One of of the things I love to do in my author visits to schools is share the research behind my books with student writers. Kids love seeing photos of the real places where Ranger in Time stories takes place, and it’s fun to share how a tiny detail I might notice on a research trip – a feather on a grassy trail, a line in a letter from an earthquake survivor – turns into a plot thread in the story.
Today is book release day for RANGER IN TIME #5: JOURNEY THROUGH ASH AND SMOKE, so I thought I’d do a mini-author-visit here on my blog for the readers I won’t see in person this week. This book is set in Viking Age Iceland and features a Viking girl named Helga as the main human character.
My research for the Ranger in Time books always begins with a big pile of books from the library, so that I can get a solid overview of the time period in which I’m writing. I start reading with a list of basic questions. What was happening in my particular setting and in the larger world at this time? What were the details of the historical event taking place in the book? What was the social structure of the society in which my characters live? Who had power and who didn’t? What did people believe? How did they live? What did their homes look like? What jobs had to happen on a day to day basis? Who did those jobs and how did they get done? What did they eat/wear/do for fun?
After this part of my research, I often still have questions, so for almost every Ranger in Time book, I also plan a trip to the setting where the story takes place. That allows me to visit more museums, talk with historians and archaeologists who live and work in the place they’re studying, and see the settings my character would have inhabited.
Two summers ago, I spent a week in Iceland, doing research for RANGER IN TIME: JOURNEY THROUGH ASH AND SMOKE. Before I take a research trip like this, I already have a lot of notes and a rough idea for how the story might go. But there are always details I haven’t discovered yet and settings I can’t quite picture yet in my mind, and that’s where the site visits come in.
My first stop in Iceland was The Settlement Exhibition in Reykjavik, a fantastic museum that was literally built around the archaeological discovery of one of Iceland’s first farms.
This museum, along with the National Museum of Iceland, gave me great insight as to how Helga and her family might have lived. Here’s a conjectural image from the National Museum of Iceland, showing how a Viking longhouse was constructed.
In this new Ranger book, you’ll read about a woman who works for Helga’s family making cloth on a loom. It would have looked like this one, on display at the National Museum of Iceland.
In every Ranger in Time book, the historical character gives Ranger a small token of remembrance when it’s time for him to go home. As I research each book, I’m looking for ideas for what that item might be, and sometimes, I find it on my research trip. Here’s a broken brooch from a display at the Settlement Exhibition. You’ll see it again in the story.
Iceland’s geography is largely formed by geothermal activity, and there are amazing lava caves in parts of the country. I knew this would be one of the settings for Helga’s story, so I spent some time exploring those areas and taking reference photos for Ranger in Time illustrator Kelley McMorris.
At one point in the story, Helga climbs out of one of the lava caves, and when I saw that Scholastic had chosen that scene for Kelley to illustrate, I sent her this photo of my daughter in case it was helpful. Here’s my daughter climbing…
And here’s Helga…
Another big scene in the story takes place at Thingvellir, the site of Iceland’s first parliament, where chieftains would come from all over the island for two weeks each summer, to make laws, talk about issues that affected everyone, and settle disputes. Here’s a speculative painting from the National Museum of Iceland showing what that might have looked like in Helga’s time.
And here’s what Thingvellir looks like today.
I’d been searching on this trip for a place where the story’s climax could take place, and I found it in these crumbly, hazardous cliffs.
On a different rocky cliff near the ocean, I got to see Iceland’s puffins. They’re an important part of Helga’s story and also amazing to watch. I stood here for hours taking photos.
But probably my favorite part of each Ranger in Time research trip is the part I’m not expecting – the tiny detail that I wasn’t looking for but can’t imagine leaving out of the story once I find it. In Iceland, that detail was Funi.
When my family was hiking near an extinct volcano in the interior, we met this tiny arctic fox pup near the base camp. Local guides told us his mother had been shot by a hunter, so they’d sort of adopted him. He was curious and adorable, and I was smitten, as both an animal lover and a writer.
A quick check of Iceland’s natural history told me that the arctic fox was indeed around when the Vikings arrived, so if you read RANGER IN TIME: JOURNEY THROUGH ASH AND SMOKE, you’ll discover that in addition to looking after Helga, Ranger finds himself babysitting a mischievous arctic fox pup as well.
Iceland is a beautiful, rugged place, and visiting pushed me to think more about Helga’s character. What would it be like for a girl who left her home in Norway to live in a rocky land so far away?
I’ll wrap up this post with some tiny purple and yellow flowers that seemed to answer that question for me. They grow everywhere in Iceland — on the most windswept, rockiest stretches of land. You’ll find these in the story, too. They’re defiant and tough, and they seemed to embody Helga’s spirit. I thought she might find inspiration in them, just as I did when I was working on her story.
To Share or Not to Share: Evaluating News & Other Online Content
If you’re on social media, you’ve likely had the experience of scrolling through your feed and seeing something you thought was so great, so important, or so awful that you wanted to share it far and wide.
Recently, I watched a fake graphic about a protest inauguration-day concert go viral among many smart people in my news feed.
The same week, I saw someone else share a Breitbart piece about Obama ignoring the fact that violent crime in America is way up, even though real statistics actually show the violent crime rate is way down.
We tend to get excited when we see things that a) align with our ideas, or b) outrage us, and sometimes, we share those things without checking as well as we should.
Who cares? Well, it’s important to realize that whatever political side you’re on, sharing things that are unconfirmed or just plain wrong tends to weaken your positions, rather than strengthen them. If you’re interested in curating a social media feed that’s respected and thoughtful – and not just in the eyes of people who agree with everything you believe – here are some questions to ask yourself before you hit that Share button.
What’s the source for this information?
With links, that’s fairly easy to determine. Is the website hosting the information a reputable news source? Real news outlets employ trained professionals with journalism degrees. They’re trained in investigative reporting as well as legal issues relating to journalism, and ethics. (That doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes from time to time, but when a real journalist does report something in error, you’ll see a timely correction and/or apology rather than a doubling down on the incorrect information.)
If your hope is to have people across the political spectrum view your social media feed as reliable and reasonable, you’ll probably want to stick to sharing information from sources that are more maroon than yellow.
You might also choose to make a special note of that source. Donalyn Miller, an author & educator I respect a lot, has taken to posting something like this each time she shares a piece on Facebook:
**Please read the article before commenting or sharing. PBS is a legitimate, credible news source.
I think this is a great idea. It’s helpful to identify what you’re sharing, whether that’s news, a persuasive piece written to promote one point of view, or something intended to be humorous. (More on that when we talk about satire…)
Is this particular piece NEWS or OPINION/COMMENTARY?
Reputable news sources such as those identified above offer both objective news and opinion or commentary pieces. Sometimes, they’re labeled clearly in the headline, but often they’re not. You may need to take a close look at the piece to determine what you’re reading.
How can I check to verify the information shared here?
Google is your friend, especially if you really want to share something being reported on a less consistently reliable source like BuzzFeed or HuffPost. Find out if similar information is also being shared via some of the more reputable, trusted new sources listed above.
Sometimes, there may be other ways to check out information, too. If the piece is about what someone said on Twitter or on a website, go directly to the source. But also realize that tweets can be deleted, so the fact that something isn’t there now doesn’t mean it never was. Sometimes people have screen shots of these deleted tweets, and you can look for that as well. It’s important to look very carefully at the Twitter account, too. There are many, many fake Donald Trump accounts, with the same profile picture and very similar Twitter handles. Go to the person’s actual Twitter home page to check the account name and look for the “verified” checkmark in their profile in situations like this.
For example, this is a real tweet from Trump:
This is not:
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between real tweets & the parody tweets, so checking the profile is helpful.
One more note about Twitter: Keep in mind that unless an account is verified or you know the person who owns it, you have no way of knowing who’s tweeting. The fact that a Twitter account is named “Democrats for Trump” or “Conservatives Against Trump” doesn’t mean that the account is run by people who fit that description. Since KellyAnne Conway’s “alternative facts” interview on Meet the Press and bans on social media from government agencies like the EPA and National Parks Service, several apparently subversive Twitter accounts have sprung up with names like AltUSEPA and RogueNASA. While it makes good sense that someone defying a gag order would need to protect themselves with an anonymous account, there’s no way to guarantee that those accounts are run by people from those agencies. Even if they are, before long, we’ll probably see similar accounts that are not. So follow & read if you’d like, but be wary.
In situations like this, it’s important to visit the website to check the article’s accuracy. It’s also important to remember that websites get updated all the time. It’s common for someone who receives criticism to edit in response to that criticism. If all you see is the “right now” version of the website, it might look like the criticism was based on “fake news.”
An Internet Archive tool called the Wayback Machine allows interested citizens to check on things like this. It’s an online archive that allows you to paste in the website’s URL and look at what was posted there at specific times on specific dates. As an example, here’s what the Melania Trump bio paragraph in question looked like Friday afternoon after the inauguration (on the top) vs. Sunday, after the critical articles were published (on the bottom).
Regardless of whether you care about Melania’s jewelry line, this is a helpful tool for evaluating information about what was or wasn’t on any website. It’s also interesting for students to see how websites change over time.
Be careful with photos.
If you want to share a photo that’s not connected to a legitimate news article, find the ORIGINAL source to determine its origin. Photos get repurposed sometimes, and pictures being shared on social media don’t always show what the caption says they show or what is implied. During the campaign (September 2016), Eric Trump tweeted this.
Whether or not you agree with Eric Trump’s sentiment, this photo wasn’t taken at the Pensacola rally. It was a year-old photo of a larger crowd from a Trump rally in Dallas. (Note the Texas flag to the bottom-left of the big screen. That might have been a clue for careful photo sharers.)
Just after the November election, another photo circulated on social media showed hooded Ku Klux Klan members marching with a caption saying it was KKK members celebrating. This wasn’t true either. The Klan did hold a victory parade in North Carolina, but the particular photo being shared in this case was an old one that had nothing to do with the election. Unless you check the original source of the photo, you have no way of knowing where it came from, who took it, or when it was taken.
Check the date for news articles and tweets
And highlight it in your post if you choose to share something that’s not current. This is an easy mistake to make when sharing everything from politics to astronomical events. Just yesterday, this tweet from Vice President Mike Pence was making the rounds.
This came as the Trump administration was reportedly preparing to issue an executive order banning immigration from a list of mostly Muslim countries. This Pence tweet could give the impression that the Vice President is critical of that policy. But check the date. This was Mike Pence of December 2015, before Trump had won the Republican nomination and tapped Pence to be his VP. The current order is also expected to modify the ban so it’s no longer “a complete and total ban on Muslims” as Trump promised during his campaign but a ban that lists mostly Muslim countries the administration says are “terror prone.”
