I think I’ll write a librarian underground resistance novel I’ve switched to writing almost all my content on my Substack “Be a Cactus: thoughts on resistant writers and how we bloom.” It’s a weekly post delivered on Sunday morning. It’s: A book-centered community that acknowledges the real challenges of publishing and celebrates the journey.  Respite for those who haven’t always found conventional inspiration and advice helpful. A discussion of books and writing that includes work outside the bestseller/literary giants milieu. I am not going to move the School Library Lady subscriber ..read more

That’s me, surrounded by some of the banned and challenged books that I’ve read. My library book club was meeting after school during Banned Books Week. We were taking photos of the students in front of a height chart to represent being booked for a crime. Each of them had a banned book or two that they’d read. Then they suggested I have a turn, so we gathered some of my favorite books. Removing library books from the shelf for later review is essentially banning them, no matter what the censors say. My experience with book challenges and removal are here on my Substack “Be a Cactus ..read more

It’s already week nine of AudioFile’s Sync summer program. I just wanted to add a reminder today because Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out is free through this coming Wednesday, June 28. This is one of the books that is a target of the current book banning movement. At the time we purchased Beyond Magenta for our library, we had a young adult teacher’s aide who was transitioning genders. The students had questions, and this was one of the books that had lots of voices giving answers. Download for free by signing up for the summer program at https://audiobookSYNC.com . Have a listen f ..read more

Recent History of YA Book Debates Back in 2011, writing for the Wall Street Journal, Meghan Cox Guerdon began a heated debate over whether young adult literature was too dark and explicit. Seen simplistically, YA fiction represented either a bastion against censorship or a destroyer of adolescents, who could otherwise avoid foul language, absent parents, molestation, or suicide. Today’s Censorship Erases Reality That debate was a tiff compared to today’s battle over teen books, with book censorship having reached the national stage. While earlier censors may have feared the violence of The Hun ..read more

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo                Yes, an’ how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they’re forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind Bob Dylan Johnny Gun His Gun is a novel that asks this question through the tragedy of World War I soldier Joe Bonham. Fighting in Europe, Joe steps on a land mine and is blown to pieces—almost. When he comes to consciousness afterward, in a hospital, he doesn’t know how much time has passed. He figures that it ..read more

Click to view slideshow. I want to say goodbye to Banned Books Week with the most recent list of books that are challenged in schools and communities. Here are the top ten of 2011. I’ve read many and think they are pretty good books. A few are for younger kids, so not ones we’d collect for high school libraries. However, the age-appropriate books are in the library for you to check out. I found one surprise on the list. Although To Kill a Mockingbird has been challenged consistently since its publication in 1960, it’s not always in the top ten. So, Frosh, enjoy reading one of the most banned o ..read more

 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury  Wall-sized televisions that simulate interaction and communication with the person existing within the confines of the ‘living’ room don’t seem much like science fiction anymore, but when Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the late 1940s, he anticipated much that has since come to pass. And although the technology—ear buds with wireless communication capabilities, robotic creatures with homing devices—make this fascinating science fiction, the reason this novel has remained popular and very much worth reading is that it both warns of then contempor ..read more

Tough Topics: Teen Sexuality: Forever by Judy Blume   One in an occasional series on books with teen topics that are tough to address. Katherine’s grandmother sees that she is getting serious with her boyfriend Michael and so gives her some information on adolescents and sex. One article asks the teen to consider four questions: Is sexual intercourse necessary for the relationship? What should you expect from sexual intercourse? If you should need help, where will you seek it? Have you thought about how this relationship will end? I like this list that Blume posed all the way back ..read more

Unwind by Neal Shusterman  “The Second Civil War, also known as “The Heartland War,” was a long and bloody conflict fought over a single issue. “To end the war, a set of constitutional amendments, known as “The Bill of Life” was passed. “It satisfied both the Pro-life and the Pro-Choice armies. “The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. “However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively ‘abort’ a child . . . “. . .on the condition that the child’s life doesn’t ..read more

Today I got to read from the book of my choice at Claremont Library’s banned books event. I chose Neal Shusterman’s Unwind because it’s new for me, I enjoyed it, and I want you to have the change to enjoy it too. I will post a review soon.   Click to view slideshow ..read more