Hey guys! Guess what! I come bearing BREAKING NEWS!
From the desk of Meg Cabot . . . who e-mailed this to me and told me I could tell you:
MEG CABOT HAS BEEN CHALLENGED!
Yes! A parent in a middle school in South Carolina has challenged Princess Diaries 8 for “embracing immoral and non-traditional values.” Whatever that means! Meg is still getting details . . . but it sounds like the parent in question plans on taking this one all the way home!
CHALLENGED!
Congratulations, Meg! Welcome to Crazy Club! I hope to hear more about your adventures!
This is the perfect way to bring me back to a question that I have gotten an awful lot. Namely . . . whatever happened in Bartlesville?
For those of you who are new here, I will give the story in brief.
Back in April, one of my books was removed from a school library in Bartlesville, Oklahoma because of the complaints of one parent. She objected to the fact that my book, The Bermudez Triangle, had homosexual characters and themes. She claimed some things about it that weren’t true . . . like that it was a “sexual free for all.” (An accusation that baffled me for weeks, as there is no sex in the book at all. At least, none that I am aware of. And you would think I would know, right?) I was accused of everything under the sun in this complaint, and was basically summed up as being a disgusting, filthy, no-good human being who seeks to corrupt your soul.
My evil plan had been working perfectly, and I was happy . . .
The book was removed from the library shelves. This took place on the quiet, in violation of school policy, and the only reason I knew about it was because the librarian in the school wrote to me and asked for help.
So I tried to help! I called down to Bartlesville every day, trying to reach the members of the committee who removed the book. I e-mailed them. I got nowhere. No one wanted to talk to me! So I thought maybe they would rather talk to YOU.
So I posted their e-mails and YOU wrote to them. Then other authors, like John Green and Meg Cabot and Neil Gaiman, helped by bouncing the link along. And then I started to hear from people in town who wanted to help.
In the end, thanks to everyone’s efforts, it was “realized” that the book was removed in violation of policy. It turns out, you’re not supposed to take books off the shelves and not tell anyone! The issue was reconsidered, and the book was put back up on a special shelf, where it sits, requiring parental permission to take out.
Which is still pathetic. Everyone loses.
In the next few weeks and months, I got a lot of interesting mail about Bartlesville. I got many, many letters of support . . . some from unexpected places. I also got several less-friendly letters telling me that I was a filthy, corrupting, no-good, very bad, etc. etc. I got notes from authors and librarians telling me about their experiences. And I got several really lovely invitations to come down to Bartlesville and visit.
I considered doing this . . . but then I really thought the matter over. And I remembered when this stuff had first come into my consciousness and really started to annoy me . . .
*flashback a few years*
While I was writing and working my way toward my first book deal, I worked as an editor for a few different educational publishing companies. I helped make textbooks and testing materials to be used all around the country. I learned one very important thing in this job (aside from how to creatively use a lot of post it notes to amuse my friends and myself) . . . PEOPLE ARE DUMBING DOWN YOUR BOOKS.
I mean, seriously, seriously dumbing down your books.
Every company I worked for had a set of publishing guidelines, full of things we had to remove or change in textbooks. They went on for pages and pages, and in some cases, quite literally left me with nothing left to include. Some times the things on the Forbidden List were broad (danger, violence), or specific (swimming pools, coffee), or just very strange (“raisin nut delight”).
One day, I got the new list. I felt so sick inside that I had to do something about it. I decided to send it off to Harper’s Magazine, which would publish little snippets of things that were outrageous and weird in the front of each issue. I didn’t hear back from them for months, long after I had finally just given up and quit. One of the editors noticed it in his e-mail and wrote to me, expressing his amazement that these were real instructions from a company that was really making educational materials for hundreds of thousands of students.
I assured him that they were, and that there were a lot more lists like it.
To my unending delight, they published it. And they gave me $150! Not only was I outing something evil, but I got paid for it! (The version they printed is a much shorter version of the original. They couldn’t fit it all.)
Do you have any idea how hard it is to make reading passages that contain no socioeconomic advantages, disrespectful remarks or actions, or young people challenging or questioning authority? I had to remove every single folk story or fairy tale that ever crossed my desk. Every single one. They were all too scary, too violent, too . . . interesting. I had to remove Shakespeare quotes. And why no rats, spiders, rap music, belching, dice, or aliens?
I’ll tell you why. Because there are people out there who, for whatever reason, object to these things. That’s how the lists get made. People at the publishing company cobble together all of the things that people at large have complained about . . . and make TEXTBOOKS around them. Yes, the stupidest people you can think of are calling the shots. Not being especially well-read or broadminded themselves, they insist that things they don’t like or understand are removed—which, unfortunately, is just about everything. They want you to be just a narrow as they are.
So, flash forward to me a few years later, minding my own business, writing YA books that feature positive homosexual characters . . . AND THE SAME IDIOTS WERE COMING AFTER ME.
The problem can be boiled down to this little nugget: THE STUPIDEST PEOPLE ARE OFTEN THE LOUDEST.
To understand why this is not good, consider this scene. Imagine that you have gone out on a woodland ramble, and in your blissful examination of some flowers, accidentally stepped on a bear trap. Luckily, a passing helicopter scoops you up and deposits you at a local lodge. You stand before a room full of people, pointing at your clamped and bleeding leg.
First person: That looks bad. I think we should call 911 and get help.
Second person: Yes. You do that, and I will see if there are any doctors or qualified medical personnel in the lodge.
Third person: And I’ll see if there is a box of medical supplies.
Fourth, and loudest, person: HEY YOU GUYS, I HAVE AN IDEA! MAYBE WE CAN REMOVE THE BEAR TRAP WITH ANOTHER BEAR TRAP! OR WITH A BEAR! YEAH! LET’S GET A BEAR! ONE OF THOSE TALKING ONES!
Person four always has a plan!
Naturally, the other people in the lodge would try to distract person four with some pudding so that they could get to the business of getting you a doctor and fixing your leg. No one would go looking for a talking bear just because person four was loud.
But this is EXACTLY what happens with your books. Person four is running the show more often than you know.
And why? Because running schools and libraries . . . is hard work! People who run schools and librarians have to find the money to keep things going. They have to make a lot of hard decisions every day. So it doesn’t help when some nutcase starts hopping up and down on the lawn, screaming, “HEY! HEY! THIS BOOK HAS SPIDERS IN IT! AND I THINK I SEE SEX! I DEMAND YOU TAKE IT AWAY FROM EVERYONE!”
This is the part where I wish I was joking, but am not. I’ve read complaint letters. This is what they often sound like.
So, in order just to keep things moving along, sometimes . . . it’s easier just to take the book away. Or to edit away the spiders. And the swimming pools. And the conflict. And the entire story. And the dinosaurs. And the dice. And the music. And the raisin nut delight. Because person four will NOT SHUT UP until you do. And you won’t be able to do your job and keep the school or library running well. This isn’t to say that there aren’t schools and libraries that fight back. Because LOADS do. But it’s hard. Books are challenged EVERYWHERE. Every school has at least one Person Four
What motivates person four? From what I’ve seen, the majority of people who start campaigns to get books pulled from shelves do so in order to be seen doing something. Anything. As long as you notice them and their self-perceived righteousness.
So . . . there I am, realizing it is happening again. I can’t believe that because one person is saying things about my book, it gets removed. One person who seems to have misread the book in a fairly profound way.
But then I read the accounts in the local paper, and realized that if I did go down to have some kind of debate, it wouldn’t even be about books. It would be an hour of me saying homosexuality isn’t in any way, shape, or form evil, and someone yelling at me that it is. Which sounds . . . really annoying.
It would also give the person who tried to have the book banned the attention she craves.
Also, several people pointed out to me . . . very fairly . . . that when a community has a problem like this, it’s up to that community to fix it.