This “old news” situation also happens sometimes with articles about bills urgently described as “currently being voted on.” Check the date so you’re not sharing bad information that results in a flood of calls to a politician’s office about something that happened a month ago.
Checking the date doesn’t just apply to political articles. A while back, I saw a Facebook post about a meteor shower that would be “Lighting Up the Skies Tonight.” I love meteor showers! My first impulse was to share, but before I did, I wanted to find out the exact date & time. When I clicked through to the article, I found out that it was old – about a meteor shower that had happened a couple years earlier. If I’d shared, I’d have been that person who sent 4500 of her closest friends out into their yards in the cold to stare at an empty, dark sky.
Check to see if the piece is satire.
Satire is defined by Merriam Webster as “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.” If the piece you’re sharing is satire, you might want to consider making that clear in your post. The Onion is a well-known satire site that posts pieces like this.
Most people know that The Onion is a satire site, in which all of the articles are made up, including the details, the quotes…everything. Still, you’ll sometimes see a piece like this shared with a heartfelt comment about how upset the person is that the Vice President would be so sexist in his language. That happens even more often when the piece comes from a magazine like The New Yorker, which offers both real, in-depth news articles and satirical pieces, often by the writer Andy Borowitz.
These pieces, if you look closely, are labeled as “Satire from the Borowitz Report.” It’s helpful if you label them in your social media feeds, too. This is especially important in our current climate where some real news may feel like satire to readers, given the unprecedented nature of some things being tweeted or said by those in power.
Pay extra attention before sharing something that you feel passionate about, either way.
Propaganda is designed to produce strong emotions – patriotism, fear, love, disgust, identity. When something you read gives you a surge of one of those feelings, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically not true or worth sharing, but it does mean that you’ll need to be diligent to make sure you’re sharing news and not propaganda that will cause others to view all of your posts as less trustworthy. Strong, emotional language in a headline is another clue that what you’re reading might be written to influence more than to inform.
Don’t make assumptions.
I participated in the March for Civil Rights and Women in Atlanta recently and saw this when the march passed by the Ferris wheel by Centennial Park.
I immediately connected it with the tens of thousands of people demonstrating, and I shared this photo along with some other march pictures on social media. I was just visiting Atlanta and am not a football fan, so I didn’t know that aside from being a beloved and revolutionary line from the musical Hamilton, Rise Up! is also a rallying cry for the Atlanta Falcons, who were about to play the game that ended up sending them to the Super Bowl. It was an excellent lesson for me on how we all see things through our own lenses, and I appreciated the people online who kindly let me know that I’d misinterpreted the message. The people who jumped into my Twitter mentions to call me names and make thinly veiled misogynistic threats were another story. Which brings me to the next topic…
How to Help a Friend Who’s Shared Something Untrue or Unreliable
I appreciated the friends & strangers alike who replied to me on Twitter, saying things like “Hey, not to be a bummer, but I’m pretty sure that sign is for the Falcons,” or even “That awkward moment when you think the Falcons sign is for your demonstration…” Those posts allowed me to realize my mistake and make a note on the photo so other people weren’t under the false impression that the Ferris wheel was lit up for the march. I got other replies, too – the usual, misogynistic, name-calling tweets that appears in most women’s social media feeds when they’ve said something a man doesn’t like. Those just make the person tweeting look like a jerk.
If a friend posts something on social media that’s just plain false and you can find the reliable information that shows that, it’s often helpful to share a link to a reliable, trusted news source with a friendly note that says, “Hey…just so you know, I think this might be inaccurate. Look what (source xyz) has today.”
If your friend posts something that’s circulating but that you can’t find confirmed anywhere, a question might be helpful. “Were you able to confirm this anywhere else? I read this piece with interest but haven’t been able to find the information anywhere else, so I’m wondering how accurate it is. Thanks!” That’s a kind way to ask the question and is likely to result in a good conversation in which your friend either shares more sources or realizes that the information might not be confirmed.
What Happens When You Make a Mistake
If you discover that you’ve posted something that turns out to be inaccurate, unconfirmed, or badly dated, you might feel embarrassed. But the reality is, mistakes happen. Try to be open to listening and researching, rather than feeling defensive. Read what people are saying, whether they agree with your position or not (this is admittedly easier with meteor showers than it is with politics) and then defer to common-sense guidelines and decide if what you shared is really news or not. If you’ve posted satire that people thought was real, that’s easy to fix with a quick edit identifying it as such. Same story if you’ve posted an opinion piece that people are taking as fact. But I’d advocate for a different approach if you come to realize that what you’ve posted is just incorrect or misleading.
Standard social media protocol is often not to delete tweets/posts that have become controversial because it can look like you’re trying to cover up your mistake. But personally, I think sharing bad information should be an exception to that rule. If you share an article that turns out to be false or misleading, it’s not enough to add a note at the bottom of the comments thread saying, “Please note: This is not confirmed and is from a questionable source.” Those articles – especially the emotionally charged ones – get shared at lightning speed with one click, so it’s probably best to delete the bad information entirely and offer a new, separate post that says something like “Earlier today, I posted an article about a meteor shower that I then deleted because it was brought to my attention that the article was from two years ago. I apologize for the mistake & appreciate the friends who pointed out the date.”
Why is all of this important?
We’re living in an age where facts are under attack and where information spreads more quickly than it ever has, whether it’s reliable information or not. Being part of the solution means doubling down on our efforts to make sure what we share on social media is clear. I’ve decided that for me, that means sharing news that comes from reliable sources, double checking those sources, and clearly identifying essays and satirical pieces I choose to share so that they’re not mistaken as news.
Here are some great resources for reading, thinking about, and sharing with students.
Politifact is a nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize winning fact check website for political issues.
Snopes is a reliable website for determining the validity of almost anything going viral on social media, from politics to warnings about going to your car at the mall.
Snopes gets attacked sometimes by people who don’t like their ideas challenged. Here’s an article about who runs it & its background so you can make your own decisions about that.
The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan national education nonprofit working with educators & journalists to teach students about information literacy.
Blogger’s note: Given that this post is all about checking and evaluating sources, here’s some information about me. Aside from being a children’s author, I spent fifteen years teaching middle school English and earned National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts in 2006. Before that, I worked in television newsrooms for seven years and have a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication. The common ground with all three of these jobs is that facts matter.
This is Banned Books Week, an annual event from the American Library Association celebrating the freedom to read. It’s a week I’ve always marked by sharing my favorite challenged books, honoring authors who write about those tough topics that matter to kids (but sometimes scare adults), and thanking librarians, teachers, and booksellers who make sure kids have access to the books they want and need to read.
This past summer, I had my first real experience with one of my books generating controversy, so I’m celebrating this week with a more personal understanding of the importance of groups like the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. When an author is disinvited from a school visit or finds their book being pulled from school shelves or kept out of libraries, these groups offer much-needed services – not only in terms of support for the writer but also in the education and outreach they provide to schools and libraries as they work for better outcomes.
This week, I have some positive outcomes to share from the summer. As some of you know, last June, there were several incidents regarding THE SEVENTH WISH, my middle grade novel about Irish dancing, ice fishing, magic, entomophagy, flour babies, and friendship. It’s also about the effects of opioid addiction can have on families, especially younger siblings. Because of this theme, a school librarian I’d never met emailed me to tell me that while she loved my other books, she’d removed THE SEVENTH WISH from her order list when she found out that the main character’s older sister was struggling with addition. I blogged about this here.
After that post, the librarian and I engaged in a long email conversation about censorship vs. book selection, which we agreed to share here. It’s long but shines a light on how people are able to see this issue so differently. We invited readers to share ideas, too, and the conversation continued with this post, which may also be of interest.
The same week this happened, just as my book was released, one of the Vermont schools I was scheduled to visit on my book tour cancelled the visit with less than twenty-four hours notice. The reason, they said, was that even though they’d sent home a letter to families, they felt they hadn’t prepared their students well enough for the visit, given the sensitive subject matter. The school also returned all the copies of the book they’d purchased to the local bookstore. Later on, the school did decide that it would carry a copy of THE SEVENTH WISH in the school library. The principal also sent home a note letting families of 4th and 5th graders to let them know about my event at the South Burlington Community Library.
While all this was happening, the children’s book community responded with amazing support for the book, for the freedom to read, and for Vermont kids. The South Burlington Community Library offered to host an event. People in Vermont and beyond donated hundreds of copies so that everyone who attended went home with a free copy.
South Burlington Community Library Children’s Librarian Meg Paquette sends along this note of thanks:
We appreciate the generosity of: Bloomsbury Children, Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore, The Bookmark, The Bookstore Plus, Chronicle Books, Erica Perl, Oblong Books & Music, Phoenix Books, Heidi Schulz and all the other anonymous donors who kindly gave copies of THE SEVENTH WISH to the children in our community. The response was overwhelming and as a result we were able to place books into the hands of over 100 young readers as well as create a discussion set for classrooms and book groups.
That discussion set – 35 copies of THE SEVENTH WISH – is currently available at the South Burlington Community Library for any teacher or librarian who would like to sign out books for a classroom read or book club. Thank you so much, Meg!
Phoenix Books, the local independent bookseller handing books for the Burlington tour visits, also offered amazing support. The great folks at Phoenix took orders from readers all over the country and delivered the books for the library event. Phoenix Books also donated one hundred copies of THE SEVENTH WISH themselves. Those additional copies were recently delivered to the Vermont Department of Libraries, which just finished distributing them to school and public libraries throughout the state – providing access to readers in Vergennes, Swanton, Chester, Derby Line, Colchester, Shoreham, Marshfield, St. Johnsbury, South Burlington, Jericho, Randolph, Ludlow, Cabot, Essex Junction, Lyndonville, Middlebury, Westford, Grand Isle, Plainfield, Morrisville, Bristol, Strafford, Quechee, Craftsbury Common, Danville, Greensboro, Franklin, Springfield, East Corinth, North Ferrisburgh, Weybridge, Wilmington, Milton, Bradford, Orwell, Albany, Montpelier, West Rutland, Wolcott, Readsboro, Northfield, Killington, Vernon, St. Albans, Tunbridge, Sharon, Northfield, Thetford, Wardboro, Jeffersonville, Westminster, Williamstown, Windsor, Richford, Alburgh, Rochester, Fairfax, Bethel, Bennington, Montgomery Center, Woodstock, Richford, Jamaica, Townsend, Johnson, Charlotte, Enosburg Falls, Bondville, Middletown Springs, Hartford, Pittsford, North Troy, Waterbury, Marlboro, Fairlee, Bakersfield, Orleans, West Hartford, Moretown, and Island Pond.
