Banned Books Week

It's Banned Books Week and so, I like to take a look at what's making people mad about reading these days.  The standard disclaimers are: you have the right to read what you want to read.  You even have the right to help decide what your kid(s) read.  You do not get to decide that no one can read a book.  You do not get to decide that no library should have this book. 
Also, I confess I find myself amused when a book that is optional reading gets challenged, because again, you could tell your kid, no, I don't think that should be your pick, but I'm not sure why you get to decide for everyone's kid.  Okay then.

-Fifty Shades of Grey was returned to the shelves of a public library where it was challenged. 

-The number of books banned because a character has gay parents or makes, in once case, a passing mention to the existence of gay people astounds me.  I am not unaware that there are people who are homophobic, but the attempt to erase even fictional mentions of people who are gay, is particularly strange to me.  Some titles include And Tango Makes Three, The Family Book, Totally Joe. 

-The Dirty Cowboy is a book that was removed from an elementary school library because the cowboy takes a bath, and so, while the pictures do not show any full frontal nudity, because you can tell the cowboy is naked, this is apparently inappropriate.

-500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures was removed along with other books providing Mexican history because they brainwash children into think Latinos might be or have been oppressed.

Also, hat tip to DCist for the link to the DC Public Library's Roller Girl of the Day with her favorite banned book.  Including my possible favorite roller girl name: Queen Kamamayhemmayhem. 

Find Me

I got an ARC of Romily Bernard's Find Me at RWA.  I started it during those electronics free moments on the plane and then picked it back up later.  Wow.  Wick and her sister are in foster care after their mother commit suicide round about the time their meth dealing dad got arrested.  Dad escaped the police so Wick has been planning for the inevitable day when he returns and they will need to escape, making money hacking.  Someone hands her a diary from a classmate who has just commit suicide and Wick discovers that the former friend and classmate was involved in a twisted relationship that led to her thinking suicide was her only escape.  And his next target is Wick's sister.  With the help of fellow hacker Griff, Wick needs to figure out who it is before he finds Lily and before her returned dad gets them all in worse trouble. 

I'm not sure I audibly gasped, but this was definitely a good thriller, as well as a great story.  I was scared just the right amount, and surprised (although I should warn you I almost never guess the bad people, so, it's not hard to be a better guesser than I).  It is a trilogy (I know you are shocked) but I will tell you that there is a lot of closure in this book, so while I'm looking forward to Remember Me, this won't leave you hanging.

All the Pretty Authors

This weekend was the National Book Festival, so a lot of authors were in town.  (There's also some stuff in Virginia, and some stuff this weekend in Maryland, and some people who just had DC this week on their tour stop.  It's pretty amazing week to be a book fan.) 

My brain is all all the things - yes, people said pretty things, so I will not even attempt to cover, just summarize a smidge.

1. Rainbow Rowell spoke at Politics and Prose about Fangirl, a tale of a girl with social anxiety but a rich life on the internet as a fan fic writer faces college.

2. Elizabeth Wein was impressed, given Rose Under Fire's relatively recent US release, that so many of the group had read it.  She also discussed a little the differing receptions both books have received in different countries.  (All generally good, some more rabid.)

3. At the National Book Fest, Holly Black read from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (which I think is an excellent title) and really, the sign language interpretation of both that and later, Holly's answer about what creatures she doesn't like (zombies, they smell and they shamble) was most fascinating.  Holly also spoke of how thinking of the dissociation that watching something on TV creates, helped inspire the book. 

4. Matthew Quick talked about how Silver Linings Playbook being turned into a movie gave him an unexpected platform to discuss mental health. And that on an idyllic vacation in France was where he wrote Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock - for him the distance and contrast gave him the safety to write about this tough subject of violence in schools. 

5. Patrick Ness spoke about how he doesn't think about the other readers, just writes to please his own teen self and that if it didn't make you feel, then, what was the point?  He also maybe toyed with the camera operator who had asked him not to swear but apparently okayed the use of boobies and crap.

6. The book club got a chance to chat a little more with Holly Black, along with Megan Whalen-Turner, and Paolo Bacigalupi which was great as we talked books, and writing, and cats.

7. Tamora Pierce did a bit where she read like a doddering old reader because she likes to see the fear in the audience's eyes.  She also then went for straight Q&A which worked really well.  The tent was jam packed, the question line was long and good, and her answers were humorous and helpful.

8. Fred Hiatt wrote a YA book Nine Days inspired by the real life story of Ti-Anna Wang who is fighting to get her father released from prison in China.  She talked about the state of things with her father right now (not good) and how having a seemingly braver, cooler, fictional version of yourself out there in the world can inspire you to keep going so that real life inspired the fiction which is inspiring her real life. 

So, quite a week. 

Dear Project Runway - the Superfans

Dear Everyone,
Watch the show is always my mantra.  This week's episode especially.
Dear Designers,
I give you credit, because you all avoided the classic - oh dear I can't work with non-models who might even have opinions trap.  Good for you.  However...
Dear Ken,

Oh, Ken, Ken, Ken.  Oh, I was trying to defend you but, um, so here's the thing.  I'm now guessing that you don't watch the show, or don't like having roommates or don't deal well with stress or some combination thereof.  So, maybe reality TV is not for you.  Had you watched, oh, any season, you would have realized that the designers combine rooms as people go home.  This is not anyone's choice, just like you didn't get to pick your first three roommates, you don't get to decide that you shouldn't have to have new roommates. Although, I guess in this case you got that since you now have a room alone. (Or, um, did.)  And yes, you quickly realized that this was worse, that this meant you were getting treated like a potential firebomb, and well, it was not undeserved. 

Dear Alexander,

They must have edited out the part where you owned that your behavior was also bad.  I'm glad to hear you did. Matching drama with drama is not really a good idea when these are the people you are rooming with, I'm just saying. 

Dear Alexander and Alexandria and your Superfan Clients,

I know the superfans watch, but have you, A & A? And Superfans, have you paid close attention to the non-model challenges? Because the suits and job interview outfits almost universally end up in the bottom either because, as with Alexander's, there's not enough time to execute the tailoring properly, or because, as with Alexandria's, it looks too boring.  So, I hope you all have learned something.

Dear Alexandria,

That's twice now you've ended up in the bottom for listening to carefully to your client.  Oh wait, I'm sorry, you didn't listen to your client, you told her what she needed and talked her out of the more interesting stuff.  Even Dom was politely trying to suggest that these were sophisticated prints and you needed to keep it young. 

Oh, and PS Ken, how have you never designed for a non-model person?  Who have you been designing for?  Your website says you have a fashion line and do custom designs.  Do you only do them for models?  (Also, may I suggest a copy editor?)

Three Interesting Things

Note: Cotains reference to a racist sports team name.

1. I had the chance to go see Rainbow Rowell at Politics and Prose last night, and she spoke a little about this incident where she was uninvited from speaking at a school and library event in Minnesota.  Meg Medina had a similar experience with a different school visit.  And Linda Holmes of NPR's Monkey See blog has this eloquent post about the sad fallout of restricting stories that are about people being bullied. 

2. Given my long term love of the Redskins, and yet conflicted (to say the least) feelings about their name, I found this post about the NFL commissioner's comments about the name, and this post from ESPN about some of the internal discussion they've had about the name really interesting.  I recognize that in the end, this is the owner's choice, but I'm glad there's some useful discussion about it.

3. And well, I had heard about cat cafes in Japan, but apparently London is going to get in on the game too.