Bartlesville was a good learning experience for me. I did some stuff right, and some stuff wrong. But that’s how you learn.
And I still believe in making noise . . . because the key seems to be . . . BE LOUD. And BEING LOUD ABOUT BOOK CHALLENGES is one of my major projects of 2008.
Until then . . . I hope you will be reading Princess Diaries 8 and warming up your voices!
And . . . I hope you will continue to send in Suite Scarlett giveaway entries! So far, they are AMAZING.
I didn’t mean for almost two weeks to go by without reporting. There is an explanation, as always, but this explanation is made more exciting by the fact that IT IS A SECRET.
Yes. A secret. So secret that I had to sign a document promising that I wouldn’t talk about what I was doing . . . but I may be able to tell you in March or so. (I wish I could tell you. I really do. But don’t bother asking an ASK MJ question about it, because I won’t answer it—and I hate letting you down.)
I can tell you I am in ENGLAND, I am working on something that is not one of my books. It is sort of book related, and it is VERY COOL. It’s also what’s kept me busy since last Monday.
So I’ve basically just crawled out from under a pile. To make it up to you (and because I’ve missed you something terrible), I am going to try to post EVERY DAY THIS WEEK.
YES!
A small bit of business first: if you are going to the National Council of Teachers of English conference in New York City this weekend, please come by and visit me! I will be signing at the HarperCollins booth from noon to one, and then will be visiting the Scholastic booth after that.
So . . . now I have a DELUGE of questions. There were so many zombie questions that I had to put them all to the side. If I answered them all, I would have come right up in a zombie Google sweep . . . so we have to lay low for a while on those, then I’ll get to them all. Fortunately, there are loads of others to get to.
DEPARTMENT OF UNLIKELY OCCURRENCES
nuwon wearspants said... If you met a talking dolphin, and he was pretty but only one man could control him - and you understood the dolphin, but couldn't control him - and that one man was a hobo with a bottle of Lysol for a hand, would you befriend him?
Who has the Lysol hand? The hobo or the dolphin? (Ooooh. The Hobo or the Dolphin. That’s a good title. I want that for my autobiography. Or as the name of the imaginary restaurant I keep thinking I want to open.)
I guess it’s the hobo, right? Dolphins don’t have hands. I follow. I gotcha.
Okay, I understand the dolphin, but the Lysol-handed hobo (I want that title too) . . . he controls the dolphin, and . . . . wait . . . what’s the question? Would I befriend the Lysol-handed hobo or the dolphin?
I think my answer would be yes to both. I want nothing more than to meet a talking dolphin, and I really like Lysol. It’s sort of how I love vacuum cleaners—especially ones with those clear containers where you can see the dirt being collected! Oh, that’s the best. It’s SO SATISFYING. I just bought this little Dyson handheld, and it’s light and it sort of like a big yellow tazer, except it CLEANS. Nothing can escape it! I ran all around my apartment, hand-vacuuming everything that wasn’t moving (or was moving too slowly to escape me). And Swifter . . . don’t even get me started on Swifter. Those things changed my life . . .
Wait . . . what was the question?
the perilous t said... So, you're walking down the street one day, and everything appears to be normal. Suddenly, a delivery truck swerves to a halt in front of you and a beautiful cakes comes tumbling out. The truck driver (who just happens to be Zac Efron) and the entire High School Musical cast get out of the truck and gape at the cake in shock before asking you to assist them in lifting the thing back into the truck. You oblige, and have successfully placed the ruined cake where it should be when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes come bursting out of the nearest building, screaming that their daughter Suri is choking on an anthrax-spiked bagel. They shove her into your arms and beg for your help, only to be silenced by a white grand piano falling off of the roof of a nearby apartment. The Cruises are now dead, except for Suri, who's still choking on the poisonous bagel while Zac starts singing a chorus of 'What Time Is It?". What do you do?
I guess my first question is . . . why is Zac Efron driving a cake truck?
Out of everything that happens here, and A LOT happens here, this is the element that concerns me the most—probably because that cake truck is aimed at me. And how big is this cake that the ENTIRE CAST OF HIGH SCHOOL MUSCIAL CAN’T LIFT IT without my help? And why do they think that I am the secret weapon here? What am I, the Hulk?
It’s not a cake at all, is it, Perilous T? You can’t fool me. I’m the Einstein of personal dangers. I’m not touching that thing. I don’t know what it is, but I know that the cast of High School Musical wants me to touch because it will ASSIMLIATE ME into their world where everyone is trapped in Sisyphean rounds of auditions that never turn into shows. I’ll probably end up like that kid who never puts down the basketball.
It really can’t be a coincidence that the Swiss Family Cruise is in a nearby building, feeding bagels to their small child—bagels that turn out to be poisoned with anthrax. They have obviously angered the cast of High School Musical.
As for what to do for poor Suri . . . I am reminded of my favorite Deep Thought by Jack Handy: “If you're being chased by an angry bull, and then you notice you're also being chased by a swarm of bees, it doesn't really change things. Just keep on running.” Does it really matter, Perilous, whether or not you are poisoned as you choke?
I think my main hope would be that my hero Rupert Grint would come and rescue me in his ice cream truck. Did you know that Rupert Grint owns an ice cream truck? That is a true fact.
DEPARTMENT OF ACCEPTANCE
[comment on a Bartlesville book banning update post] Anonymous said... HA HA HA HA HA HA Bartlesville has no place for such dribble. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Silly, silly homo.
Oh, you crazy homophobes! I guess you have finished eating all your crayons and have come to search the Interwebs! Hello! Welcome to my blog!
I find homophobia to be terrible affliction, but I have great hopes that it will be overcome someday. In the meantime, if you want to drop by and leave your thoughts and further the discussion, you are welcome to do so!
Bonus points for writing something that sounds like a little Japanese poem! I hope you don't mind, but I changed your comment around so that it is in haiku format.
HA HA HA HA HA Silly, silly homo-phobe HA HA HA HA HA
And my reply . . .
Free Monkey says, "Oh! Homophobia soon will go!" Happy days will come.
I invite you to come back again!
Everyone is welcome!
DEPARTMENT OF MYSELF
reese said... It has come to my attention by the book club people at Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati that you refuse to come to our store. That you only do "regional stuff." But Maureen, we NEED you to educate the people in ways of good literature. We need you in Cincinnati! Why won't you come to save us?
What? Who told you that? I never heard of this. I guess someone was making a decision on my behalf. I promise you . . . it wasn’t me. That’s ANNOYING.
It was probably the %@#$&^% cast of High School Musical intercepting my messages.
I’ll be honest with you—part of the problem is that I have three publishers, and not everyone who fields these questions really knows me, so they may just say I won’t do something because they’re overloaded with work. But I can tell you I never heard about your store, and I don’t have any kind of “regional” policy.
I’m working on refining my system of dealing with requests. The best thing right now is to send them to me—or rather, to Free Monkey, who handles all of this. I consider every request I get! It all comes down to a matter of what’s practical and possible, schedule-wise. Sometimes it’s not really feasible for the publisher to send me somewhere to do one event. What I’m trying to do now is gather up all these requests to package them together for the release of Suite Scarlett. So it might be possible! Please drop me an e-mail and Free Monkey will enter you into his system.
I consider all requests!
jez said... Hey Maureen, guess what I did today! I created a LiveJournal community devoted to you & your books.
WOW! Thank you, Jez!
rebekah ruth said... I'd like to inquire as to how many words, on average, you write per book. For example, how many thousands words were put into the final copy of Devilish (which if my favorite of all your books).
Free Monkey is looking in the files right now and is shouting numbers at me . . .