That’s a lot of towns and a whole lot of readers, and I am so very grateful. Thank you, Phoenix Books and Vermont Department of Libraries!
As book challenges go, this one has a pretty positive ending. But that’s not always the case.
This year’s Banned Books Week theme is Celebrating Diversity, noting that books by diverse authors are especially likely to face challenges. From the Banned Books Week website:
“The majority of banned books are disproportionally from diverse authors. The 2016 celebration of Banned Books Week (taking place Sept 25 – Oct. 1) will examine this dichotomy. The American Library Association (ALA) defines diversity as being “those who may experience language or literacy-related barriers; economic distress; cultural or social isolation; physical or attitudinal barriers; racism; discrimination on the basis of appearance, ethnicity, immigrant status, religious background, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression; or barriers to equal education, employment, and housing”. Diverse authors represent the marginalized factions of our society and the voices of those who are not often represented in mainstream outlets.
This discrepancy, in regard to the banning of diverse books, is significant. The University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) and publisher Lee & Low have provided statistics from 1994 to 2012 that illustrate that while 37% of the U.S. population are people of color, only 10% of books published focus on multicultural content. In addition, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, has determined that 52% of the books challenged, or banned, over the past decade are from titles that are considered diverse content. These statistics are troubling and create more questions than answers.”
Troubling is an understatement. So what can we do to change that? One small step is making a point to recommend diverse titles by authors from marginalized groups, pointing out why they’re valuable and important. Here are a few of my favorites – not all have been challenged, but I think they’re all important books that should be available for readers:
FALLEN ANGELS, Walter Dean Myers’ YA novel about the Vietnam War, is raw and brilliant, and frequently shows up on challenged book lists.
HOW IT WENT DOWN by Kekla Magoon is a complex and heartbreaking story about the shooting of a black teen, told in multiple voices.
Whether or not they’re frequently challenged, what are some of your favorite books by authors from marginalized groups? Let’s build our reading lists this week and shine a light on some of these titles.
Hi there – and welcome to the World Read Aloud Day author Skype volunteer list for 2017!
If you’re new to this blog, I’m Kate Messner, and I write books like these:
I also read lots of books, and reading aloud is one of my favorite things in the world. When I was a kid, I was the one forever waving my hand to volunteer to read to the class, and still, I’ll pretty much read to anyone who will listen.
For the past few years, I’ve helped out with LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day by pulling together a list of author volunteers who would like to spend part of the day Skyping with classrooms around the world to share the joy of reading aloud.
World Read Aloud Day 2017 is Thursday, February 16, 2017
The authors listed below have volunteered their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world. These aren’t long, fancy presentations; a typical one might go like this:
1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
5-10 minutes: Author answers some questions from students about reading/writing
1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids
If you’re a teacher or librarian and you’d like to have an author Skype with your classroom or library on World Read Aloud Day, here’s how to do it:
Check out the list of volunteering authors below and visit their websites to see which ones might be a good fit for your students.
Contact the author directly by using the email provided or clicking on the link to his or her website and finding the contact form. Please be sure to provide the following information in your request:
Your name and what grade(s) you work with
Your city and time zone (this is important for scheduling!)
Possible times to Skype on February 16th. Please note authors’ availability and time zones. Adjust accordingly if yours is different!
Your Skype username
A phone number where you can be reached on that day in case of technical issues
Please understand that authors are people, too, and have schedules and families just like you, so not all authors will be available at all times. It may take a few tries before you find someone whose books and schedule fit with yours. If I learn that someone’s schedule for the day is full, I’ll put a line through their name – that means the author’s schedule is full, and no more visits are available. (Authors, please send an email to me know when you’re all booked up!)
World Read Aloud Day – Skyping Author Volunteers for February 16, 2017.
Authors are listed here (kind of randomly, actually…in the order they emailed me) along with publishers, available times, and the age groups for which they write. (PB=picture books, MG=middle grades, YA=young adult, etc.)
Stacy McAnulty Random House, Running Kids Press Elementary 8:30 am- 3pm EST www.stacymcanulty.com author.stacymcanulty@gmail.com
Sarah Albee Crown/Bloomsbury/Harper Collins/National Geographic Older Elementary, Middle School 10-2 Eastern Time sarahalbeebooks.com albees@taftschool.org
Jennifer Swanson National Geographic Kids, Charlesbridge Older Elementary, Middle School 10am to 4pm EST www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com Jennifer@JenniferSwansonBooks.com
Sarah Darer Littman Scholastic Press/S & S Aladdin Upper Elementary/Middle School/High School 8 am- 6pm EST http://sarahdarerlittman.com sarahdarerlittman@gmail.com
Lauren Magaziner Penguin Books for Young Readers Elementary 9 am – 6 pm EST http://laurenmagaziner.com/ lauren@laurenmagaziner.com
Annemarie O’Brien
Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Books for Young Readers
Older Elementary
7am – 8am PST or 6:30pm – 9:30pm PST (on Feb 15th, if international) https://AnnemarieOBrienAuthor.com
Annemarie@AnnemarieOBrienAuthor.com
Denis Markell
Delacorte Press
Older Elementary/Middle School
9am – 4pm EST dmarkell@aol.com
Jodi Wheeler-Toppen National Geographic Kids/Capstone/NSTA Press Older Elementary 9 am – 1 pm EST OnceUponAScienceBook.com Contact me at https://onceuponasciencebook.com/contact-me/
I’ll be updating this list every few days until WRAD, so if you check back, you’ll find that the options will change. Schedules will fill, so some folks will no longer be available, but there will also be new people added.
Authors & Illustrators: If your schedule is full & you need to be crossed off the list, please email to let me know. If you’d like to be added to the list, directions are here. Please note that this particular list is limited to traditionally published authors/illustrators, only to limit its size and scope. I’m one person with limited time. However, if someone else would like to compile and share a list of self-published, magazine, and ebook author/illustrator volunteers, I think that would be absolutely great, and I’ll happily link to it here. Just let me know!
Happy reading, everyone!
“World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology.” ~from the LitWorld website
LitWorld’s magical World Read Aloud Day is February 16, 2017 – and one of the fun traditions of this day of sharing stories is for authors around the world to Skype into classrooms & libraries for short read-alouds. For the past few years, I’ve helped out by compiling a list of author volunteers so that teachers & librarians can connect with them to schedule Skype sessions on that day.
Teachers & librarians: Please hold tight for right now… the list will be coming soon!
Authors & Illustrators: Are you a traditionally published* author or illustrator who would like to be listed as a WRAD Skype volunteer? Please read the information & follow the directions below…
WRAD Skype visits aren’t long or fancy presentations. Usually, they last 10-15 minutes and go something like this:
1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
5-10 minutes: Author answers some questions from students about reading/writing
1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids
Interested in volunteering? If you’re a traditionally published* author or illustrator, here’s how to sign up:
Send an email to worldreadaloudskype@gmail.com.
In the subject line, write WRAD Skype volunteer.
In the body of the email, please put these SIX pieces of information, in this exact format, so that it can be copied & pasted into the list:
-Your name
-Your publisher
-Grade level for which your books are most appropriate
(Younger Elementary, Older Elementary, All Elementary, Middle School, or High School)
-Hours you’ll be available and your time zone
-Your website
-Email where you’d like to be contacted with Skype inquiries OR a link to the contact page on your website
Here’s a sample, showing what the body of your email should look like:
Laurel Snyder Random House Books for Young Readers Elementary 8 am- 2pm EST http://laurelsnyder.com
Laurelsemail@gmail.com
Thanks for using this exact format. It saves so much time. Once I have all of your information in this format, I’ll add you to the list, which will be shared in early October.
IMPORTANT: Whenever your schedule for WRAD is full, please send another email to worldreadaloudkskype@gmail.com to let me know that. As soon as I can, I’ll cross your name off the list so you don’t keep getting requests.
*This list is limited to traditionally published authors/illustrators to limit its size and scope because I’m one person with limited time. However, if someone else would like to compile and share a list of self-published and ebook author/illustrator volunteers, I think that would be absolutely great, and I’ll happily link to it here. Just let me know!
UPDATE AS OF 1/31/17 – At this time, all of the schools I’m aware of have had to stop taking donations so they can catch up on moving back into buildings and processing. Please do not send books without checking first!
If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the news out of Louisiana and wanting to do more to help. When whole communities are flooded, families who have lost everything are uprooted, and that can be especially tough on kids. As a result of flood-damaged schools, many students have also been displaced from their classrooms for now, and teachers & librarians have lost books and supplies. Let’s make sure those kids have beautiful books in their school and classroom libraries when they return. The losses are devastating, and the need is enormous.
For Flooded Schools & Libraries:Here are two resources that have been brought to my attention that may be helpful to you. Check out Beyond Words, the ALA’s relief fund with Dollar General and The Lisa Libraries, which donates books to organizations that work with kids in poor & under-served areas.
Some schools that lost classroom libraries are ready to receive donations of new and like-new books to replace classroom libraries now. Please follow the guidelines carefully so we don’t inadvertently create more work for people who are already buried in it.
What NOT to send at this time:
*Used books, unless they’re relatively current and like new. Please do NOT send boxes of used books that have been weeded from a collection. If your classroom or family has two new copies of the Harry Potter series, and you only need one set, that’s great to donate. But please don’t send discarded books or other boxes of used books at this time. When we were working to rebuild a library in the Adirondacks after Tropical Storm Irene a few years back, we found that boxes of used books quickly become overwhelming, and many had to be disposed of. The last thing we want to do is create another job for people who are already very busy cleaning up from the floods. If this changes and there’s a need for more books, I’ll post an update here.
*Books that do not meet the needs of the specific schools to which you’re donating (and for now, those are all elementary schools). If you have YA novels to donate, please hold onto them for right now. I know of at least one high school library that lost books to the flood, and they’d love donations eventually but are not prepared to receive them just yet. I’ll update this page with more information when I can.
More schools will be added as I learn about them, but here is a start for folks who are ready to help.
Brookstown Middle School
Brookstown Middle School had as much as 5 feet of water in places. 330 students are displaced and will be hosted by Scotlandville Middle until they can rebuild. 15 classroom libraries were lost. Most students here are people of color, so diverse titles would be especially appreciated. Donations of new and like-new books can be shipped to Scotlandville since they are open and dry.
Need: New and like-new books for grades 6-8 (both MG and YA – especially diverse titles)
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see. You can sign “For Readers of Brookstown Middle School” or just “For Louisiana Readers.”
Send to:
Attn: Angela Rae c/o Scotlandville Middle School 9147 Elm Grove Garden Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Southside Junior High in Denham Springs, LA
Southside librarian Lindsay Varnado shared the photos above – one showing an aerial view of her school during the flooding and one showing what her remaining library books looked like when she and her colleagues were finally allowed back in to tour the school with a HAZMAT guide. The library is a total loss, as are classroom libraries, and new/like-new book donations will be very much appreciated.
