YA Cafe: Banned Books Week « Ghenet Myrthil

Welcome back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Gabriela from iggi&gabi. Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs.

We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Today’s Special: Banned Books Week

Happy Banned Books Week! Today, Gabi and I are highlighting one challenged book we think deserves to be read. How many banned books have you read? You can check out the list of banned books on the American Library Association (ALA) website. It’s a shame so many of my favorite books are on the list. I’ve read 11 from the 2010-2011 list and want to make a point to read even more.

In a nutshell, my take on censorship is: parents have the right to take a book away from their own child, but they shouldn’t have the right to have it removed from a library or school. I appreciate ALA and all of the authors and librarians who fight for free speech and expression.

The banned book I want to highlight is Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. I just finished reading it last week and loved it. According to ALA, it was “challenged in the Republic, Mo. schools (2010) because it is ‘soft-pornography’ and ‘glorifies drinking, cursing, and premarital sex.’” I remember the outrage amongst the YA community when this first happened last year.

You have to wonder if these people even read the book. I really think they skimmed it for scandalous material and paid little attention to the context of the story. Because yes, sex, drinking and cursing occur in the book. You can’t deny that. But it’s a minor part and isn’t what the story’s about.

The title and cover are a bit deceiving. When I first picked it up, I thought it would be a fun summer beach story. The actual story goes much deeper than that. Anna and her best friend Frankie are dealing with the recent death of Matt, Frankie’s slightly older brother. The twist is that right before Matt died, he and Anna fell in love but never got get the chance to tell Frankie about it. So not only is Anna grieving, she’s also carrying the weight of this big secret–her relationship with Matt.

It’s not a story about sex, cursing or underage drinking. Don’t even get me started on “soft-pornography” and “premarital sex,” which is just ridiculous! Sex is barely described so only a perv could call it soft-porn, and not everyone believes that premarital sex is wrong. Just sayin’. Anyway, the story isn’t about any of that. It’s about grief, love, and forgiveness. It’s about holding onto memories but moving on at the same time. Anna and Frankie are good girls dealing with a tremendous loss. Not everything they do in the book is right, but that’s true for every teenager. They learn from their actions and mistakes, and grow as a result of them. I think any teenager who’s dealt with the death of a loved one can benefit from reading this book.

The good news is, according to the Huffington Post, the Missouri school district that originally banned this book voted to allow it back into the library with restrictions. Now kids can read Twenty Boy Summer as long as they have parental permission. The decision is in the parents’ hands now. Progress, people! Now, hopefully the parents in that district will allow their kids to read this touching novel.

What banned book do you think deserves to be read? Check out Gabi’s blog to see what she recommends.

Next week, Gabi and I are sharing the new format of our monthly book club so get excited!

YA Cafe: Banned Books Week

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