The Key to the Golden Firebird is 71,216 words. The Bermudez Triangle is 75,131 words. 13 Little Blue Envelopes is 63,614 words. Devilish is 56,438 words. Girl At Sea is 80,592 words. And at the moment, Suite Scarlett is 88,371 words. But don’t be surprised if you get it and it’s 88, 247 words or something. Please send no letters of complaint. I’m still doing some tweaks.
becky said... I was just in a show, and our cast was just so unbelievably close... It was amazing. And now the show is over. I'm majorly depressed. How can I get over my post-show depression?
I have the solution! You can read SUITE SCARLETT, which will give you a WHOLE NEW SHOW! Hamlet . . . on unicycles! Unlike High School Musical, which doesn’t even HAVE a musical in it . . . SUITE SCARLETT delivers, and you can just read it again when you need another hit of show!
Maybe this is why the cast of High School Musical is after me . . .
anonymous said... Can you show us the cover of Suite Scarlett?
I couldn’t before, but it wasn’t done, done. But now it is!
Friends, I present to you . . . Suite Scarlett, the cover.
Behold! EYES!
I sort of found this out through the ever-awesome Little Willow who saw that it can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Feel free to start discussing it on that little forum at the bottom. If you put something amusing down there, maybe I will send you a PRIZE.
Until TOMORROW! Since I’m in the UK right now, I am especially interested in answering questions about the American experience in England. What do YOU want to know?
Several of you have been asking about Bartlesville and the banning, requesting an update. You ask—and I answer!
It starts with a confession, which is this: I started to get a bit down about Bartlesville. I got many notes of support. (Many, many, many . . . and thank you to everyone who wrote one.) But I also got a few notes—some very long ones—that said, “What right do you have to meddle in the affairs of Oklahoma?” This seemed to imply that Oklahoma was some strange, distant land that I couldn’t possibly understand—a land that makes its own rules.
I felt like I was coming to a point where had just had it. Why was I even bothering with this? Why did I care about three or four copies of a book in a town I’d never been to? I’d given a donation to the library and sent more to the school. What more could I do?
“Do what you want,” I grumbled for a day or two. “Ban everything in sight. What could go wrong?”
I told my friends that I was sick to death of it. I buckled down on my revisions and all the reading I had to catch up on. I ripped out pictures of my dream Vespa and stun gun and put them on my wall for motivation. I tried to figure out if Free Monkey was really an ape. I kicked a can across the street for no reason.
I was, as you can tell, grouchy.
And then, the very next morning, I got an e-mail from a Bartlesville resident who was disgusted by the banning about an article that had just appeared in the paper. She was sick by what was happening in her town and asked me to post it.
Once I read the article, I was back on track. It was a shot in the arm.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to read the whole thing, here are what I consider to be the important bits. These are quotes from Angela Rader, the parent who made the initial complaint (you know, that the book that had no sex in it was a “sexual free-for-all” and that all the copies should be replaced with Bibles):
“I am so ecstatic that the parents have control over what goes into their children’s eyes,” Rader says.
[Me: “Into their children’s eyes”? Like mud? Like a stick? Like a white-hot poker? I know . . . I’m just being difficult.]
“I’m proud of the superintendent and the committee. I’m glad that I accomplished what I set out to do.”
Rader says there may be other books that need to be reviewed.
“For them to create that shelf, they had to know there were books that needed to be on it,” Rader said, adding that she hopes school officials review other books to find any others that may fall under the same category.
“Is she really suggesting some kind of book hunt?” I asked myself. It certainly seems that way.
Because of her success with this book, Rader says she wants to get the Bible back into schools in a history and literature class.
“And I’m working on that because I think it’s important for our kids to know where they came from,” Rader says. “I think the Bible’s a good foundation for our school. I think we’re way far from it and our kids are suffering.”
Actually . . . I have no problem with this. I mean, reading the Bible in terms of literature and history. This is quite sensible. I did it in school. The Bible is referenced in lots of literature, and it’s one of the world’s most famous books.
Speaking as someone who had to read the Bible front to back four times in school, and since the objection here seems to be homosexuality, I can tell you this . . . I didn’t walk away thinking that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah was about homosexuality. I was actually taught—by a religious order—that it was about lack of hospitality in the desert. The Bible helps us out with this one: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49)
And the image of righteous Lot offering his daughters up to be raped by strangers isn’t one that will leave you quickly. Whenever people reference that story . . . I tend to think that they actually haven’t read it, or they didn’t quite grasp the implications. So read it! Also, leaning about world religions is a good idea! Read the Bible, read the Koran too! Read about all kinds of religions! A broad religious education can only help us understand the crazy world we live in, and maybe we can actually get to the bottom of our problems, instead of just blowing each other up all the time.
You know what the really sad part is? By mentioning other religions, some people will automatically think I am being sarcastic. The mere idea of reading about other religions is anathema to them.
“Oh, oh dearie me,” as Lily Allen says.
But I’m just delaying the payoff . . . the money quote. She goes on to say:
“Promoting righteousness, like having this book taken from everybody, is a step in the right direction.”
Oh. Wow. This is a fascinating glimpse into the mindset of book banning. This quote needs no deconstruction. It is perfect. It is the Hope Diamond of confused sentiments. There is only one person I can think of who could do better.
Give it your best shot, Flanders!
What’s great about America is that everyone, including Ms. Rader, can express her beliefs. Do you want to translate concepts like this directly into public policy? Apparently, some people do in Bartlesville!
But not all. Certainly not all.
I take up the rest of the article—and it’s all stuff that, if you’ve ever been here before, you’ve already read in some form or other. I do take issue with the fact that Ms. Rader thinks she won. I believe exactly what I said to the reporter . . . that the special shelf was a concession to make everyone shut up, including her. The book is not taken away from everybody. It’s just been put in a corner where you need a special slip to read it. Which is still bonkers. It’s just let’s-be-quasi-nice-to-the-kinda-crazy-lady-so-she-doesn’t-bite-into-our-heads-like-they-are-juicy-peaches local politics. And I still say boo to it. Boo!
Then my friend Libba Bray posted this on her blog. (Note to anyone who thinks I am a handful: do not mess with Libba. I am not kidding. Also, Libba fans who may have come here from there . . . I have read A Sweet, Far Thing, and I will tell you this: IT IS THE BEST BOOK OUT OF THE THREE. Again, no kidding.)
Now, as to what can be done . . .
In looking more into this matter (including speaking to anti-censorship king Chris Crutcher), really, Bartlesville has to fix Bartlesville. But nothing prevents me from talking about it and making the issues known. Or dancing about it, for that matter.
If you live in or around Bartlesville, and if you oppose book banning, here are some people to contact:
The Bartlesville school board are the elected officials in charge of your local schools. Here are a list of their names and e-mail addresses, as well as a list of public meetings, and information on how you can speak at a public meeting. Why not pay them a visit or drop them a line? As local public officials, they’ll want to know what you have to say about this.
If you are a student anywhere in the USA, here is a document from the American Library Association explaining your rights—including your right to read.
And for someone feeling really ambitious and up-in-arms, here is information from the Oklahoma ACLU on how you can try to start a case to get that special shelf taken down, and restore the rights of the students. I can’t start this case . . . but one of you can.
I’ve also been (tentatively) invited to Bartlesville. I’m told that some people don’t want me there. I’m even told that some people might try to block it. To those people: what precisely are you worried about? I am possibly the least threatening person I know, with the possible exception of a few very small children I’ve met.
Come on, guys. Lighten up! Maybe I can even bring some friends! I have great friends!
I give hugs!
What do you guys think of all this? Know anyone in town?
UPDATE:
One commenter wrote:
Anonymous said... I have sent an e-mail to the V.P. of the Bartlesville School Board, saying that I don't believe in censorship. I believe that I made an interesting point: homosexuals were persecuted in the Holocaust right along with Jews and the mentally retarded. Is the next book on the "special shelf" going to be the Diray of Anne Frank?
Thanks to Oklahoma librarian Adri . . . we have an answer.