Need: New and like-new books for grades 6-8 (both MG and YA)
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see. You can sign “For Readers of Southside Junior High” or just “For Louisiana Readers.”
Send to:
Lindsay Varnado Books for Southside Junior High 9111 Harris Rd. Denham Springs, LA 70726
St. Amant Primary School in St. Amant, LA
Jessica Paz, a fourth grade science & social studies teacher at St. Amant Primary School shared this photo of her flooded building, along with the news that teachers there lost their classroom libraries for grades PreK-5. They still cannot return to their school. For now, they are teaching grades 3-5 in an old community college.
“Our rooms are bare- not even everyone has a while/chalk board. We’re having to bring in items from home to improvise an environment as normal as possible. Students don’t have any reading materials for when they finish their work or when they come into class. We also do not have a library at this location, so reading books is considered a luxury as of now.” ~Lindsey Kelley, 4th grade teacher
Need: New and like-new books for grades PreK-5
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see when they get back to school. Either “For Readers of St. Amant Primary School” or just “For Louisiana Readers” would be great. (Some books may also be distributed to other schools in need.)
Send to:
Lindsey Kelley Books for St. Amant 37054 Kathleen Ave. Prairieville, LA 70769
or
Jessica Paz Books for St. Amant 15510 Oakstone Dr. Prairieville, LA 70769
Glen Oaks Park Elementary in Baton Rouge
The photos above are from Glen Oaks Park Elementary, where first grade teacher Aimee Manzella Lastner lost the classroom library she’s built over the past four years. Other teachers and the library have lost books as well. Aimee says the K-2 classrooms seemed to suffer most of the losses. Her school is set up at a dry temporary location now and would appreciate donations of new and like-new books for grades K-2.
Need: New and like-new books for K-2
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see when they get back to school. Either “For Readers of Glen Oaks Park Elementary” or just “For Louisiana Readers” would be great. (Some books may also be distributed to other schools in need.)
Send to:
Glen Oaks Park at Banks Elementary Attn: Aimee Manzella Lastner 2401 72nd Avenue Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Tanglewood Elementary in Baton Rouge
Tanglewood Elementary in Baton Rouge also suffered devastating flood damage. The library lost nearly everything, as have many classroom libraries. Brittney Banta-Troxclair’s first grade daughter was only in class for one day before the rains began and school had to be closed. Brittney’s home was spared, so she has a safe, dry place to store donations and is working with the librarian on a book drive to begin rebuilding.
Need:
*New and like-new books for grades K-4, including picture books, easy readers, chapter books, graphic novels, nonfiction, and middle grade books of all genres.
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see when they get back to school. Either “For Readers of Tanglewood Elementary” or just “For Louisiana Readers” would be great. (Some books may also be distributed to other schools in need.)
Send to:
Brittney Banta-Troxclair Books for Tanglewood 17186 Benton’s Ferry Ave. Greenwell Springs, LA 70739
Westside Elementary School in Scott, LA was also severely damaged by flooding. The school library lost many books, and K-5 teachers lost most of their classroom libraries. A nearby school in the district is dry and prepared to take donations for Westside now. Truman Early Childhood Education Center is dry and prepared to accept, store, and distribute book donations for grades K-5. Books may also be distributed to other schools in need and to families that lost their books in flooding.
Need:
*New and like-new books for grades K-5, including picture books, easy readers, chapter books, graphic novels, nonfiction, and middle grade books of all genres.
*Authors & Illustrators: If you’re sending your own books and would like to sign them, I think that would be lovely for students to see when they get back to school. Either “For Readers of Westside Elementary” or just “For Louisiana Readers” would be great. (Some books may also be distributed to other schools in need.)
Send to:
Truman Early Childhood Education Center Attn: Anita Pool 200 Clara Street Lafayette, La 70501
Sharing and Updates
If you’d like to share this information, please share a link to this blog post, which will be updated as needed. Please do not copy and paste the address for donations. There may come a time when these schools are no longer able to accept donations, and there’s no way to stop that from happening if the information isn’t being updated. Also, we expect to have information about other schools in need soon. As I hear from them and learn about needs and storage abilities, I’ll post updates here, so there will be more opportunities to help in the coming days. If you are a teacher or librarian at another school that suffered damage and you’d like help with book donations, please send me an email via my contact form with information about what you need and when/where it can be sent. Thanks!!
THE SEVENTH WISH is a story about wishes. I thought it would be fun to celebrate that theme at my book signings in Boston and Washington, D.C last month, so I asked people to share a wish on an index card. I promised to compile them into a community poem – and to take all of the index-card wishes home with me, to Lake Champlain, where THE SEVENTH WISH is set.
The novel begins on the coldest day of winter, when Charlie Brennan sees ice flowers on the lake. Ice flowers are a real thing, and they really do seem magical.
There are no ice flowers in July, but summer bonfires have a magic all its own. Last night, I brought the cards down to the beach and dropped them in the fire to send everyone’s wishes out over the lake, along with the Fourth of July fireworks. I read all of the cards again, too, and sent up some good thoughts along with the smoke. As Charlie learns in the story, there’s a fine line between wishes and prayers sometimes.
More Than Seven Wishes: A Community Poem
I wish to see a fairy,
To write books for a long time
And live forever.
I wish to enjoy a life of excitement and joy.
I wish my dog Penny would chill the *bleep* out, though I will keep loving her regardless and I’m not holding my breath.
I wish Kate would finally get invited into a secret society (and then invite me in, too!)
I wish for a book and a nook to read and hide and never be found.
And that every family would experience the magic of reading books together.
I wish I could get the story of the missing suitcase that is in my head out and on paper.
I wish for my own books on these shelves.
I wish for stories that make their way out into the world.
I wish everyone could stay healthy.
I wish I weren’t sick.
I wish that Larry is well enough to attend Sam’s wedding,
That everyone in the world had the basic things that they need…
That every school had a garden where kids could grow and eat their lunches,
And every child in the world could own a book that inspires them.
I wish for all kids to have access to books,
For people to be less scared to face the things that scare them, especially if it’s knowledge.
I wish the world’s way of life was just a bit more simple because there is so much I don’t understand.
I wish humans had the sense when to stop so our beautiful planet could remain grand.
I wish for bottomless kindness.
I wish intolerance no longer invaded our world.
I wish I could go into someone’s body and see the world from their eyes.
So we could see how we are more the same than different,
I wish that people could stop, breathe, think, slow down, and respect one another’s differences,
That we could see behind each other’s masks to know the good, the fears, the hurt so that empathy grows in our hearts naturally.
That my two daughters will grow up in a world that is tolerant and accepting,
I wish, and I pray, and I will work for an end to gun violence.
That we had gun control so that people couldn’t create the mass sadness of a mass shooting.
I wish (and wish and with and wish) that love would win, that if I turned off the news those things would not have happened.
I wish for stronger gun control laws
That US Congress would have the guts to pass them.
I wish anger, fear, and suffering may be eased in every heart.
For flittering faeries and talking genie fish to appear in Walden Pond. Or the Charles River. Or in Provincetown. Especially Provincetown.
I wish everyone would learn not to be greedy.
I wish we could all show our kindness to each other more often.
(Also, no poison ivy, please. But if we can only do one, let’s go with the first.)
I wish the world to be easier for my kids than it is for me.
I wish love was stronger than hate and all people shared it more freely,
That more people would treasure compassion and laughter.
That people had the sense to know what’s bad and how to avoid and to know what is good and works for them,
I wish there was world peace.
I will stand up for what I believe.
I wish for each of us to feel so important the world would stop turning if just one gave up,
For tolerance to be rooted in joy and shared with every breath.
I wish…
I wish…
I wish.
~by Karina Lazorchak, Madelyn R, Peggy Hawkins, Carole Lindstrom, Marcie Atkins, Makenna Atkins, Leah, Miles, Michelle Ardillo, April, Ivan Shellenbarger, Erica S. Perl, Lezlie Evans, Seta Davidian, Nairi P. Naomi H, Jason Lewis, Lesley, Audey Day-Williams, Wendy Leiserson, Heather Lang, Amy, Mary Horrocks, Abby Reed, Sarah Grace Tuttle, Nancy Werlin, Erin Dionne, Robin G, Shannon Melideo, Julie Gray, and a pile of wonderful, anonymous poets, too.
Thank you so much for sharing your wishes. I hope they all come true.
I’ve been having an open conversation with an elementary librarian who emailed the week THE SEVENTH WISH came out to let me know that she had placed the book on her order list but removed it when she found out what it was about.
THE SEVENTH WISH earned a starred review from Kirkus, which called it “Hopeful, empathetic, and unusually enlightening.” The book is about lots of things – Irish dancing, ice fishing, magic, entomophagy, flour babies, and friendship. It’s also about the shattering effect our country’s opioid epidemic has on families.
In response to that librarian’s original email, I wrote a blog post called “Remember Who We Serve: Some Thoughts on Book Selection and Omission,” which you can read here. We’ve been talking back and forth since then via email and have shared much of our conversation at the link above. We have fundamental disagreements about what kinds of books belong in an elementary school library, but we’ve been voicing those respectfully, listening to one another, and trying to see if we might find some common ground. Along those lines, I asked for help from other K-5 librarians who do manage to offer a more diverse selection of books. How do they meet the needs of older readers and provide access to books that kids need without facing challenges from the parents of younger readers?
Many agree that the answer lies in education – explaining to parents that a library serves a wide range of readers, and while every parent has a right to guide their own children’s reading, none have the right to make those decisions for anyone else’s child. Teaching children how to select books for themselves is also key – advising them about how to choose an appropriate book and how to bring that book back if it turns out not to be the “just right” book they hoped it might be, so that they can choose something else. Here’s a sampling of responses from teachers and librarians:
I have a letter that parents sign explaining that I am an avid reader and have a large and diverse classroom library. I suggest that they talk with their student often about what books they are reading. I don’t view it as a permission slip, more as an acknowledgment of awareness.
-Kathryn Hoffman-Thompson
I teach 6th grade. I simply say at Open House that the school library and my personal library contain a great many topics and reading levels, including mature or controversial topics. Please monitor your child’s reading choices and have discussions about topics that may concern you. I’ve never had a problem with this policy (so far).
-Nora Hill MacFarlane
(Note from Kate: I did something very similar to this when I taught middle school, and you can find that letter to parents here. Feel free to use it and adapt it to meet your needs.)
