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Hi All,
Last week I found myself with a third career — one I never truly wanted. After twenty of my novels were banned in a Martin County, FL school library, I became a spokesperson for the freedom to read — and against the censorship and banning of books.
In case you missed it, here are the details: one mom challenged 92 books in Martin County, as being inappropriate for teens. In Martin County, FL you do not have to read the books you want removed from shelves. (She checked off the box on the form saying she had not read mine.) You also do not have to give a reason why you want the books removed. For some of mine, she cited that I write “adult romance” — which a) I do not and b) is a code for “sexual content.”
Look, my books have been banned before. What was particularly egregious about THIS was that half the books don’t even have a kiss in them. They do, however, explore issues like gun control and abortion rights and racism and LGBTQ rights — and allow kids to think for themselves. My novel Nineteen Minutes has been banned in dozens of school districts -- not because it explores the consequences of gun violence in schools, but because of a single page that depicts a date rape with anatomically correct words. It's not a gratuitous scene and it's not salacious. But especially in light of the Nashville school shooting this past week, it makes me think that perhaps these parents who are banning books in the guise of "protecting children" have the wrong priorities.
In the past week, I have been called a "groomer" on Twitter because I "want to give children porn." Let's be totally clear -- no one wants porn in schools, including me. The definition of porn is explicit material that has no social, political, or literary value. At the risk of being egotistical, I think my books have literary value. The passages that are being read aloud at school board meetings by parents trying to ban books are excerpts that, out of context, do not take into account the overall message of the story. But for proponents of these bans, the word porn is often the first gauntlet thrown. Why? Because in 1982, in a Supreme Court case (Pico v. Island Trees) the Court decided that students have the right to have access to information and that a book cannot be removed from a school because of political reasons. Which means that these parents needed to find a different reason. Calling books porn allows their existence in a school setting to be challenged...even if the books these parents are targeting -- Pulitzer prizewinners, Caldecott Medal winners, even classics -- are not actually porn. Indeed, the vast majority of books being pulled off shelves are those that have LGBTQ+ themes, or characters/authors that are BIPOC. The incredible value of those stories for the kids who need to see themselves represented in books is being overlooked under the guise of protecting the innocence of children. What message does it send to a Black or non-binary or gay kid when books about their own lived experience are removed because someone finds them inappropriate? How does that create a healthy self-image?
The other common objection I hear is that this is a hoax -- Ron DeSantis used those very words, and many people have told me my books are not banned because they are available at Amazon or public libraries. Well, if you remove a book from a shelf, it's a ban. In Florida, challenging 92 books at a time is quite intentional, because by law they will be taken off shelves "pending review." Review can take months or years, and there is no actual procedure to do so...which is the POINT. One mom wrote to tell me her son's elementary school library has been empty since Christmas, and the media specialist doesn't plan to reopen till next year, because - by law - every single book in there must be approved. You can still buy my book at a store, or find it at a public library (although they've been challenged at some public libraries as well). However, not all kids can get to a public library, or afford to purchase a book. That's why school libraries were created in the first place -- to allow students access to all sorts of information and ideas.
I have been on countless television programs and radio shows and podcasts talking about banned books; I have written an Op Ed about it. I'm tired. I'd much rather be writing you a new (non-porn!) book. But someone has to speak up for the vast majority of Americans who oppose censorship and banned books. Today, that's me. And lest you think that this is the kind of thing that only happens in Florida or Texas, this week hearings occurred in Congress on a Parental Rights Bill that would federally give parents -- not educators or trained professionals - the right to decide what kids read and study in public schools. This is a federal version of the very law in Florida that has empowered parents like the one who challenged my novels in Martin County. While I applaud the decision of any parent to take interest in their child's education, I will not allow that same parent to tell me what my child can or cannot read.
If you feel the same way, please join me in taking a stand for the freedom to read. This is a very slippery slope, and I think we all know where it leads. Well...perhaps the children in Martin County, FL do not. After all, one of the novels of mine pulled off the shelves was The Storyteller, which is about the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany, and how ordinary German citizens came to believe that Hitler's policies were in the best interests of alI.
If you want more information on how you can help, please visit pen.org/action for steps that individuals can take to combat book bans.
XO,
Jodi
PS In the time it took to write this, Nineteen Minutes was banned (again) along with 13 others in Spotsylvania School District in Fredricksburg, VA. The superintendent, Mark Taylor, said: "These books contain sexually explicit material which makes it clear there should be parental notification. State law sets the definition. The only way we can guarantee they’re not available to students without parental permission is to remove them." (Yes, that's right, the one parent objecting thinks Nineteen Minutes is porn) As reported by Fredricksburg Today, he added that he was aware through the computerized library circulation systems, parental choice could be implemented to prevent individual students from checking out selected books, “but that alone would not fully comply with the law... I find that none of the 14 books listed above truly needs to be included in any SCPS school library." Well, Mr. Taylor...I think parents in Uvalde TX, Nashville TN, Oxford MI, Houston, Parkland FL, Newtown CT, Littleton CO and many other places might disagree.
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