To the person asking if the Diary of Anne Frank is next -- it already was challenged in Oklahoma in 2006 for "promoting Judaism"
I’ve hinted that things in Bartlesville are far from over. Let’s talk a little about that today, as I will be talking about it later. I’m going to be on the radio tonight at 6:15 talking about the Bartlesville situation on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese, which is XM radio channel 120. If you don’t have XM, they should have it in the audio archive once it’s over. (And I’ll post the link here when it appears.)
As you will hear tonight, I have decided to try to fight this as much as I can. The reason is simple . . . this book has been “labeled” because it has homosexual content. Labeling or banning is an unconstitutional mess, full-stop. Labeling or banning an otherwise squeaky-clean book because it has positive homosexual content is salting the wound.
But people get away with it, because sufficient counter-challenges are hard to mount—and because, as we have seen in this case, people do things without telling the public.
So I have decided that my Life Policy is zero tolerance. If you try to take one of my books off the shelf for an insane reason like this, I will come running and flailing at you like a maniac. And I just won’t stop. And I promise it will not be quiet or graceful. And I’m going to bring as many of you who want to come with me along, and we can all run flailing and screaming. Decorum is so 2006.
Us.
To this end, what I’m working on now is contacting the ACLU, which is actually kind of decorous, but I can punch up my efforts later if I actually have to fly down to Bartlesville and do my long-promised improper dancing. I have no idea if this will work, but that’s what I’m doing. And the reason I think this might be effective is that there seems to be precedent in these cases. Look at this, from the ALA website:
Counts v. Cedarville School District, 295 F.Supp.2d 996 (W.D. Ark. 2003)
The school board of the Cedarville, Arkansas school district voted to restrict students' access to the Harry Potter books, on the grounds that the books promoted disobedience and disrespect for authority and dealt with witchcraft and the occult. As a result of the vote, students in the Cedarville school district were required to obtain a signed permission slip from their parents or guardians before they would be allowed to borrow any of the Harry Potter books from school libraries. The District Court overturned the Board's decision and ordered the books returned to unrestricted circulation, on the grounds that the restrictions violated students' First Amendment right to read and receive information. In so doing, the Court noted that while the Board necessarily performed highly discretionary functions related to the operation of the schools, it was still bound by the Bill of Rights and could not abridge students' First Amendment right to read a book on the basis of an undifferentiated fear of disturbance or because the Board disagreed with the ideas contained in the book.
I like it!
Can it be much clearer? Sorry, committee members (including my elusive friend Janet Vernon . . . 84 days of silence from you . . . you sly minx!), you are actually bound by the First Amendment.
The lesson is this, book banners:
No, you can’t violate students’ rights.
No, you can’t just wildly discriminate against other people.
No, you are not the boss of everyone.
No, you may not have a cookie.
Also, just no.
Who’s with me? Let’s fight them off together!
Also us.
So, if you know anyone in the ACLU, any group that fights things like this, law students who are interested in issues like this, or just people who like authors, let me know!
And committee guys in Bartlesville . . . if you just do the right thing and put the book back, a lot of annoyance can be avoided. Plus, you will be doing the aforementioned right thing.
I may fail, but I will at least have gone down improperly dancing. And be warned . . . this guy was my teacher, and I am just as good:
Hey, everybody! This is right off the transom. I just got home to find this e-mail from Ninja Librarian Susan Hunt . . . and I’m basically just copying it direct to here (I’ve only removed some of the names). My comments follow. I don’t need to preface this with much, as Susan says it all . . .
**********************
I received a letter today giving the reconsideration committee's decision. Since I don't have a scanner available to me, I will type the letter as it appears. I do believe, Maureen, that without our intervention the book would have been pulled from the shelves. I'm not so sure that the decision is much better, however. While it avoids "banning" the book, it restricts the book's availability. I would not have been happy to live under a rule that demanded a 'reserve shelf' for certain books, or that demanded that I keep track of which students had parental permission to read which books. It is just the kind of nightmare my early retirement avoided. Thank you again.
The letter begins.
Bermudez Triangle District Committee Report June 6, 2007
The library book review committee met several times to discuss and review the book entitled, The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson. The first meeting was set to establish protocol and gather materials for review. A copy of the complaint was given to each member present. Each member of the committee had an opportunity to give his/her view of the complaint. The district library media department chair presented additional materials and discussed her opinion of the book. Members were asked to read the book, the reviews or research any additional information which would be relevant for further discussion at the next meeting.
Committee members met again on April 26th. The complainant met with the committee to express her view of the book and its inappropriateness for her 14 year old daughter. Members of the committee also met with the Mid-High librarian and principal. The librarian explained she had ordered the book for students who had to write papers for the English class. Each year, students have to write a paper on social issues and often students have had to go to the public library to get materials. She was trying to have a well rounded selection of materials to address the possible needs for the class.
Written comments from the community, regarding their views of the book, were solicited via the Bartlesville Public School website. A parent and the librarian of the Bartlesville Public Library responded in favor of keeping the book in circulation. The teacher at Mid-High who gives the social issues assignment sent a summary of the assignment to the committee for review. Yet, we must acknowledge, the book was checked out to the compainant's daughter who was not in this particular teacher's class.
The committee would like to make the following recommendations:
--In order to allow students to have access to the book for curriculum review or reports, the books would sit on the 'reserve shelf' and be checked out for classroom use with a parent's permission.
--Proactive communication with parents regarding materials in the library is important. An invitation to parents to visit the library should be extended each year. Listed media materials located on the website need to be communicated to parents. The committee would like to suggest the review of the district's current school library policy. Up to date revisions and procedures will be paramount in establishing a framework for future library media concerns.
The is the end of the letter.
Thank you again, Maureen. We succeeded.
**********************
Thanks to Susan, we did . . . if only partially.
Friends, what do you make of this?
Me, personally, I’m disgusted that a book requires parental consent just because it contains homosexual content. As Susan says, this is almost as bad . . . if not worse!
And that second point gives me a case of the wobblies. Why do I feel like other materials in this school library are going to end up on the “scary shelf” with Bermudez?
As for the rest of the letter . . . like I said before, the book was banned on April 26th, when only one committee member (the one who supported it) had actually taken the time to read it. Without your letters, your support, your links . . . the book would have been banned. You turned it around. Thank you, guys. I can’t tell you how much your support meant.
But what do you make of this “solution”? Is limiting access to a book really a good idea? What should I do next, if anything?
If you want to hear a really eloquent take on why self-censorship is a disaster, and why books with homosexual content belong on the shelf, listen to this podcast. This is David Levithan speaking at the Reading Matters conference in Australia. David lays it all out. (Note to anyone playing this out loud—he does drop the F-bomb once, but to great effect. This conference was for a group of librarians.) It’s fantastic. (And shows that these problems are not limited to American shores.)
First of all, thank you for writing in with so much support for Susan and Bermudez. Your ideas and good thoughts have made a huge difference, and Susan has expressed her continuing support of the effort.
I’m not sure what to say about Susan’s resignation, still. To think that a librarian like Susan would give up her job after 33 years fighting for a book (which happens to be mine) is astonishing.
Several of you suggested another letter campaign. I know the last one worked to at least halt the book banning that was going on unreported and get it out into the public. But now, the committee is responding by curling into a tiny, cowardly ball and refusing to answer me. (Maybe because Janet Vernon was too busy running for President-Elect of the Middle States Association, one of the most powerful bodies in American education. Great, huh?)
I have no idea what the people on the committee are really like, day to day. All I know is that they REFUSE to tell me anything else, and that in and of itself is weird and shady . . . and yet all too familiar. To tell the entire truth, I feel kind of bad for the position they ended up in. There are quite a number of crackpot organizations out there (along with individual crackpots) who make a huge and concerted effort to take books away from you. Here’s one of the more prominent ones, which calls itself PABBIS (Parents Against Bad Books in Schools . . . you gotta love it). This little army of loonytunes wants to make sure that books like The Catcher in the Rye, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Beloved, Looking for Alaska, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Slaughterhouse Five, In Cold Blood, and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (along with many, many others) are immediately taken out of schools.