My grade 5 /6 library had some materials that were appropriate for students in grades 3-5 and some materials were appropriate for 6-8. I took great pains to let students know they had the right to read anything I had in our library, but that they should also consider what their families would allow them to read as well.
Kathy Durham Aurigemma
I’ve had one parent question (about ROLLER GIRL). I was honest and said there are many things that their child will see and read after their time with me. They accepted my answer and I said that children have a natural inclination to self-censor themselves (which their 3rd grader did when she decided the book was too old for her. We then worked to find the right book for her 🙂
Your new book (The Seventh Wish) is on my shelf. And I have had two 4th graders reach for it. Neither had a complaint. One read it. The other self-censored and didn’t. She simply said with empathy, “I started to read it but my life isn’t the same so I’m bringing it back.” And that was it.
Lisa Berner
I teach a 4/5 blend with a reading range of 1st/2nd grade up to high school. At the beginning of the year, when I’m introducing the classroom library of over 1000 books and how to take care of it, we spend a fair amount of time talking about the whole “different rules at different houses” thing. I tell many personal stories in the classroom as both a way to teach and a way to connect with my students.
During these talks and the library introduction, we discuss how to take care of books and what to do if students come across a book they think is a problem for any reason. I am up front with students and their families that there are books in the library that have words in them not all parents/families might want their kids reading. I share my expectation that, if they are offended or upset by anything they read in a book, or if an adult at home is concerned about content or language, they can come talk to me privately or email or call me and voice their concerns – no hard feelings, no harm, no foul.
In the last five years, I have had a total of (maybe) five conversations about the reading material. The first was Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. Most recently, a graphic novel about MLK that I didn’t preview and which contained some harsh language that was historically accurate, but wouldn’t be okay with many families. In this case, I was impressed with the way the family addressed it. They felt it was a non-issue BECAUSE it was historically accurate.
I do also keep a shelf of “Mr. Kline’s Books,” which just require students to check out those books with me directly. These are books that are sometimes controversial at this level (The Hunger Games trilogy) and others that are meaningful in one way or another (autographed books, personal favorites that are hard-to-find, mentor texts that I use regularly).
Ultimately, I think it comes down to communication with both the students and their families. In K-1, the student connection may not be as easy to build, while kids learn more about what pushes the boundaries at home. However, open communication with home, perhaps even a survey asking if there is any specific material or content they would object to, would be a great way to start out the year.
Jason Kline
Jason’s thought about “material or content parents would object” to is a great one to lead us into the next part of the conversation. Should some books in an elementary school library have access that is limited to only certain grades? In certain cases – having a YA title like The Hunger Games available to 5th graders but not 2nd graders, for example – this seems to work well for some libraries. I know that when I taught 7th grade I carried a handful of books recommended for ages 14+, including Ellen Hopkins’ YA novels-in-verse, along with my professional books. Kids knew they were there and available, but when someone asked to check them out, I’d make sure the student knew that the books were meant for teen readers and dealt very frankly with difficult issues, and I’d ask the student two questions. First, “Does this sound like a book you’d like to read?” If the answer was yes, I’d ask, “Will your parents be okay with you reading it?” If the student said, yes, the book got signed out. If they said no or hesitated, I’d offer to send an email home to find out more. It worked out well. Those books were never challenged in my classroom library.
Here are some other educator’s thoughts on having a separate shelf for more mature readers:
I kept a mature shelf in my classroom for my middle schoolers who were reading edgier YA. I also talked with parents about our library collection and the importance of access during parent meetings and conferences. If a book was off-level, I made sure to read it, so I could talk to students who were reading it and explain to questioning parents why the book was valuable.
Donalyn Miller
I have a mature readers sticker on books with heavier content that are recommended for 5th graders only. I’m thinking of some of the Holocaust and WW2 themed books including The Boy in the Wooden Box and Ashes by Kathryn Laskey. Crazy Lady by Jane Conley is another book with that sticker. There aren’t many books that have these stickers, but they are a visible reminder for teachers and library staff to talk with the students before check out to make sure they are aware of the topic. It is especially helpful when we have high level readers in lower grades who want longer novels, but they may not be quite ready for these more mature themes. Communication with families and the use of these stickers has worked well for our school.
Tracy Lynn Scaglione
I feel like the issue is very different for school librarians than it is for teachers with classroom libraries. School librarians have much bigger collections and have to serve a wider school population. We don’t have the opportunity to know all of our parents, and we often have assistants and volunteers that check books out to kids and who might not always know if a book is appropriate for a certain age level when a kid comes up to the circulation desk. On the other hand, we have professional training in collection development and are (hopefully) protected by the school district’s collection development policy. In general, I think kids do self-censor themselves and tend to avoid books that they aren’t ready for, or turn them in once they figure it out. My biggest problem is usually 2-3 graders who have seen a movie like Hunger games and want the book. Also, it tends to be a thing with some 1-2 graders that they just want to check out the biggest book they can find! 😊I have a K-6 library and when I inherited it 4 yrs ago, I didn’t have Hunger Games, Maze Runner, or Divergent. These are really books most appropriate for middle schoolers and above, but I knew my 5-6 graders would want to read them. I created a 5-6 grade shelf for just a few books like that so I could have them In my collection. Mostly my criteria for those is just age appropriateness (sexual themes or violence being the major criteria, not social themes). I also have a rotating collection of books from the middle school that I bring in for the 6th graders throughout the year. The biggest benefit is that it increases circulation of the books when I put them on the 5-6 grade shelf since they are considered more mature! Also, if a younger kid comes in with a note from home I will let them take a 5-6 grade shelf book.
Rebecca Sofferman
I have a mature section, as well. I generally cultivate relationships with both students and their families, so if I think that their parent may have an objection to the material, I have the student go home and ask permission. I have only had a few parents deny their student access to some of my books. Generally, it is a concern about Harry Potter (magic) or topics that are too graphic (violence-they are worried that their student will have nightmares). Parents know their kids better than I do, so I completely respect their right to parent however they deem appropriate, but I am always very clear that I do not censor the books in my classroom. I read them, I learn from them, I share them, but I don’t censor them. They know that from day 1.
Susan MacKay-Logue
I teach 5/6 ELA to gifted students. I have a basket behind my desk labeled “Restricted” (borrowed from Harry Potter.) Students can browse the basket at any time but must get a parent permission slip signed granting permission to read books in basket. Form states book has “mature content and/or language.” There are about a dozen books in this basket. They either contain mild sexual content or a lot of strong cuss words. Of course parents can call me to discuss content, but none of them have. I just finished The Seventh Wish. Looking forward to sharing with my students. Might use as read aloud with my 6th graders. It will not go in restricted basket, but will be available to all.
Jennie Bergen Albrecht
Jennie brings up an important distinction between books recommended for older readers (The Hunger Games, etc.) and books written for upper elementary audiences, like THE SEVENTH WISH. My personal concern about having a “restricted” shelf that includes age-appropriate but potentially controversial books is that it can serve to marginalize the kids whose families are represented in those stories. Some of the books I’ve heard about being quietly censored (NOT by the people quoted above) include Laurel Snyder’s PENNY DREADFUL, a wonderful, funny, magical story in which one character happens to have two moms; Alex Gino’s GEORGE, a gentle, age-appropriate story about a transgender fourth grader; and Alex London’s book in the 39 CLUES series, MISSION HINDENBURG, which includes a gay character.
I wondered how these authors would feel, knowing that some librarians chose to put their books on a shelf where only some readers had access, so I reached out to ask. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, shared with everyone’s permission:
Laurel Snyder:
I think that this kind of categorization is problematic because it tends to be so inexact. Not unlike Lexile numbers, you’ll find that the “mature” books don’t appeal to the older readers in so many cases. Penny Dreadful is a prime example of this. Because there happens to be a lesbian couple in the book, it gets shelved for “older readers.” But it’s a soft summery book about a girl moving to a new town, and trying to make friends, while *maybe* believing in magic wishing wells. It’s so totally a good book for an advanced younger reader. NOT a book for the kid who has already read Hunger Games.
Alex London:
When the mere existence of LGBT characters in books that would otherwise be in a collection makes those books “controversial” the message that sends to a young person is that the existence of LGBT people is controversial. The message this sends is that their cousins or uncles or moms or dads or brothers or sisters merely existing is controversial, or that their own existence, just as they are starting to realize it themselves, is controversial. And for an LGBT child, this message from an adult, from their school, is devastating. This is their community telling them they don’t deserve to exist, that at best, they should be kept away from normal people. That they are somehow wrong to even be. Shunning books where LGBT people exist from a community, shuns LGBT people from the community and this leads to bullying, this leads to suicide and to hate crimes. Saying these books do not belong says to LGBT children loud and clear that they do not belong. That isn’t library selection policy. That is child abuse. I repeat because I mean it and I did not misspeak: Homophobia, in word or deed or policy, is child abuse.
Laurel Snyder:
Yes, exactly. It’s NOT controversial. It’s like saying, “We’re going to put the books with Jews on the top shelf. Our families find Jews and Muslims confusing, and we prefer to leave it to parents to introduce those topics if they choose, so we’ll have a book ghetto on the top shelf here, and if kids want to read about Jews and Muslims, they can bring a letter from home.”
Alex London:
I don’t think these librarians want to harm children but the signals they send when they make LGBT children “controversial” harms children in real and devastating ways.
Laurel Snyder:
Sex is sex. Not wanting SEX in the library is one thing. But not wanting to include a variety of family dynamics?
I get that they don’t want a third grader reading an adult book, maybe. Or a violent YA novel. This is why we suggest age ranges for books (though I don’t think they’re very imperfect). But to set apart an age-appropriate book… no. That bothers me.
Because there ARE gay kids in the school, and there ARE kids with gay parents in the school, and there ARE gay teachers in the school, and this is cruel to them.
Corey Ann Haydu:
My book (Rules for Stealing Stars) been challenged because of alcoholism, so I’ll speak to that since the voices speaking her on LGBTQIA challenges have been so excellent and made me think, too. With addiction books, I think there is a similar damage in placing them on shelves that are “other.” I want books that deal with addiction to be on the same shelves as books that deal with cancer. If a librarian wants ALL illness books in a separate area, It wouldn’t be my ideal, but it wouldn’t single out addiction as BAD, so I think I could live with that, if it’s the only way the book will be in the library at all. The work of recovery from addiction has so, so much to do with denial and shame, and that a library would add to that by singling out a book about that disease as different than any other disease is exactly why the issues are shame and denial and addiction are not getting solved still. I’m frustrated, and as the child of an alcoholic, personally hurt by adults who aren’t letting the thinking around addiction evolve. I really believe if we start treating addiction as a disease like cancer, and teaching that at a young age, we could see real change. If librarians are concerned with protecting children it is SO much safer to have a child feel they can speak up about their parent’s addiction and its effect on their lives. What’s not safe is kids struggling with HUGE issues as home being able to hide their truth and carry that burden all alone. Opening up conversation around things we find uncomfortable is how growth and acceptance happen. I would happily talk to any librarian about why a book with addiction should be shelved with all other books about illness.
