brilliance needs to be shared.
 
The last thing we need to do is limit our students' experiences and choices. We need to teach them to think for themselves, to analyze, evaluate and critique. Taking away their right to choose teaches them nothing.
 
Sometimes people want to ban books because they feel the topics are inappropriate for the age of the target audience. I wonder how many people of the target age they really know and are really able to speak with. Kids deal with a lot. And a lot of it on their own. They already think and wonder. Why would we not allow them to read about these issues, learn new ways to approach and deal with problems? Why would we want them to think they're alone?
 
What's your favourite book that's been banned or threatened?

Banned Book Week

It's Banned Book Week in the US. In Canada, we have a similar week in February: "Freedom to Read" week.

Now, if you want to stir up a group of writers, this is the topic! I think all writers will jump up and down, waving their hands in the air, desperately striving for their turn to speak. Banning books is a scary thought.

It always brings me back to high school and Farenheit 451. Our teacher introduced us to many great books back then, but I think this one was my fave. Such an amazing book. The image of the fire hose as a snake (python I think) as it ate the books has always stayed with me. As has the message of the book. Powerful stuff.

In Canada, or at least in my city, we don't have much fuss about banning books. The only rumour I remember hearing was when Harry Potter first stormed onto the scene. Other communities were talking about banning it. Being teachers, we all ran out to buy copies. Several of us read the book to our students as soon as we'd finished it ourselves. Not exactly what the people ranting about the book envisioned I'm sure. :)

So, are books ever banned in your communities? Do you have to fight for the right to read freely? Do your kids get exposed to all kinds of books and genres, or are some things suppressed?