PABBIS has not yet gotten to The Bermudez Triangle, but I am sure this is because they just haven’t noticed it. Maybe they are too busy building bonfires or trying to contact their Home Planet.
But you know what? Just because crackpots are giving you a hard time doesn’t mean that you should rip the books from the shelves, lie your faces off, demote librarians, and curl into a fetal position when confronted.
I’m sorry you have to deal with this, guys. I really am. I’m sorry that there are so many paranoid chowderheads out there who are afraid of ideas and books and knowledge and People From Outside.
But to prevent making even more paranoid chowderheads who are afraid of books and ideas and knowledge and People From Outside . . . we need EDUCATION. We need you to protect the schools. Many Americans are getting narrower and weirder as the world is getting more and more interconnected and fabulous. That’s just not going to work. Fear of Everything is not a viable way of living*. Instead of banning books, we should be getting together and working toward new ways of saving the planet, collecting shiny things, and getting me a Vespa.
Rant over. The bottom line next step is: I need to get the committee to just tell me what they recommended. Obviously, this is a secret, and I need to crack it.
I was so busy writing about Bartlesville, that I didn’t get you all up to date on the many things I need to tell you. So let’s do that.
WHERE ARE YOU THIS WEEK? AND WHERE IS FREE MONKEY?
As of tomorrow, I’ll be in GEORGIA. Come and see me in Decatur at Little Shop of Stories on Tuesday at 6:30. You can also see me at the Alpharetta Barnes and Noble on Thursday at 6:00. If you know people in Georgia, get them out there! (Especially if they make peach pie. I would really like some peach pie.)
I will otherwise be at the home of Betty Vox, writing away. Betty has three dogs, so I will have lots of furry company.
As for FREE MONKEY, he’s left for his World Tour! At least, the American leg. (International tour friends—your letters are coming soon.) His first stop is in Los Angeles to visit YA superblogger Little Willow. As soon as I have a report from him, it will be posted here!
YOU SAID YOU HAD NEWS. WHAT IS THIS NEWS YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO TELL US?
There are actually two things.
The first is about the Extremely New Book That Is Not Girl At Sea . . . in other words, the one I am writing. There have been many developments on this front.
Like I have said before, I love all my books, but I am REALLY, DEEPLY EXCITED about this one. This is my first book for Scholastic. (True story: when my deal was being negotiated, I requested that a line be written in saying that I would get a copy of Harry Potter VII immediately upon release.)
First, it officially has a title. It is called Suite Scarlett (the original title was Empire Suite), and it will be coming out in May, ’08. I am about to start a major revision on it. The cover was shot the other day. I had unprecedented input into the process this time, and guess what? THERE WILL BE NO HEADLESS GIRL. I’ve seen the sketches, the location, and the model. The location was carefully chosen to reflect the setting of the book, which is an Art Deco hotel in New York.
This is all very, very good.
Most of this summer will be spent finishing Suite Scarlett, so expect lots of posts about writing again.
The other very exciting piece of news that just happened is that I will be collaborating on a holiday book with John Green and the amazing Lauren Myracle. John and I have been talking about this a lot, but we couldn’t say anything until it was all a done deal. And now it is. It will be coming out for the holidays in ’08. I’m obviously thrilled to be working with someone like Lauren, and to get to work with my fake brother John.
GIVING AWAY OF THINGS
Last week, I promised to give away a book to whoever would make an internet fuss over Girl At Sea. A book is going out to first responder Katie Jarzombek, who dropped everything and went to her blog.
Meanwhile, if you requested a Girl At Sea card and it hasn’t come yet, it should be appearing pretty much any second. I’m signing cards until the end of June (or until I run out of cards, or just fall over at my desk with a loud THUMP), so if you want one, write in and let me know!
I said before that I was in a book-giving mood. I was just reading through the comments, when I saw this:
jas said... I'm a little broke right now, and I haven't had time to go to a bookstore, so I'm patiently waiting for my chance to win a book. I'm horrible with computer stuff, so I didn't even risk trying to "do something viral," 'cause I probably would have shorted out half the city (at best) or ended up advertising your novels as horrible (at worst). It wouldn't have been pretty. So, could you please do something for us peoples who aren't all technologically inclined? So I don't end up eating my own foot. Can't wait to read it, though.
YOUR TIME HAS COME, JAS! Send me an address! You’re getting a book!
See? You never know what’s going to happen!
I have many cool things from BEA, including these special HARRY POTTER VII BAGS. Based on what Jas has written here, I am trying to think of an exciting way to give away these bags, and more Girl At Seas. Less technological people—ideas?
I will attempt to write the MJ LIST OF THINGS TO BE AFRAID OF IN THE SUMMERTIME in the airport or the plane tomorrow.
Also, as a followup to my previous post about my difficult relationship with shoes. Many of you were extremely disturbed by the fact that I don't like to shoe shop. Well, for all of you, today I bought TWO PAIR. Here they are, for your viewing pleasure. I love them both. This is enough of an accomplishment to merit a photo. Who knows? Next, maybe I'll cut my own food! Who can say?
I kan has shuz?
* Fear of Stuff On My List extremely sensible, though.
Many of you have been asking me for updates on the Bartlesville situation. The reason I haven’t given one is that I have been working to get information, with little success until today.
A quick recap, just to get everyone up to speed. If you know this story backwards and forward, skip to the part at the bottom that says PRESENT DAY.
IN OUR LAST EPISODE:
April 27th: I get an e-mail from Ninja Librarian Susan Hunt telling me that The Bermudez Triangle had been challenged and removed from the Bartlesville Mid-High Library. She asks for my help.
When I put the story up on my blog, and when excellent writers like Justine Labalestier, Scott Westerfeld, John Green, Maryrose Wood, Meg Cabot, and Neil Gaiman (to name a few) picked up the story . . . and when all of you got involved with letters and posts . . . the committee that banned the book realized that this was not just going to be slipped under the carpet. After a week of effort, during which they stubbornly refused to answer my e-mails and calls, I finally spoke to one person on the committee.
He denied that they ever did this. “We can’t ban the book!” I was told. “Only the school board can do that!”
But I had information saying that yes, they really did do that, and no, they aren’t supposed to, for that is very naughty indeed! Remember how I kept insisting and insisting that it had really happened that way?
They couldn’t admit that, because it’s wrong and they would have gotten into trouble.
As the story got bigger and the local paper got involved, they gave the same story to the reporter, making both me and Ninja Librarian Susan seem like we were making something out of nothing, and doing a classic, “Who, me?” defense.
Which pretty much none of you believed, thankfully.
Then we entered into a period of bureaucratic weirdness, during which I learned more than I ever hoped to about the inner workings of the Bartlesville school district. I heard about the many tiny technicalities, the by-laws, the little things that they were using to say that the book hadn’t been banned, when it actually had been.
Except what they were saying kept changing. And it wasn’t just what they were telling me. My many Bartlesville friends told me that they were also all getting different stories about what went down, but the bottom line was . . . many mistakes were made, and the book was still off the shelf.
Finally, a committee member wrote to me to tell me that they had finally made a recommendation about the book, but that they couldn’t tell me what that recommendation was. Which was annoying enough. I then read in the paper that they said that they HADN’T made a recommendation.
“But!” I sputtered, pointing at my screen to the e-mail from the committee member that said that they had made a recommendation but could not tell me what it was. “But, but, but!”
Then my phone rang. It was a Friend in Bartlesville who I cannot name put who was very much involved with that story. She told me that no, I wasn’t going crazy. They had made a recommendation, but then . . . whoops! . . . they violated public policy by not informing the public of the challenge!