Laurel Snyder:
This is so thoughtful. And makes so much sense. And really does highlight how much this isn’t an issue of what kids find scary, but what adults have decided kids should be protected from. Some kids are scared of snakes, but nobody would take out the snake books. Meanwhile, NO kid is scared of gay families. NONE. I’ve never met one. That’s just for parents.
Alex Gino:
It’s not my call whether she puts it on the shelf. It’s theirs. But I want them to know that I’m hurt and offended, and that more than that, they’re hurting their students. In the case of my book GEORGE, it’s a traditional middle grade story with no sex or violence. the only reason to withhold it is fear.
Laurel Snyder:
I once had a librarian tell me she didn’t share my books because she preferred to think that kids could experience divorce without it being painful. I think, even when topics ARE “painful” they should be available to everyone.
Alex Gino:
Kids who don’t have models for how to experience pain are less equipped for their own lives and then they can feel alone in it, ashamed of it. when of course pain is part of life.
I found this conversation to be an important one and think it’s worth thinking about what books, if any, we choose to share with only older readers in an elementary school library. In some cases where the book in question was truly written for older readers, it seems to me like a good solution. But in other cases, with books like THE SEVENTH WISH, GEORGE, 39 CLUES, RULES FOR STEALING STARS, and PENNY DREADFUL, it’s a little different. Those books are recommended for elementary readers by industry standard bearers like Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal. And in these cases, I think a librarian needs to take a hard look at why those books are being censored or restricted. In some situations, I fear, keeping those books from kids is directly feeding fear and bias. Many schools teach empathy, and that’s wonderful. But if you teach kids about treating all people with respect and fairness and kindness, and then fail to live that teaching in your own book selection policies, that’s problematic.
My only two truly significant book challenges in fifteen years of teaching middle school were to books about marginalized groups. One was the anthology AM I BLUE, which is a collection of stories about LGBT kids or kids with LGBT family members or friends. I’d shared Bruce Coville’s short story “Am I Blue,” which is wonderful, warm, funny story about a kid getting picked on because people think he might be gay. He’s not sure, and this story uses magical realism to take a gentle look at that process of questioning and at people’s biases. I loved it. The kids loved it. And a few wanted to check out the whole short story collection. One of the students who did that is a boy I thought might be asking those same questions about himself. His mother came in, furious that the book was included in my classroom library, and I ended up in the principal’s office to defend it. The challenge ended the way most challenges did at my school. I told the parent, “I’m sorry that your son brought home a book you felt was inappropriate. All you need to do is return it, and we’ll help him find something that you feel is more suitable.” The book stayed in my library, but I was so sad for that kid whose parents clearly disapproved of him even asking questions about who he might be. I so hoped he’d find other books to answer them. I should also add that the book in question was taken from my classroom library without being signed out, not long after that. I have no idea who took it, and I don’t care. Books disappear a lot in classroom libraries, and in my room, it happened most often to books with LGBT characters. I cheerfully replaced those books every time, knowing that they were in the hands of kids who needed them more than I needed the eight dollars it took to buy a new one.
My other book challenge was to the novel ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY by Mildred Taylor, which is about racism in America during the Great Depression and won the Newbery Medal. A parent objected to me sharing this book aloud with my classes. I was confused. She came in for a conference so we could talk about it, but no matter how many questions I asked, I couldn’t understand her objections. Finally, as we both grew more frustrated, she said, “I don’t see why the kids should have to read about THOSE people.”
I was speechless for a moment. When I recovered, I said, “I feel like it’s important to share all kinds of stories with students because that’s how we learn and develop empathy for one another. It’s how we fight racism and other kinds of injustice. If you have further complaints about this book, you’ll need to share them with the administration along with the specific reasons for your objections.” She opted not to pursue the book challenge.
This didn’t happen in the 1950s or 60s. It happened in the late 90s in Upstate New York. And it begs this question: if you’re willing to censor books about certain kinds of people because of community biases, are you willing to accommodate everyone’s objections to every book? What happens when a parent objects to books with an LGBT character? What would happen if a parent objected to a book with characters who are black or Latino or Jewish or Muslim? I was attacked by a guy on Twitter a few years ago for recommending Hena Khan’s beautiful picture book GOLDEN DOMES AND SILVER LANTERNS: A MUSLIM BOOK OF COLORS. He was furious because I dared suggest that it was all right for children to read this lovely, gentle book about an Islamic family.
Discriminating against entire groups of people is never okay. Even when your particular community seems to find some kinds of discrimination more acceptable then others.
Someone else – and I can’t find the exact quote or source right now – made a comment on one of my posts this week that said, “Librarianship is not for the faint of heart.” I think that’s true. But there are many, many resources available to help librarian and teachers who wish to provide kids with access to books. Austin Dacey from the National Coalition Against Censorship provided me with these resources to share:
Many, many thanks to all who have been involved in this conversation. It’s an important one to have – and to keep having – to make sure we’re really serving all of the kids in our care and providing access to the books they want to read as well as the books they need in order to live.
THE SEVENTH WISH earned a starred review from Kirkus, which called it “Hopeful, empathetic, and unusually enlightening.” The book is about lots of things – Irish dancing, ice fishing, magic, entomophagy, flour babies, and friendship. It’s also about the shattering effect our country’s opioid epidemic has on families.
That librarian who removed the book from her order list responded to my blog post with a comment that made it clear she was upset, so I emailed and asked if she’d be open to talking more about this issue. She said yes, and we had a great phone conversation this past Saturday. I learned that she does indeed see the other side of the argument as well, but she still thinks kids’ innocence should be preserved longer by limiting access to some topics. She’s also under pressure from parents in her community to limit the kinds of books in her library. The bottom line is, she feels like she can’t give elementary students access to a book like THE SEVENTH WISH without risking her job.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can all do a better job supporting librarians and teachers who want to provide kids more access to books but are worried about pushback, so I proposed that this librarian and I start a conversation and invite others to participate in that discussion, too. She and I have profound disagreements about what kinds of books belong in a K-5 library, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to disagree respectfully, listen to one another, and try to brainstorm solutions. We’ve been doing that for a few days now, writing back and forth via email, with the understanding that she remain anonymous. She’s worried about repercussions from her school for speaking out, and about personal attacks due to her views. I’m honoring that wish so that we’re able to share that conversation with you. So as you read the conversation, know that K is me, and L is the librarian with whom I’ve been sharing ideas this week. It’s a long conversation, but I wanted to share it all in a single blog post so that people who read it aren’t just getting bits and pieces. Here’s what we’ve been talking about…
K: First of all, thanks for agreeing to have this open conversation. I’m a little nervous but also excited to be talking openly about our disagreements about elementary libraries, book selection, and access for students. I know that many K-5 librarians carry a wide range of books that we might consider “older” titles, mostly appropriate for 4th and 5th graders, while others, like you, are a lot more cautious out of concern that a very young student might bring home a book that’s meant for the older elementary readers. I know that you haven’t read THE SEVENTH WISH just yet (and I’m still hoping that will make a difference) but I know from your earlier email that you removed it from your library’s book order list when you learned that one of its themes was the effect our country’s heroin epidemic has on families, especially younger siblings. Could you talk a little about your immediate reaction to learning that and why it made you re-think your book order, even though my other books are popular in your library?
L: Thank you Kate for starting this discussion. I think it’s important for people to read and respect both sides of the issue, and I am very open to hearing what other educators have to say. As a parent of young children, I admit I am having a lot of trouble separating my personal and professional opinion on this one.
As I was reading about The Seventh Wish I noticed that it is marketed as a middle grade book. Where I live, middle grade is 6th – 8th. I will be the first one to donate a copy to our middle school library, but where I keep getting stuck is pushing a middle grade book into an elementary school library. Ranger in Time was the best seller at our most recent book fair so that gives you an idea of where my students are as far as their reading level both academically and emotionally.
During our discussion, you mentioned one of her fears was that not having your new book on the shelf would be the same as saying that the life of a child with addiction in their family is inappropriate. I completely disagree. I don’t feel that way in the slightest. My heart breaks for children struggling with addiction in any way but my feelings are simply leaning in favor of keeping our youngest students (without this struggle) from growing up too quickly. How do I get the book to students who need it while protecting other kids who might suffer from reading it?
I have been teaching for almost 20 years, and I have had the privilege of teaching different levels. This has been wonderful for me as an educator as I’ve been able to see all ages and levels and get a fairly decent idea of how children at all age ranges react to and handle a variety of topics. Something that has always amazed me is the huge difference between fourth grade and sixth grade. The changes within those two years are incredible. The growth and maturity that take place really turns them into totally different students. As their bodies change, so do their minds about the opposite sex. Girls are no longer icky and most of the boys grow taller than me! It’s really fun to watch them change and mature. It’s also much easier to have well thought out conversations about really important topics. I find that in fourth grade conversations about tough topics need to begin, but I personally feel like there needs to be a line. I can control my ten-year-old and I can control what happens in my house, but I can’t speak for every parent out there.
Let me start by describing that usually happens in the school library vs. the public library. When I take my son to the public library, I’ll bring him there to look around and when we go to check out, I look and see what books he’s bringing home before he starts to read them. When he gets a book from the school library, he usually starts reading it before I even see it. The same goes for where I work. Students get their books and most start reading it right way before class is even over. Most often, a book with mature content doesn’t even make it past the eyes of their parents first, if at all. Years ago I let an older student check out Twilight and I had a parent incredibly angry at me because she had told her daughter she didn’t want her to read it. How was I supposed to know? That was between her and her daughter but of course that led to a bigger discussion about having something like that on the shelf.
Also, let’s not forget that all it takes is one parent to get angry enough to get my job taken away. I don’t know that any book takes precedence over a career I love and a job I need. So that is one part of my fear here. Students are checking out books with mine being the only supervision, and I can’t possibly know every parents wishes and concerns. That’s why I try to have something that just about any child could pick up off the shelf and the content would be O.K. Every once in a while a second-grader will sneak by me with a book where I think the reading level is too difficult but luckily the content is still benign. It is my ultimate responsibility to balance student wishes and parent concerns.
