More words of wisdom on banned books, this time from acclaimed young adult author Julie Anne Peters: You can’t ban a book that never makes it into a library. When I hear about authors who are up in arms about their book being banned, or removed from reading lists, I confess to a sliver of […]
My favorite Banned Book Week quote so far: When we ban a book about a kid on the outside, we’re taking a step toward banning the kid. —Chris Crutcher, whose books have several times landed him on the American Library Association’s list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books (sometimes for homosexual content). He was speaking
Between the horrible Florida court decision and Banned Books Week, I’ve been feeling a lot of angst this week. What better way to dispel it than a new video about peace by high-profile lesbian mom Melissa Etheridge, which she made with Pakistani musician Salman Ahmad? They created it for Search for Common Ground, a non-profit
I first had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Brannen when her children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding launched early last year. I wrote about the right wing’s first attack on the book, which involved shameless plagiarism of my earlier piece by ultra-conservative writer Brent Bozell III at Town Hall. I then followed the story as the
Continuing my posts in honor of Banned Books Week. This is a slightly updated version of a piece I wrote for Bay Windows during last year’s Banned Books Week. If you haven’t yet read it, try to guess which children’s book featuring rabbits was challenged in 1959 for promoting (gasp!) interracial marriage. And come back
Continuing my series of posts in honor of this year’s Banned Books Week, here’s a public service announcement about it from the American Library Association. It’s aimed at helping kids understand the meaning of the week, and why banning books is un-American.
It’s the start of Banned Books Week here in the U.S., “an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. . . . Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted
Helen and I devote this episode to kids’ music, inspired by a free, live concert we attended. Will They Might Be Giants, now with their third kids’ album, become the Schoolhouse Rock for the next generation? Is an album of “songs for kids with two moms” going to capture our children’s attention or is it
Time for another roundup. Yee hah! Youth and Schools Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, and founder of GLSEN, is speaking out about the beating of a high school student in Belleville, Illinois and the inaction (or cheering encouragement) of bystanders. Meanwhile,
Helen and I discuss a melodrama shot entirely at Ikea (without the staff knowing) and how motherhood may have helped Kim Clijsters win at the U.S. Open. We also give you our thoughts on the anime-crossover movie Ponyo, now out from Disney with Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, and Lily Tomlin among those redubbing the Japanese