So they had to withdraw it. So they said they hadn’t made one. Well, except they forgot to tell the school PR person about the “new story,” so the truth was still getting out until they got that fixed up.
Still with me? Does your head hurt yet? We’re getting to the new part.
They then notified the public (by putting up an opinion box on the school website). While many of you expressed serious concern and anger about banning, it seems that several people in the area were all for it! And so, for a period of about a week and a half, I got nasty letters full of very non-Christian remarks, explaining how I was a bad person and certain to be hit by lightening.
I began to get grouchy. Still, I tried and tried and tried to reach the committee members again. I tried to reach ANYONE. I heard only from my friends in the town, but they had no new information. I thought over some new strategies. Many of you signed my petition to have the book replaced.
Weeks of silence followed, until today.
PRESENT DAY . . .
Today, Ninja Librarian Susan Hunt got in touch with me and told me two things.
The first thing is that the only librarian on the committee, the only person who stood up for the book . . . was removed from her position as a chair of one of the library committees by Janet Vernon, the head of the committee, and the person who STILL refuses to talk to me about the book.
The second is that Ninja Librarian Susan Hunt was called in for a meeting. It was fairly clear that this was not going to be the best meeting, and that there would not be hugs and sloppy kisses all around. She decided that rather than back down, she would resign her position. And I quote:
“I have taught for 33 years and have now gone out doing what I know was right. I continue to stand by my original statement to you, Maureen. The committee headed by Vernon voted to remove your book without having read it. I did not lack patience in the process in revealing this. I have no doubt that had we not made this information public that the book would have been immediately removed.”
So there you have it. One book advocate punished, another leaves because she refuses to go along with this insane situation.
This afternoon, I called Janet Vernon yet again, but got no answer. So let me put my message here.
Janet, if you are listening . . . I am officially #&$^#&^ed off. I was bemused before, sometimes addled, and occasionally irate. But now I cannot print what I am. And FREE MONKEY isn’t even here now to talk me down, because he is on his way to Los Angeles to start the World Tour.
I think you think that this kind of thing can go on, and that it’s okay, and if you just keep quiet and keep lying it will go away.
But it won’t. Especially not now.
I have left my e-mail and phone number for you on multiple occasions. What are you afraid of, Janet, if what you are doing is so proper? People with nothing to hide usually aren’t so shy and retiring.
Feel free to reverse the charges if that’s the problem. I’ll gladly accept them.
That’s the end of my message.
I’m opening this up to you, friends. What do you think the next step should be? Comments, e-mails . . . send away. I am all ears. How do we deal with these book banners? Because where they’ll remove one book (without reading it, natch), they’ll remove others.
I overflowith with things to tell you guys today—partially because Girl At Sea is coming out so soon, and there is banning news, and just plain exciting news. I’ve divided this post into sections to cover it all.
BOOK BAN UPDATE
First of all, one clarification on an important point: though I've been told the book is not officially banned, IT IS NO LONGER ON THE SHELF. All copies have vanished, and the last known copy is STILL with the head of the committee, Janet Vernon, who STILL will not reply to me and give me any information at all.
Well, Janet (can I call you Janet?), I’m glad you like the book so much that you never want to give it back! Fortunately, I’ve sent new copies to replace the missing ones.
My many friends in Bartlesville have been giving me some information, and one of them pointed me to this very interesting link. If you go here and have a look down on the right side of the page, you will see a little area that asks if anyone has read The Bermudez Triangle, and if so, do you have anything to say about it?
I’m taking it that this is the “notification of the public” that was skipped over in the earlier proceedings. Consider us notified!
Maybe you guys want to check out that link, too? The friend who sent it to me is concerned that most of the people who take the time to write in will be very negative. Can you help me balance that out?
Meanwhile, notes condemning me, my upbringing, Free Monkey, and the entire civilized world have continued to pour in. My lawyer, C. Catso Fangola, reviewed all of them with a cool and appraising eye, and then promptly took a nap on them. Luckily, I’ve gotten even more notes of support, so I have something to nap on too.
But still, no definite news. What’s going on down there? Will we ever be told whether or not Bermudez is TOO DANGEROUS for the library?
Just a general message to whoever is in charge of the book’s fate now, here’s something you should know—I am stupidly tenacious. I’m an anti-book banning nerdfighter, and I’ve made you my personal interest.
I know that the effort made so far has had an impact. I know you guys were caught with your pants down a little with the “not notifying the public” thing. I know you were well on your way to banning a book unread. I know you didn’t love the fact that hundreds of e-mail poured in to your inboxes and that people around the globe were reading about your actions. I will ride this through to the very end, and if I go quiet, it’s because I AM PLANNING SOMETHING ELSE.
Consider yourself notified!
You never really know what I might be planning. I pride myself on my ability to surprise.
GENERALLY AWESOME STUFF ABOUT OTHER YA AUTHORS AND ALSO A BIT ABOUT MY BOOKS
Okay, now I’m going to brag.
Last night, I was talking to Sarah Mlynowski, and she is just as obsessed with playing a dead body on Law and Order as I am! Maybe even more so. She almost cried when I told her that I used to have the casting agent’s e-mail address and that I threw it away because I was too shy to write to them. We have decided to combine our efforts. We may need help, and a plan. A plan would be good. Ideas?
In fact, Meg (who is exactly as lovely in life as you imagine, and I know you have vivid imaginations) asked me if I was going to blog about it. And I said yes. We were having lunch to celebrate the fact that Emma is getting married. Now it’s my editor and my agent. (I guess if you’re hoping to get married, come and work on one of my books. That seems to do the trick.)
Gossip: it seems that Gem, Meg’s cat, is every bit as slutty as she says.
Most of today’s focus was on Emma’s upcoming Day of Happiness, but I also got to sit in her extremely sparkly office at Scholastic (my new publisher) and have a discussion with the art director about the cover of my NEW AND AS YET SECRET BOOK.
Guys, I am so excited for this book, I can barely speak. And I can also promise you this: THERE WILL BE NO HEADLESS GIRL ON THE NEW COVER. (Some of you care deeply about this, and I just wanted you to know that I know your concerns.)
And now, a photo (I told you this post was going to overflow) . . . check it out!
Stay tuned for updates on how you can get your mitts on one of these copies! It’s not like I’m keeping them all. Notice who is not sitting on top of this mountain of books, though.
Where is FREE MONKEY?
He’s not here! He’s left on a pre-world tour visit. I have been instructed to not say where he’s gone, but he promises to get in touch as soon as he arrives. And don’t worry—he can still access his e-mail when he’s away, and is still reading your applications. You have until Wednesday to get in your letters!
I'm also still taking requests for signed Girl At Sea cards. And if you don't want to wait around for me to have a contest, you can pre-order the book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or anywhere else you like, provided they sell books.
Also, thank you to Ian for making me a wikipedia page! Feel free to edit it as you so desire!
SECRET SISTERHOOD
I promised you guys more video blogs, and I never go back on my promises!*
In my new role as John and Hank Green’s secret sister at Brotherhood 2.0, I will be making various video blogs this year. I still don’t know how to use the camera or iMovie ** very well, but not knowing how to do something has never stopped me yet. So, behold!
All right. That’s it for today. But expect that I’ll be posting like mad over the next few days. And who knows? Maybe we’ll even get an answer from Bartlesville!
* Except when I forget or run out of time or something. I am sure you understand. We are none of us perfect.
** Those of you who are iMovie experts and who want to help me out by giving me tips or making me some credits, please feel free to drop me a line.
The first article has just appeared in the local Barltesville paper about the banning, and right now, I am just the tiniest bit steamed about it. Fortunately, FREE MONKEY is here, and he talked me down a bit.
Here's the link, first of all. But you'll see I have copied almost the entire thing below. Save a click!