One of the biggest concerns throughout our fourth and fifth grade population is extreme anxiety. Disorders such as panic attacks, anxiety and even depression are on the rise for our youngest students, and I feel like it’s only gotten worse as the years go on. These students represent a much greater population in my area than those affected by drug abuse. I don’t know if it’s more technology or more television or what, but so many of our students’ greatest problems revolve around constant worries. Having a fourth-grade child puts me in direct contact with many other fourth-grade moms and we have the same discussions over and over. Why are our children up at night crying and worrying about things matter how safe we try to keep them? They worry about getting in trouble, things on the news, something happening to their loved ones, not making the team, or someone being mean to them. My own son’s list of fears always amazes me. He was reading Stuart Gibbs’ Spaced Out the other day and had to stop because he got scared of a giant robot arm on the moon. I have friends whose kids can’t watch the Avengers because it’s too scary, and I also know several children who read The Hunger Games without their parents’ knowledge and cried with nightmares for several days. My closest friend had to stop buying I Survived books for her son because he became terrified that a natural disaster was going to hit at any minute. Who am I to say what will or won’t upset someone’s child? It’s a huge burden that I take very seriously. A fourth grader is very fragile and their minds are just starting to open to the scary things in the world. They don’t quite have the maturity to know how to process it and deal with it. Thankfully I don’t live in a community where young kids are put in dangerous situations on a daily basis.
I know there are many places where this is different and perhaps that would change my thoughts dramatically. Drugs are a very scary thing and 4th and 5th grade is the point they should absolutely start to learn the dangers and saying no, but this is where the conversation should just begin to start. Our D.A.R.E. program starts in 5th grade led by a team of educated officers armed with the training and resources to thoughtfully present material and answer questions. Parents should continue the conversation if they feel it is right for their child. I don’t think that most fourth-graders, at least in my community, are ready to hear about heroin addiction and overdose on their own through a fiction book without parent guidance.
Why add one more fear to his or her brain that isn’t there? For what purpose? Yesterday you spoke about a student learning empathy for a child who is going through drug addiction and their family. Of course that would be extremely important, but what if it’s not something that is happening in their life right now? If there was an overdose death in the community that affected our children then I think The Seventh Wish should be pulled out immediately, and I’m thankful it’s there. I guess I keep getting stuck on the idea of putting a new fear in an already fear-filled brain. What age is O.K? 10, 9, 8 years old?
Yesterday, after my discussion with you, I carefully opened this topic with my son. We’ve talked about drugs before and peer pressure and the dangers, but we haven’t delved into heavy specifics. We were driving to the store and he asked me why I have been on my computer so much. I told him about what was going on with your book, and we started to have a little bit of a conversation about the dangers of drugs. He said, “I know drugs are bad. I would never do that. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to get home so I can play in the sprinkler with Max” (his brother). I wondered if maybe I should have him read this book but then I have to ask, why? He just wants to play in the sprinkler with his brother. He doesn’t know anyone addicted to drugs and that’s luckily not part of his life for now. Why do I want to give him something to fear? I know the types is questions I will get- Why are people doing drugs? What is heroin? Where do you get it? What does it look like? How does somebody die? What happens to their bodies? Could I take drugs by accident? What if someone makes me do it? I’d be fueling anxiety for weeks. One thing we have certainly learned about a 10-year-old is that when you tell them something and you think they’re fine, the minute they are alone their brains work it out over and over again and they think about it, they analyze it, and they pick it apart trying to understand it.
I also shared your blog with several of my friends, some elementary school teachers, and parents on the baseball field yesterday. They all vehemently agreed with me that while a book like that would be important, they would not want it in the elementary school library. Parents want to feel like they can send their child to school and they will come home with something safe. Again this is the predominant thought in my community, and I am well aware it would be different for other towns. I’m not a book burner, I’m not an extreme conservative and I don’t support banning books at appropriate age levels. If a child wants to read about heroin with their parent’s permission then that’s completely fine with me. If that’s what their family wants to discuss then they should buy all means do it, but when it is my responsibility to assure parents that what I have on my shelves will keep their 10-year-old as anxiety free as I can, then these are the kinds of decisions I need to make.
I’ve read some of the comments on the blog where people are crying censorship and that I don’t know what I’m talking about. Maybe there are some liberal communities out there that totally embrace telling their children every possible bad thing that could happen to them in their life, but once that innocence bubble is popped they can never unlearn those things or remove those images. I want some more hours of sprinklers, mud pies, and running around with light sabers. I know that it is a privilege that my son can have that kind of life, and I am well aware that there are communities where children are desperate for a book about finding their way through family addiction. This book would be a tremendous comfort for them and their friends. Ultimately I think it’s each librarian’s prerogative to look at the demographic and what their greatest community need might be. I just don’t see it here. While I’m certain there are families dealing with drugs, I believe that to be a very small minority in my particular town compared to the children suffering from anxiety. The students of my district and my own kids will have access to this book for sure in sixth grade. Can’t we let the fourth and fifth graders be free just a little longer?
I think there’s a vast difference between a middle grade novel like THE SEVENTH WISH, which industry reviews like Kirkus and SLJ recommend for grades four and up and a book intended for teens, like THE HUNGER GAMES. But the books we’re talking about are intended for upper elementary readers. Even though they tackle tough subject matter, they do it in an age appropriate way.
I understand your concerns about kids and anxiety but wonder how you handle other scary topics in your school library.
Do you carry the I Survived books, for example, since they are intended for your age group but can be scary for kids who worry about natural disasters?
Do you have any sad novels that deal with the death of a parent or other loved one? What about books where a family member has heart disease or cancer?
I’m also curious how your library deals with books on other topics that can be controversial in some communities. Alex Gino’s award winning middle grade novel GEORGE, for example, is left out of some school libraries because it’s about a transgender fourth grader. What did you decide about that title in your school?
Mostly, I’m wondering where you think we should draw that line. Is it our job as librarians and educators to protect kids from any books and ideas that might upset them? It seems to me that if we removed every potentially anxiety provoking book from the library, we’d be left with a mighty small collection that neglected the needs of many readers.
I found your reflection on the privilege of having a protected community to be a thoughtful one. “I know that it is a privilege that my son can have that kind of life, and I am well aware that there are communities where children are desperate for a book about finding their way through family addiction.” I agree with you on this, but I’d bet that even in your safe-feeling community, there are kids struggling and wondering and looking for a sign that they’re not alone. Those may very well not be the kids whose parents you were able to talk with on the baseball field or in the faculty room. They’re also kids who can’t always get to a public library with a family member. When I taught middle school, I know that for most of my students – more than half – the only books they encountered were the books our school librarian and I put in their hands and recommended.
And this question… “Can’t we let the fourth and fifth graders be free just a little longer?” For me…as a parent, the answer to this question is absolutely yes. But as librarians, as teachers, as educators charged with providing access to books for all the kids – not just our own – I feel like our responsibilities are different. How can we better balance those two concerns – respecting parents’ rights to choose books for their own kids and making sure all our students have access to the books they want to read and the books they need?
L: The funny thing about this debate is that I agree with so many of your points. How do we responsibly choose books that will educate our students and add to the quality of their lives? I wish I had a perfect answer. This is something I struggle with every year. I think when I was younger, before I had my own kids and when I was willing to take on the world, I would have allowed almost anything of value into my classroom. Now, after years of teaching experience, multiple parent conversations, and becoming a mom myself, I’m just more cautious. These days I think about the parents and kids I serve, follow my instincts (right or wrong), and try to choose books that will help more than harm. I weigh the potential backlash of each book and when a book’s topic is something that I am struggling with putting out there, then I know it’s not right for my library.
I wish I had a more formulaic approach that it being simply a feeling that I have. But you are right- who assigned me judge and jury? Why is my opinion right or wrong? You write about it being our responsibility as educators to expose them to a broad range of topics. I disagree. On my first day of my first education class, the professor had written “In Loco Parentis” on the board. It was the first thing he taught us wide-eyed newbies. This Latin term means “in place of the parents” and in my classroom I try my best to take on the responsibility of parents in their absence. Do I often take the “better safe than sorry” approach? You betcha- just like I hope my kids’ teachers do. Also when I taught middle school these decisions didn’t weigh on me as heavily as they do with the younger grades.
You are spot on that we can’t possible remove every book with anxiety inducing topics. Death, cancer, autism, and divorce are all issues in books I have on my shelves. My star reader actually came to me one day a few weeks ago and asked if I had anything that “wasn’t so sad.” Since she was an advanced student, I realized I had been recommending many challenging (and sad) books. I felt terrible and directed her to DORK DIARIES. This poor child hadn’t laughed at a book in weeks and it was bothering her. So where do I draw the line? I suppose I try to determine if the material goes further than the MAJORITY might be emotionally ready for. Does that exclude some children who could really use the book? Probably, but to help a few do I sacrifice many? I SURVIVED is a high interest series that boys, especially my reluctant readers, flock to. I know there are some students who find these books scary, but I think a discussion about something that happened in history might be more easily handled than heroin addiction. I just hope that a child who might be scared by the first one they read won’t keep coming back for more in the series. I also know that more students are O.K. with these books than not O.K.
I had a feeling you would ask me about GEORGE. When my son asked me last year what it meant to be gay I told him all about people having the right to love whomever they want. I even told him about the Supreme Court’s decision and reiterated that our family loves everyone no matter what their sexual orientation might be. He was fine with it and ran off to jump on the trampoline. Should I have called him back and said, “Now I would love for you to read GEORGE.”? He was great with the baby steps into the conversation of homosexuality and I didn’t feel a need to expand or confuse him. As he gets older and has more questions, I’ll put that book in his hands, but not now. I also know that if that book was displayed in his library he would have picked it up solely because the cover is appealing and he thinks George is a funny name. I’m glad they don’t have it there. I’m not ready for him to know more and if I’m not ready, the parents I work for certainly aren’t ready. Last year when DRAMA by Raina Telgemeir was all the rage, I caught students huddling in the corner and snickering at the part in the book where the boys reveals he likes other boys. It was very innocent and not mean spirited, but it was also a clear indicator that they are not emotionally ready for something delving deeper into the topic.
So again it comes down to what I can do to get these books into the hands of the right students and not the wrong ones. You are correct when you say that children in need of these books might not have access to the public library or parents willing to have thoughtful discussions. Maybe I get the books and send out a notice to parents letting them know they are here if they need them. Perhaps I give a set to the guidance counselor who knows more than me who could be helped and leave it to her to decide who reads them. Maybe I invite the author to talk to the parents about the book and let the parents decide. Am I taking away a teachable movement for other kids? Yes I am, but under the umbrella of “In Loco Parentis” is where I feel comfortable.
