From The Past: September 20, 2008
If you have received an email or heard news of Sarah Palin trying to ban certain books in the Alaska Library, you should read the FULL STORY at Snopes. She was concerned about certain books; however no books were ever removed from the library.
This is an easy subject for me. I don’t believe in banning books at the public library. As long as the books are in the appropriate sections for their targeted age group, this alerts the intended reader of the content therein.
Schools are tricky; however, books are in place to educate, inform, and increase the imaginations of their readers. Very often, young children choose books from sections their librarian instructs them to choose from. The librarian is another teacher and she or he knows what level the student is able to read and retain. As she helps them check out, she is also scanning the titles to make sure they are appropriate.
My mother has always been an avid reader. She wished so much that I would share her passion, but at a young age, I really hadn’t found anything I loved reading. Because of school assignments, such as diorama’s, tied to books, I never wanted to do any extra reading on my own.
Then there came the day that mom had some extra money and she took me to a bookstore and bought me about ten V.C. Andrews books. They were all black with pictures of tormented adolescents on their covers. I was ecstatic and could not wait to get started reading these books. Mind you, Mom had never read a single V.C. Andrews book and still hasn’t to this day (and it’s a good thing she hadn’t because of the subject matter). She had heard me mention this author though, so she knew if she could get me hooked on these books, maybe I would be hooked on reading forever.
Her risk spending all that money paid off. Big Time. My first V.C. Andrews book was Flowers in the Attic. https://amzn.to/4dgcdtd
I loved it all those years ago and I love it to this day. I have read it over and over again and now have to treat it delicately as it is in fragile condition.
Does this book contain questionable content? You bet it does! But, do I agree with banning it? Never! This is the book that transformed me into a reader. It took my imagination further than it had ever gone before.
From V. C. Andrews, I moved on to Stephen King. My first King book was Christine. https://amzn.to/3MSXhq8
It was the first book I had ever read that contained the “P” word. I remember gasping, and then reading the sentence over again. It was a good quote, although I won’t put it on here. I know some of my readers are young. Sometimes I forget that fact and write about more adult topics, but here again, I believe it is up to the reader and the parent to make the decisions of what your child should and should not be reading.
Keep in mind: just because you may not want Little Jimmy to read a J.K.Rowling book, doesn’t mean I don’t want Ashley reading that very same book. It is my right to let my child read what she wants. This may annoy you, nevertheless, you control your child and I will control mine.
This is life people. We all have different opinions and interests. If you don’t like the book Jimmy checks out from school, have him return it. If you don’t want to buy a certain book for him, then don’t, but don’t try to ban particular books just because you don’t think they are appropriate. I have heard that most people who try to ban certain books, haven’t even read the books themselves to see if they are actually as bad as they think. In my opinion, this is a big No No!
I think you are getting my point and I don’t need to continue with Tami’s History of Reading. Had those V.C. Andrews books been banned, who knows if I would have ever realized the joy for reading I have today. Thank you Mom!