I hope you don’t mind a tiny bit of running commentary with both me and FREE MONKEY. Here we go. (I apologize in advance for my behavior. I have since sat down with a cup of calming tea.)
[ALSO: I HAVE UPDATED THIS AT THE BOTTOM WITH AN AMAZING PIECE OF NEWS. IF NOTHING ELSE, PLEASE SCROLL TO THAT.]
Blogs across the country were buzzing about Bartlesville last week after word got out that a book had been banned from the Bartlesville Mid-High Library shelves.
The banning of the book was allegedly a rumor because Bartlesville Public Schools Community Relations Coordinator David Austin says no decision had been made to ban the book.
ME: I contest this fact. I stand by my story that the decision was made. I have lots of people in the know who telling me so.
FREE MONKEY: The Bartlesville team.
But Maureen Johnson, the author of the book, “The Bermudez Triangle,” says she does not think the banning was a rumor.
“My personal opinion right now is the people that wrote in, I think that those had an impact. I think things happened because of those letters. I think they saw it’s a serious issue that people think about. I’ll be interested to know what the superintendent does,” Johnson said. She had blogged about the alleged banning, people read her blog and responded by writing letters to her and to the school district.
FREE MONKEY: I get your point, but you didn’t express yourself very well here.
ME: Look, I was doing this interview over a bad cell phone connection from the street, outside of where John Green and E. Lockhart and I were working, and there was a trash truck in a constant state of backing up and moving forward very slowly next to me the whole time. I kept trying to get away from it, but whatever way I went, there was the trash truck. Welcome to the glamorous world of phone interviews.
A committee was formed to review the book, after a challenge to the book was submitted in March by local parent Angela Rader.
FREE MONKEY: Did you know the name of the person who made the complaint?
ME: Yes. I never printed it, out of concern for her privacy. Obviously, she doesn't mind being in the paper about this.
Rader's child brought the book home and Rader read it. She complained to the Mid-High librarian and to the principal before writing a letter to school administration and filling out a form to challenge the book's inclusion in the library.
"I didn’t appreciate that it was there," Rader said, referring to the book being in the library. "I just don’t think homosexual materials belong in our schools."
Rader said the basic moral of the story is if everyone sleeps with each other to find out who they are, then they will all learn something.
Rader also submitted a petition that had 164 signatures of people who agreed with her that the book should be removed from the library.
FREE MONKEY: You look agitated.
ME:(pacing) I am agitated. I feel like I've suddenly come down with angina. FREE MONKEY: Maybe you should get me a banana.
ME: There are two parts of this that are going to do me in. The first is the part about homosexual materials not belonging in schools. That's a hateful, ignorant statement.
FREE MONKEY: She is entitled to her opinion, no matter how crass and wrongheaded.
ME: Of course she is. Thankfully, we have a social system that should shield students against this kind of bigotry. I don't mind if you’re a homophobe—just do it in your own home.
FREE MONKEY: I agree. I hate homophobia. I would really like a banana.
ME: Second, WHAT THE #&^*$*#&$^&* IS SHE TALKING ABOUT? "The basic moral of the story is that if everyone sleeps with each other to find out who they are, then they will all learn something." Can I just come out and say it now? Can I? If you really think this is what the book is saying, YOU ARE DUMB. You don’t know how to read. You are the last person who should be making any decisions on books. How do you get that from a book with no sex in it, genius?
FREE MONKEY: You are taking this personally. Take a moment to get the banana. I see that there are some rather ripe ones on the kitchen table. You need not trouble yourself with the peeling. I like the skin.
ME: And then . . . and then . . . she says that she got a petition with 164 signatures on it to have the book removed. Where did you go, lady? Was it your local chapter of MENSA, of which you simply must be a member?
FREE MONKEY vanishes for a moment in fear, and returns a few moments later with some bananas and other pieces of fruit. He finds me sitting on the sofa, breathing into a paper bag.
FREE MONKEY: This is what happens when you let this kind of thing get to you. Try a banana. They are full of potassium and other vitamins and minerals that will calm and balance your system.
ME:(eating banana) I know. But it HAS to get to us all, sometime. It seems pretty clear that not all of those 164 people read the book. I sort of doubt that there are that many copies of it in the town. And even with a book swap going on, it would take weeks to get the book around to that many people.
FREE MONKEY: There's no way they read it. Why don't you move on to the rest of the article? The next part is about you.
After hearing of her book’s alleged banning, Johnson tried to make contact with several committee members.
A committee member returned one of Johnson’s calls Friday.
"To be honest, I couldn’t get a lot of information about what was going on," Johnson said, adding that she did learn from the committee member that the book had not been banned yet.
ME: Allegedly.
FREE MONKEY: Allegedly.
ME: They banned it. Then denied it and backtracked.
FREE MONKEY: I know. I was sitting here when you were screaming about it to John Green, saying all those things that you know from people involved in the situation, but that you can't say on this blog because they might get those same people in trouble.
According to Bartlesville Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gary W. Quinn, the committee has not yet made a recommendation. Once Quinn reads the book himself and receives the committee's recommendation, he will make the final decision whether the book will be banned or not.
ME: Wait . . . what? What do you mean the committee hasn't made a recommendation? I've spoken to one committee member. He TOLD me they made a recommendation already. I have E-MAIL PROOF.
FREE MONKEY: Let's see it.
ME: Here you go. This is from an e-mail forwarded to me by a committee member.
Dated Friday, May 4th, 2007: A committee appointed by the Superintendent met to discuss the book, and their recommendations have been forwarded to him.
FREE MONKEY: That seems pretty clear.
Me: It does. I stand by the fact that the decision was made on April 27th. People were there. It happened.
FREE MONKEY: That’s been denied.
ME: Yes. There's a word for when one thing happens, but you say another thing happens. It begins with L. I’ll bet the readers know what that word is.
FREE MONKEY: So, the committee is saying they haven't made a decision?
ME: Strangely, it appears that way. I also know, directly from the e-mail from the committee member, that he read the book "last week," meaning the week of April 30th-May 6th.
FREE MONKEY: He told you that?
ME: He sure did.
FREE MONKEY: So, he read it after the decision was made.
ME: Right.
FREE MONKEY: Does this issue really need to be this complicated?
ME: No.
FREE MONKEY: The next few paragraphs of the article are just quotes from a letter you wrote. The readers have heard you say this stuff. Then here's the end.
If someone is unhappy with the decision when it is made, Quinn says there is a process to appeal.
ME: Well, that doesn’t sound good. Know what that sounds like? that sounds like someone saying, "Look, we've been dating for a while, and I've just realized we have very different needs. But we're really good friends, and I don't want that to change."
FREE MONKEY: No matter what, someone is going to be unhappy.
ME: See, this is why I wanted to do this. This is book banning. It starts with letters and quotes like the ones you saw above from the parent, Mrs. Rader—and I’ve said what I think about those—maybe too much of what I think about those. From there, it goes to things like committees that don’t read the book. The issue often stops there, and the book is just taken from the shelf, and no one is any the wiser.
FREE MONKEY: So public policy and school materials are being influenced by letters and comments like that?
ME: YES! That’s why this is so important.
Because all the readers got involved, now everyone is spinning in place and spazzing out and making up stories and generally trying to deny and delay . . . so that this relatively small matter of one book getting pulled becomes a bureaucratic nightmare. People start acting like they are in the CIA, planning some kind of black ops mission.
FREE MONKEY: A library invasion.
ME: And now that I've heard about these 164 signatures, which was new information, I'm even more outraged. I think I feel righteous indignation coming on! Maybe a new commitment to this! I'm as sick of talking about this as everyone must be of reading about it, but if I give up and stop . . . then it all just happens. That's how book banning can sometimes be permitted to happen. People try to bore you so much and frazzle you with detail that you lose the will to go on.
FREE MONKEY: It's worth the effort. I would like one of those oranges as well, please. The peel policy still applies.
