Welcome to the Banned Books Blog! This August 2024, we have two young children having a difficult conversation about police brutality in their town, and the most banned book in Massachusetts.
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Did you know that Banned Books Week will occur from September 22 through September 29? It's time to roll up our sleeves and show these books and authors our support! Remember that teens and young adults ages 13 to 26 can sign up for a free Books Unbanned eCard from the BPL that allows them access to our collection of frequently challenged and banned eBooks and eAudiobooks.
Lenoir-Rhyne University sociology professor Katherine Gerlaugh argues that banning books and censoring information is bad for urbanization and community growth. After all, who wants to move to a location where their rights are limited? Of course, this is bad news for all those still living in pro-censorship areas who are unable to relocate. Not only this, but Professor Brian McManus, Economics Department Chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the lack of new citizens in various communities spells trouble for current and potential business owners, both big and small.
According to the same article, the 24-book challenge totaled $10,500 in Catawba County for the cost of reporters, books, and security officers, not to mention that committee members weren't paid for the 130 hours of reading during their personal time to vet the books!
There is some good news amid all this — Alpena County residents are working to ensure that the proposed property tax renewal for the library passes as the County Board attempts to ban circulating books. The library and its supporters argue that the County Board's efforts to ban books violate First Amendment rights, in addition to stating that the library offers programs and services to thousands of people in the county.
It seems like, as we all know, banning books spells bad news for communities and their residents!
But with the Banned Books Blog, there is no debate. There's only reading!
Title: Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marieta Collins, and Ann Hazzard; illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
Reason for Challenge/Banning: This book was in ALA's top ten banned/challenged books for its divisive views and anti-police language.
Summary: After discussing the police shooting of a local Black man with their families, Emma and Josh know how to treat a new student who looks and speaks differently than his classmates.
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Children's picture book
Length: 32 pages
Content Warnings: Police brutality, bullying
Challenge/Banning Response: Something Happened in Our Town doesn't shy away from having serious conversations with kids. Immediately, we know that the kids know something bad happened. Emma, a white child, learns about racism, and Josh, a black child, has "the talk" with his parents. "The talk," in this case, is about how police brutality disproportionately affects black people due to racism. The only cop present in the book is the one that Josh draws to process his feelings. No matters of this case are discussed, except for the fact that a police officer shot a black man, resulting in the black man's death.
The fact that this book is viewed as anti-police shocks me, considering that Josh's father, also a black man, states, "There are many cops, Black and White, who make good choices...but we can't always count on them to do what's right." This is not inherently anti-police, in my opinion, but is a statement of how many officers genuinely do want to help their communities and how many officers want to help only a specific demographic of their community.
The children, after talking to their parents, learn that these patterns of racism are unfair and have long-lasting and sometimes fatal results. They take it upon themselves to acknowledge people's differences and stand up for others. I don't know how this can be viewed as divisive or anti-police when the lessons are about remaining kind, helping others, and understanding our differences. Not only this, but the parents affirm that their children have power, and are smart and empathetic. If anything, this shows that we as a society have the power and many opportunities to be inclusive and that police officers can be better and do right by their community at all times. The anti-police and divisive narrative that book banners offer sounds defensive. Good cops and good people can and should own up to when they are wrong.
Personal Thoughts: I quite enjoyed this book! As serious as it is in subject matter, it is uplifting and ends with friendship and putting what the characters learned into action. The illustrations are evocative and do so much to illuminate the text, such as when Josh's father plays chess and uses his white knight to knock over a black pawn, or when Josh draws a police officer at sunset, which makes the window pane's shadows look like prison bars over his art.
This picture book additionally offers an extensive note to caregivers that shares guidance, vocabulary, and resources when discussing racism with children, which makes this a valuable book to read.
Title: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Reason for Challenge/Banning: This book was challenged and banned in multiple states for LGBTQIA+ content, because it was considered to be sexually explicit, and because of sexually explicit images.
Summary: Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity — what it means and how to think about it — for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Graphic novel/Memoir
Length: 239 pages
Content Warnings: Dysphoria, medical trauma
Challenge/Banning Response: This book does indeed have LGBTQIA+ content and sexually explicit content. That is all absolutely true. But is it fair to ban or challenge books — this book in particular — for these reasons? I don't think so. Maia's memoir is just that — a memoir of eir experiences. E does not seek to make anyone else change their pronouns or question their sex or gender outright, but only questions throughout the course of this book eir own identity. Contrasted against eir friends, mother, and colleagues, it's clear that Maia does not fit into the box labelled 'woman.' E does a lot of things, at the beginning, that aren't inherently feminine, such as refusing to shave eir legs or growing eir hair out, to name a few. But while this is a pain point for em, e later finds such incredible support in eir friends and family. And not everyone is perfectly understanding or error-free, though they do try their best. There's no convincing or arguing being done; it's just Maia being more clear about who e is. And honestly? It seems like Maia's very existence troubles those who seek to ban eir book — but the thing is, I'm willing to bet that if any book banners met Maia in real life, they probably wouldn't even think twice about em or know that Maia identifies differently than how e was born.
As for the sexually explicit content...it's there. There's plenty of penises and vulvas abound in this memoir. I mean, what might you expect in a memoir that's about sex and gender? There's also discussion of pap smears, vibrators, and libido. But none of this is in the memoir to be edgy or overly sexual — it's there to further elaborate on Maia's understanding of eirself, just like how we all come to know and learn about our bodies as teens and young adults. There are people with penises and people with vaginas, and this fact is made apparent not just in this book but in classic literature, on the internet, in museums, and in doctor's offices! That's a lot of things to avoid if you don't want any chance of seeing something sexually explicit.
Personal Thoughts: This was a fantastic memoir that is well-thought out, well-drawn, and well-written. I myself was transported back to my teenagehood with regards to being obsessed with certain TV shows, writing fanfiction, and simply finding your place within your local community and society at large. For that matter, this memoir was also at times very embarrassing to read. But like many good books, they act as both a mirror and window.
But, as embarrassing and relatable as it was, it also served to be educational for someone like me, who has not questioned her gender. I've never once thought too deeply about how I presented or how I navigated the world or about the ways in which I wanted my body to be different. So seeing someone else interpret eir own gender was intriguing and kept the story moving along nicely.
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