I Haven't Forgotten

The annual Most Challenged Books List has been put out by the American Library Association again. These are books certain individuals want banned from libraries because they are incompetent parents and all around priggish busybodies. How many of the top ten have you read? (I have read the bold ones)

1. ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs

2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality

3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide

4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence

8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

It looks like I have a few books left to read this year. How about you?

TTFN - Book #96

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Title Ttfn
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Author Lauren Myracle
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Genre Young Adult Fiction
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Pages 229
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Publisher Amulet Books
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Copyright 2006
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Synopsis (from web-site)
Told entirely in instant messages, this sequel to the hugely popular "ttyl" follows Maddie, Zoe, and Angela through the new flirtations, fixations, and frustrations of 11th grade. Now high school juniors, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela continue to share "instant messages" with one another as one of them experiments with marijuana, another gets her first boyfriend, and the third moves three thousand miles away.

Why I read It
It was on the list for most banned books, and it was part two in a series (ttyl is book 1).

The Good
Good lively discussion between our three girls; Angela, Maddie, and Zoe. Being written in all text messages the plot moves very quickly. Also it is a good insight into the mind of teen girls, especially given I have one rapidly on the way.

The Bad
I like the sparse style of the all text message format, but I sometimes miss all the detail you get in a traditional novel. And a lot of extreme things happen to these three young women over a very short period of time.

The Ugly (my opinion)
A good little book which can be used to understand the language of instant messaging and the minds of teen girls. I can see why some parents might be distressed by the content, but I would have no problem with my teen daughter reading it.

Why It’s Banned
Teen sex, drug use, drinking, and profanity. Plus they occasionally lie to their parents and one runs away from home. Frank talk about sexual things and brief mentions of cutting and pedophiles.

Mormon Mentions
None

Author Biography
Lauren Myracle is the author of many young adult novels. Myracle earned a BA in English and Psychology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and after that, she worked for some time as a middle-school teacher. Myracle later earned an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She has written many novels, including the best-selling "IM" books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.

NOTE: Only of interest to me, but book one in the series was the 69th book I read this year and this is the 96th - Pretty, pretty cool.

TTYL – Book #69

Title ttyl
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Author Lauren Myracle
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Genre Young Adult Fiction
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Pages 209
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Publisher Amulet
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Copyright 2004
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Synopsis (from web-site)
ttyl (talk to you later) is about three friends, high school sophomores who face teenage drama: Madigan Kinnick (madmaddie), Zoe Barrett (zoegirl), and Angela Silver (SnowAngel). Zoe has to deal with a flirty teacher (known as Mr.H) at school who uses Christianity as an excuse to get close. Madigan/Maddie has to deal with a manipulative and wicked classmate (known as Jana) who is popular, or thinks she is. Angela has to deal with a boyfriend who she thinks is being unfaithful.

Why I read It
This book, and its two sequels, are on the most banned/protested list. I picked this one next because my library system has all three and the titles intrigued me.

The Good
This book really opened my eyes to the friendships between teenage girls. It is totally different to anything I experienced as a young man. This look into their lives was well worth the read, especially since I am only a few years away from having a teenage girl in my house.

The Bad
This is widely known as the first book written entirely in instant messages. That includes all the slang and abbreviations. Now if you are an active IM’er then it won’t be an issue, but if you are an old guy like me who has never used IM’ing, it is like learning a foreign language. Given the limits of this format, the whole plot is moved forward through the three girls’ written conversations.

The Ugly (my opinion)
I really liked this book and will definitely read the other two in the series. I also could now write an instant message and not be a total old dude. This would be appropriate for anybody 14 and up.

The Truth? (other reviews)
Fireside Book Chat
Knoxville News Sentinel

Side-note, here is a BYU English Department lesson plan about the book.

Why It’s Banned
Teen drinking, profanity, (discussed) nudity, and sexual situations (but no sex). I would imagine most people would protest this book because of the unconsummated plot of the “Christian” English teacher who slowly seduces the 15yo Zoe by means of his church’s youth group. Anotherwords, the religious person is the pedophile which is bound to upset a lot of the “let’s ban books” type.

Mormon Mentions
Actually there was one brief mention on page 38. Zoe is fretting over doing anything special with her hair and the more outgoing Angela says “even Mormon girls use wax, like Carmen on American Idol 2, remember?” So a fairly innocuous reference to Mormons being extra straight laced, which in the grand scheme of things is not the worst stereotype to be saddled with.’