K: I understand your desire to parcel out information to your questioning son. We did that with both our kids when we started talking with them about things like sex – we’d answer the questions and offer more information as long as they seemed interested. When they left to play Legos or jump on the trampoline, we’d let it go and pick up the conversation another day. But I still feel like that’s a parenting issue rather than a school library one. You know your son. You don’t know every challenge or concern or question your students might be dealing with on any given day, even when you talk with a selection of their parents at your son’s baseball game. Not all the families are represented there. But I believe all of those kids should have the opportunity to see themselves in books in a school library – maybe especially kids whose lives are different from your son’s.
The suicide rate for transgender youth is heartbreaking. 41% of transgender people will attempt suicide in their lives, compared to 4.6 per cent of the general population, according to this study from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute. Kids struggling with this need to feel less alone, and their classmates need to have empathy. Books are such a valuable way to do that. Instead of thinking, “Oh, that transgender kid is so WEIRD!” when a classmate is struggling, a reader might think, “Oh! I know somebody like that, because I met Melissa, the main character from GEORGE.” While I can’t back this up with a research study, I’d be willing to bet that children who have access to more diverse books are kinder and less likely to engage in bullying.
Might this book be challenged or questioned by a parent? Maybe, depending on where you live. But sometimes, I think our fears over this are bigger than the reality. The Maine teachers who just read THE SEVENTH WISH aloud with all of their school’s 5th and 6th graders sent home a letter beforehand, explaining that the book was about a family affected by heroin addiction. Do you know how many concerned parents wrote back to complain about the topic? Not a single one. But even when those phone calls do come – and I know how difficult they can be – I’d argue that kids’ lives and kinder communities are worth the fight.
After I read your latest email this morning, I revisited the American Library Association Code of Ethics. Here’s what your professional organization has to say:
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Since 1939, ALA has recognized the importance of codifying and making known to the public and the profession the ethical principles that guide librarians. The Code of Ethics will be seventy years old in 2009 and has evolved into a statement of eight principles that embody the ethical responsibilities of the profession. The Code was last revised in January 2008.
The ALA Code of Ethics guides school librarians to:
Provide the highest level of service • Resist all efforts to censor library resources
Respect intellectual property rights
Treat coworkers with respect, fairness, and good faith
Distinguish between personal conviction and professional duties
Not allow personal beliefs to interfere with provision of access to information
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I understand that this is all easier said than done when one lives in a more conservative community. But I do strongly believe there are kids at your school who would benefit from a wider selection of books, even as the parents of other kids would like to keep those books unavailable to their own readers. Where does that leave a librarian, given the responsibilities ALA outlines above?
Do you know if your school district has an official selection policy for school libraries? Most do, and I know that many librarians use that as backup when they’re working to ensure kids have access to books. It can help a lot when one is facing challenges from parents or administrators.
L: I will certainly look more thoroughly into official policies about book selection. You are correct though – I suppose my biggest struggle is separating myself and my son from the parents and children where I work. Every night I look at him and imagine my students because my home looks similar to others here in our suburban town. That being said, there are books I put out that I know he would find worrisome but I do it any way because I can’t and don’t always go by him. Maybe I’m too close to this age group. Perhaps the 30+ people I asked this weekend are too close to this age group and community, but I this is where I work and live. This is the demographic I serve. I am sure there are communities where your book isn’t being marketed because the need might not be as great.
You ask me “What about the one student whose life will change because of these books?” I cannot risk the emotional well begin of K-3rd graders and take the privilege of those discussions away from their parents. I am very open to finding ways to getting your book and its message to my students and families that want to start the discussion, but I don’t feel comfortable deciding it for them. The library is open to all students ages 5-11 and our books need to reflect and respect those ages. Perhaps I can suggest your book for our 5th grade classroom library where I know no other younger student will have open access to it. Maybe I need to take some formal surveys and speak to administration to clarify their position and I am totally willing to do that. I also want to be clear that no parent or administrator has ever asked me to remove or limit a book in my current school (I’ve had different experiences in the past). Everything I write in this discussion is my opinion and does not reflect any one else in my district.
I am getting nervous to publish this conversation because what I am reading in the comments makes me sound like I am some unreasonable book banning conservative and I’m not. People are pulling out tiny excerpts from what I have written and painting me in a light I am not at all comfortable with. I am simply a teacher that looks at her entire population and makes the best decision I can in everyone’s best interest. Everything I put into this library could possibly be read by any K-5 student and I take that responsibility very seriously. When I read the comments on your blog today from the two moms who are grateful for my decisions then I feel validated. Your blog is going to contain your fans that most certainly agree with you. The majority of teachers and parents might agree with me but they aren’t going to be out there writing about it.
Again, I really want to clarify that your book should be out there for students to read. 100% it should be on the shelf in upper grades, but when my littlest ones who tear through RANGER IN TIME automatically go to the stacks for the new Messner, what do I do? Do I let them take it without saying a word that it’s not going to be what they think? They will want it simply because you are the author without even bothering to read the back. Do I ask for a note from home to read the book with the cute goldfish on the cover?
One of the comments on your blog (it was pretty mean) asked who do I think I am to decide what kids should be exposed to. I agree- who am I to decide what kids should be exposed to? Who am I to tell a parent that I don’t care what they want their child to know? Should I say that I’m going to put out everything and if they don’t like it too bad? There MUST be room for taking into account what a parent wants for their child’s school library where they aren’t there to help make the decisions. They count on me to make good choices. That’s why I try to rely on my parental instincts, but I’m open to delving deeper into trying to find out exactly what my parents expect and want.
Good luck on your book tour. I look forward to new ideas you gather about this conversation.
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That’s where we left our conversation, and we’d love it if you’d join us at this point. I suspect this librarian was correct in assuming that many of my blog readers agree with my passionate views on providing kids access to books. So for her, agreeing to a conversation here is a little like a Yankees fan agreeing to stand up and share ideas about their baseball team’s merit in the middle of a crowded Fenway Park. I’d love it if we could all keep that in mind. I would love for this conversation to continue in the spirited and passionate but also respectful tone that we’ve managed so far.
Most of all, I’d love to hear from other K-5 and K-6 librarians who might be able to help this librarian with her concerns. How do you manage these issues in your own library? How can she feel safer about putting books like THE SEVENTH WISH on library shelves so that readers who need them have access?
Please know that comments from first-time commenters have to be moderated before they appear. This feature is turned on because as a woman who shares opinions, I sometimes get random, hateful, misogynistic comments left on my educational blog posts, and I do not allow those comments to appear. I’m on book tour right now, so it may take a little while for your comment to be approved so that it appears, so please be patient with me. I promise I’ll check in whenever I can.
Finally, I’d appreciate it if comments left on this post are both respectful and productive. Feel free to disagree with both of us, but please do that without engaging in personal attacks. I’d love for this conversation to be one where both sides feel heard. More than anything else, I’d like to come up with some creative solutions that increase kids’ access to the books they need. I will be using some of the comments in a future blog post to continue this conversation. Thanks in advance for joining the conversation in that spirit.
Today, I received an email from South Burlington’s Chamberlin School principal Holly Rouelle, who told me that a decision has been made to carry THE SEVENTH WISH in her school library. She says the school never intended to censor the book, and that is great news in light of this week’s events.
In case you’re new to the story, my latest novel, THE SEVENTH WISH, is about a lot of things – Irish dancing, ice fishing, magic, entomophagy, flour babies, and friendship. It’s also about the effects of opioid addiction on families, especially younger siblings. On the day my book was released this week, I was disinvited from a school visit at Chamberlin on less than 24 hours notice. The librarian and principal told me they felt they hadn’t prepared their students well enough for that visit, given the sensitive subject matter, despite the fact that it was scheduled in January and a copy of the book was provided to them at that time. They also returned all of the copies of the book they’d purchased for the school library. You can read more about that situation in this post, and this one, about the heroic effects of the town’s public library and Phoenix Books to get books into the kids’ hands anyway.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m no stranger to Chamberlin School – I’ve visited before and done multiple free Skype visits with readers here – and I’ve found the people who work at Chamberlin to be energetic, kind, caring advocates for kids. I do not believe at this point that the school is engaging in censorship of my book.
That said, I do know that our conversations here and in social media have reached far beyond Vermont, and I hope those conversations will continue because the quiet censorship that happens in some schools and libraries affects kids’ access to books in very real ways every day.
I am the librarian in question and I stand by what I wrote. The parents in my community trust me to stock the library with books that won’t cause their children with extreme anxiety. I think the public library should certainly carry this book and parents should go with their children to pick it out and read it together. In a school library, most students choose books without even showing their parents. What about the parent that will call me when their child is crying and scared because now they know something their parents didn’t want them exposed to?? I cannot be responsible for that. I would certainly recommend this book for a student that needs it, but I can’t put it out there on the shelf. What if an 8 year old checked it out? What would I say to their parents- “I’m sorry your child is confused and upset. You should talk to them about the dangers of drugs in between playing with My Little Pony.” I think people forget how young 10 years old really is. Why is there a constant push for them to be older and know everything? Even 12 years old is more emotionally stable and ready for these types of discussions. You can vilify me all you want to for my opinions but I know the parents of my students thank me.
It was not my intent to vilify but to offer a different view of things. I honestly wanted to talk with her more after I saw this comment, so I emailed and asked if she’d be open to that. She said yes, and we had a good phone conversation this afternoon. I learned that she does indeed see the other side of the argument as well, but she still thinks kids’ innocence should be preserved longer by limiting access to some topics. She’s also under pressure from the parents in her community to limit the kinds of books in her library. The bottom line is, she feels like she can’t give elementary students access to a book like THE SEVENTH WISH without risking her job.
I have a tremendous amount of empathy for librarians and teachers in situations like this. I taught middle school for fifteen years. I faced book challenges and angry parents, too. I remember the sick feeling I’d get in my stomach when I opened a parent email and found a complaint about a book in my classroom library. I was lucky to have supportive administrators. Not everyone does.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can all do a better job supporting librarians and teachers who want to provide kids more access to books but are worried about pushback, so I proposed that this librarian and I start a conversation about this. We have some real disagreements about what kinds of books belong in a K-5 library, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to disagree respectfully, listen to one another, and try to brainstorm solutions. So we’re going to try that, and we’re inviting you to join the conversation, too.
As many of you know, I’m on book tour this month and leaving for Maine in the morning, but in between school events and bookstore signings, I’m going to be talking with her via email. Once we’ve had a chance to share some ideas back and forth, I’ll post the conversation here on my blog, and we’d love to hear from other people who care about kids and books, especially from other teachers and librarians who have found ways to deal with the particular challenges that face elementary school libraries with regard to book selection and access when there’s a wide age range of students. I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to have a spirited, passionate, respectful, problem-solving conversation. And I hope you’ll join us.
If you’re on social media, you’ve likely had the experience of scrolling through your feed and seeing something you thought was so great, so important, or so awful that you wanted to share it far and wide.
