“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.” —Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
BOOK NEWS & NOTES
September 22-28 is Banned Books Week, a time when educators and librarians try to "raise awareness of First Amendment issues and the transformative power of literature in a free society."
As you've probably read in the news or heard in your community, the issue of censorship remains relevant today. From 2011 to 2020, an average of about 300 titles were challenged across the 50 states. But from 2021 to 2023, more than 6,800 titles were challenged on average.
In 1953, the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council issued its Freedom to Read Statement, which notes:
"The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label 'controversial' views, to distribute lists of 'objectionable' books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read."
As readers, you can help spread an important message: Read books. Don’t ban them. Of course, parents may still restrict what books their children read. However, freedom of expression means those same books should remain accessible to the masses.
Booksellers take on bans: Independent booksellers aren't just standing idly by as authorities ban books. They're launching their own campaigns to fight book bans, creating displays of banned books, giving away banned books and raising money to support freedom of speech. (Publishers Weekly)
Challenging censorship: A coalition of six publishers -- Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks -- have joined forces with the Authors Guild, bestselling authors Julia Alvarez, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Jodi Picoult and Angie Thomas, as well as two students and two parents to sue Florida public officials for book-banning provisions included in House Bill 1069 that they claim violate the First Amendment.
The 2023 education law requires school libraries to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as "sexual conduct" or any title that a parent or resident of the county dislikes. There is no formal review process requirement, nor a plan in place to return books that do not violate the statute.
As a result of HB 1069, hundreds of titles have been banned from Florida school libraries, including classics like “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. Contemporary novels by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Stephen King and important nonfiction titles such as "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank have also been purged.
This lawsuit aims to give trained educators and libraries the discretion to evaluate which books should be offered.
"Book bans censor authors’ voices, negating and silencing their lived experience and stories,” Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, said. “These bans have a chilling effect on what authors write about, and they damage authors’ reputations by creating the false notion that there is something unseemly about their books. Yet, these same books have edified young people for decades, expanding worlds and fostering self-esteem and empathy for others. We all lose out when authors’ truths are censored."
The publishers are also suing Iowa public officials for the book-banning provisions in Senate File 496. And, Penguin Random House and PEN America are suing the Escambia County School Board in Florida for its decision to remove books from school libraries. (The New York Times and People Magazine)
How you can take action:
* Buy banned books.
* Check out banned books from your library.
* Read banned books.
* Talk about banned books and encourage others to read them.
* Donate banned books to Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood.
* Attend meetings in your community and voice opposition to banning books.
* Write letters in support of teachers and libraries that are under attack and send them to local news outlets, principals, school board officials and politicians.
* Write letters to teachers, booksellers and libraries thanking them for supporting freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
* Write letters to authors whose books have been challenged and offer your support.
* Support nonprofits that are working to protect literature, fight against censorship and stand up for freedom of expression. These include PEN America, PEN International, Freedom Forum, Unite Against Book Bans, The Authors Guild, Every Library and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
* If a book is challenged at a school or public library, please report it to:
The American Library Association
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
The National Coalition Against Censorship
The National Council of Teachers of English
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"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." --Oscar Wilde
SHOP FOR BANNED BOOKS
I’ve put together a shopping guide featuring books that the American Library Association says are some of the most challenged in America. If you can, buy one, or two, or 10 from this banned books list at Bookshop.org. Doing so will support these authors and local bookstores.
HOOKED FROM THE FIRST PAGE
The gunshots took me by surprise and, without luck, might have killed me.
25-WORD REVIEWS
Rating System:
* * * * * One of the best books I've read in a while
* * * * A wonderful book, recommended
* * * Good book, worth the read
* * This book was fine, but not my favorite
* This book wasn't for me
Talented author, who has been threatened by religious extremists for decades, survives assassination attempt. This is his examination of the attack. Thoughtful, spare, surprisingly funny. --Jade Walker
Rating: * * * * * stars
You wouldn't believe how gay a story about a man in love with his own portrait could be until you read this restored uncensored version. --Nikki Clark
Rating: * * * * stars
READER POLL
LAST WEEK’S POLL
LITERARY HOLIDAYS
National Library Card Sign-Up Month
National Literacy Month
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
Read a New Book Month
Sept. 22-28 - Banned Books Week
Sept. 22 - Dear Diary Day and Hobbit Day
Sept. 24 - National Punctuation Day
Sept. 25 - National Comic Book Day
WRITER BIRTHDAYS
Sept. 20 - Jude Deveraux, Donald Hall, George R.R. Martin, Upton Sinclair and Angie Thomas
Sept. 21 - Leonard Cohen, Fannie Flagg, Stephen King and H.G. Wells
Sept. 22 - Elizabeth Bear, Rosamunde Pilcher and Fay Weldon
Sept. 24 - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sept. 25 - William Faulkner, Kristin Hannah, bell hooks, Luanne Rice, Shel Silverstein and Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Sept. 26 - T.S. Eliot, Mark Haddon, Bernice L. McFadden and Jane Smiley
RECOMMENDED SUBSTACKS
MOMENT OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to mariar12, the American Library Association, Harper Collins Publishers, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, EveryLibrary, Little Free Library, PEN America, PEN International, the Freedom Forum, United Against Bans, The Authors Guild, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the National Council of Teachers of English, CBS Sunday Morning, YouTube, Publishers Weekly, The New York Times, People Magazine, TED-Ed, César Viteri, Unsplash and Deposit Photos for art and story suggestions.
Disclosure: I am a member of the Authors Guild. I’m also an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon and earn a commission when you click through these links and make a purchase. Thank you for your support!
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