Author Biography

Lauren Myracle is the author of many young adult novels. She was born in May 15, 1969 in Brevard, North Carolina, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.[1][2] Myracle earned a BA in English and Psychology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and after that, she worked for some time as a middle-school teacher.[3] Myracle later earned an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College.[1] She has written many novels, including the best-selling "IM" books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.

Living Dead Girl – Book #67

Living Dead Girl
by Elizabeth Scott

This book is technically not on the banned books list, but that is only because it was published last year. I can pretty much guarantee it will be on this years list when it comes out. It might even displace Tango from the top.

I started this book right before bed thinking I would only read a few pages before falling asleep. I couldn’t put it down and read it right through. This book was disturbing and yet extremely thought provoking. It was icky, but beautiful. Ultimately it was extremely well written and will invade your thoughts; and if you are like me and a parent, you will hug your kids and keep them close.

You must remember there is no nice way to present child abuse. A young 10 year old girl is on a school trip to the zoo and is separated from here friends. She is found by Ray who takes her and for the next five years she has been his slave, having to endure repeated sexual abuse daily. Now despite starving her to keep her thin and underdeveloped, waxing to keep the appearance of youth, and hormones to prevent her from maturing, she has grown up and Ray doesn’t like that. It is time for him to find her replacement just like she was a replacement when taken. And this means her days are numbered as she knows Ray killed the last girl. She is a Living Dead Girl – dead inside and soon to be dead outside.

Why is it banned? The whole book is child abuse and repeated rape. Nothing is presented to be titillating or erotic, rather it will disturb you. Disturb you to want to do something to prevent this from happening to any child. Other books I have read along this same vein are David Pelzer’s memoirs (like A Boy Called It) and Alice Sebold’s Lovely Bones. These books will wrench your heart. You would have to be quite mature to read this and I would say maybe 17 at the earliest.

Mormon Mentions: None.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Book #66

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky

This is the book that started it all up in Wisconsin, which has led me to my current project of reading banned books. Published in 1999 it has been on the ALA’s top ten protested books every year since. So I figured it had to be pretty good given that track record.

The book consists of a series of letters written by 15 year old Charlie; a quiet, introspective, bookish boy who finds more pleasure observing life than participating in it. The letters detail his freshman year of high school, discussing his friends and their lives. Ultimately through a series of events that bring him out of his shell he is finally able to confront his past and the tragedy he has repressed. It is a book about being lost, the role of friendship, and the redemptive power of being found.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in those issues. It is a messy book in the sense the life he presents is not pretty, but honestly life can be really messy sometimes. As for my kids I would say 16 is a good age to understand the underlying message of the book.

Why is it a banned book? This one is easy; now remember that all of the following involves teenagers. So when I say abuse I mean teenage abuse, etc. The book contains in no particular order: Suicide, Drug Use, Rape, Homosexual Sex, Pedophilia, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Alcohol Use, Drunk Driving, Fighting, Partner Abuse (i.e. hitting girlfriend), and a mention of bestiality. Now that looks like a really long list but most of these things are only mentioned in passing (like the last one involved one line wherein one character says to another, you remember that one kid who got drunk at a party and tried to get it on with the dog). The book is quite powerful and nothing is mentioned just for shock value; everything seems quite pertinent to the plot.

Mormon Mentions: None!

Most (Allegedly) Outrageous Filth Ridden Book Ever Written

And Tango Makes Three
by Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson

If you went to the ALA's most protested book website I referred to below, you will notice right away the number one fought book of this decade is this tale. The true story of the Central Park penguins Roy and Silo, who discovered each other and "fell in love." Frustrated that they could not have an egg like other couples they went through the motions of nursing rocks. One day the zoo keeper gave them an extra egg and they took care of it until little Tango was born. Since then they have raised Tango up to be an adult.

Of course the fear is if your child sees this true tale of a gay couple raising a baby successfully they will catch the gay. As if being gay was a choice. How many of you remember sitting down as a youth and weighing up your choice to become a heterosexual? It is all overblown paranoia.

Weakness of the book - It s assumed they are a gay couple. Maybe they are having sexual relations, but the book obviously does not get into that. Otherwise it is a straightforward story about two penguins trying to have a baby and then succeeding. Very tame.

Overall, I can only see this being threatening to people who have very incorrect notions of human sexuality. The fact it is a true story and told as tamely as possible should outweigh those concerns, but people are idiots.