SpeakLoudly

Banned Books Week starts Saturday. This month alone, American parents have attempted to ban books from schools - books the Goldfiles sisters have read and loved.

Perhaps most outrageously, a father in Springfield, MO wants Speak removed from school libraries. He says that Speak's depiction of rape encourages teens to have sex. Of course, those of us with reading comprehnsion skills understand the book is about the repurcussions of rape, particularly how emotionally destroyed the victim is. How this father can equate rape with sexual pleasure boggles the mind. The thought that he equates rape with pornography is distrubing.

This same man has already successfully banned Slaughterhouse Five from his schools. It encourages teens to swear, apparently. And he is also trying to ban Twenty Boy Summer, mostly because he thinks the title alone encourages teens to have sex, but also for reasons so disconnected to the actual book's content I thought I was reading about yet another book he wanted to ban. Twenty Boy Summer follows best friends in the year following the death of one of their brothers. Innocence is lost in many ways and teen sexuality is very delicately explored.


Meanwhile, the Stockton, MO school board recently banned The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. The ban itself was challenged but ultimately upheld this month. The school board did not like that the book depicted masturbation, nor  violence or alchoholism. Nevermind that the book is nearly autobiographical: author Sherman Alexie is writing about leaving the Indian reservation to attend a white high school. Education is the means to escaping the problems - like alcoholism and violence - that plague the reservation.



Ultimately, limiting access to education seems to be the goal of those who would ban books, whether those book-banners admit this to themselves or others. The more people explore other cultures, other perspectives, the more likely they are to be open to new ideas. Would new ideas destroy the book banners lives and cultures? Perhaps that's the real problem.

If you also want to encourage education and discourage banning books, please buy a banned book next weekend. Please keep in mind that authors only receive royalties when you buy their books new. The Goldfiles sisters feel that independent bookstores are more likely to carry lesser-known books, but ultimately supporting authors by buying books is most important. Pre-order your book now to assure your store has it in stock: pay for it when you pick it up this weekend. Buying banned books during the same weekend increases the sales impact. We will continue to suggest banned books this week and next.