ME:(waving at the oranges) What if I could get 165 signatures from inside the town of Bartlesville, condemning this anti-American and homophobic action?
FREE MONKEY: I think that is an excellent idea. Will you keep talking in that pompous way, though?
ME: Sorry.
FREE MONKEY: And why not collect signatures from other people as well? So you could have two petitions—one from within the town, and one from outside of it?
ME: I like the way you think.
FREE MONKEY goes to computer and types for a few moments.
FREE MONKEY: Here. I have created two petitions. One is for the people of Bartlesville, and the other is for everyone else who wants to get involved.
It gives you the option of being anonymous, but if you don't mind leaving your name, that would be better.
ME: All right. You had better get back to reading those invitations for your world tour.
FREE MONKEY: You should probably go relax.
ME: Or get a stun gun.
FREE MONKEY: Let’s not go down that road again. I think you should also remind people that GIRL AT SEA is coming out in about three weeks, and that you are sending out signed cards, doing signings, and will generally being doing all kinds of things to celebrate. Also, you are going to the Nebula Awards this weekend because Devilish is up for the Andre Norton Award.
ME: Everyone should have a monkey.
FREE MONKEY: This is true. Now give me your Diet Coke. I have worked up a thirst from all of this talking.
UPDATE: I just got a call from Bartlesville. (Again, I'm somewhat obliged not to say who I just spoke to, but please trust me when I say that it was a trustworthy and non-biased source.) I have just heard the most amazing piece of this story to date.
The person on the phone tried to get to the bottom of this "did they send in the recommendation or not" issue. The PR person said yes. The superintendent said no.
Well, except the committee did send it in. And then they had to pull it back and re-submit it.
Why, friends?
BECAUSE THE COMMITTEE REALIZED THAT THEY ACCIDENTALLY LEFT OUT THE STEP WHERE THEY HAVE TO LET THE PUBLIC KNOW ABOUT THE CHALLENGE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
Yes. You read that right. They DID submit it. When they said it hadn't been submitted, it was because they had to pull it back in because they had forgotten the part where they had to tell everyone so the public could weigh in.
Whoops.
This is the most telling part of this entire story, and the worst excuse I've ever heard. I told you the story stood. Thank you for your support and belief, and for GETTING THE MESSAGE THROUGH! Without your letters, none of this would have happened.
It's a Scooby Doo moment!
They would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids!
This weekend, I was at the Princeton Teen Book Bash, which was a very good time. Free Monkey was there with me, enjoying the sun and all of the good company. I got to meet some of you, which is always a pleasure.
Several people came up to my table to talk to me about the Battle of Bartlesville. A lot of those people were librarians with words of support for this campaign. Librarian after librarian came up and said things like, “It was interesting hearing what it was like for you—but weird because this is what happens to us all the time. We are constantly dealing with challenges. It’s good to know that the authors are willing to fight back.”
Yup. I know. I find it shocking, and Free Monkey is always rendered speechless by this fact, but it’s true.
A confession: there were moments in this like I felt like kind of a jerk, like I was giving people who were probably otherwise quite nice a hard time.
But here’s the thing . . .
I don’t for a moment think that people who challenge books or who serve on committees that recommend book removal wake up each day, rub their hands together gleefully, and ask the human skull by their bedside, “What eeeevil shall we do today, my boney friend?” The decision to ban/remove/challenge/burn a book is always dressed up as something else, something noble, or something administrative or biological that simply can’t be helped, like taxes and death.
As E. Lockhart, who is currently sitting next to me, just said, “Nobody calls themselves a book banner.”
Exactly.
Bad things are sometimes not as obvious as they could be.
Good things have come out of the actions of some otherwise reprehensible people, and some terrible decisions have been made with the very best of intentions. We all have to sit in the naughty corner from time to time. So I stand by everything I’ve said, and I object to the action.
So let’s get to the update!
One of the committee members—the same one I spoke to on Friday—has written to me today to reiterate the fact that the book is not banned yet. He said that the committee sent a recommendation to the superintendent, and apparently he will make the next move.
I asked this committee member the following questions directly:
1. What was the committee’s recommendation?
2. Since the book is now only mid-ban (whoopee!), would they accept a box of donated copies?
3. Has he had the chance to read the book since the meeting on Friday, April 27th?
The responses:
1. He won’t say. He asked me to write to the head of the committee, and her e-mail address is toast. The local newspaper is trying, too. So I just don’t know what they said! (I’ll bet I can guess, but guessing doesn’t count.)
2. No answer on the donated copies. I’ll take that as a “Yes, please!”
3. He said he read the book LAST WEEK. Yes, that would be after the meeting at which (as far as I know) the still-secret decision was made. And yeah, I’d read it too if the paper was calling me and hundreds of well-spoken readers were dropping eloquent notes into my inbox . . . so that if I was asked, I could SAY I’d read it, even if I hadn’t read it when it really mattered.
Do I think that the people on the committee are covering their posteriors? I’ll say this . . . I think there was a reason it took a full week and a hundred or more letters and a call from a newspaper before I got a somewhat fumbling reply of any kind—and the best anyone can tell me that the book hasn’t been banned yet.
One of the more bizarre aspects of all of this is the secrecy in which this action was conducted. Without the actions of the librarian, no one would have known this happened. Book banning often happens in small meetings, out of sight. If you’re going to do something like this, I think you have the responsibly of making it public. It’s amazing what happens when you just add public knowledge to the equation.
And now this whole affair is public knowledge, why couldn’t he just tell me what the committee’s recommendation was? What’s the big secret?
Well, who knows? And maybe just asking that question here will get me an answer. I can’t seem to get the Law and Order people, but I sure can get a lot of seriously proactive book lovers. When I post questions here about this issue, they seem to get answered, like magic.
In any case, I can’t change what happened in the last few weeks, and I can’t do anything except speculate on the bureaucratic cha-cha that’s going on now. The good news is that now, because of everyone’s effort, the outcome is still open. Now it remains to be seen what the recommendation was, and whether it will be taken.
For me, a few really important things have come out of this whole experience.
- When you let people know that book banning is going on, they (and by they, I mean you guys) will act. I never expected the response I got when I first put this news out there.
- I think some potential book removers have been put on notice. When you try to take books out of libraries—WE MAY ALL TALK ABOUT YOU. Shame is an amazingly powerful thing.
So, now I’m going to pack up a box o’Bermudez and send it down to the school, then I’m going to wait and see what happens next. You can be assured that I will tell you guys the minute I know something.
While all of this has been going on, the Girl At Sea release date has rolled closer. I was shocked when I looked at the calendar and saw how soon it was coming!
FREE MONKEY, however, has been on top of this. And he has something to say.
Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter, (that little box to the right, top of the page) already know that FREE MONKEY is planning something special for the release of Girl At Sea. You see, I can only go so many places for the tour. I also have a book I’m working on right now, and while my editor Emma Lollipop has not yet superglued me to my desk chair, that may be something she considers in the future.
So, FREE MONKEY has offered to do some of the traveling for me.
Yes, you heard it right! Free Monkey wants to get out there and meet you! Here’s how that can happen. Send me an e-mail using the link below explaining who you are, where you live, and what you would like to do with FREE MONKEY. Will you take him somewhere exciting and take pictures? Will you care for him?
Those selected will have 48 hours with Free Monkey! Then you have to send him back to me. You must be very trustworthy! And not hurt him! FREE MONKEY himself will make the selections, and there can only be FIVE visits--so make your letters good! He is very discriminating.
He’s just set the deadline for these entries. Get your letters in by Wednesday, May 23rd!
Where will FREE MONKEY end up?
And rest assured, there will be more Girl At Sea events, and more videos are on the way. In the meantime, here’s hoping for the Battle of Bartlesville. What do you think will happen?
UPDATE: check out this video from Bartlesville . . . Viva la Internets!
