Teen Read Week (October 18-24) Discuss a Book with Your Teen!

Teen Read Week  is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). It began in 1998 and is held annually in October the same week as Columbus Day. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users.



The Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has launched its 2015 Teen Read Week website, www.ala.org/teenread.  This event nationwide is a perfect forum to spotlight teens and the books they can learn from and enjoy as well.

The theme this year is Get Away @ your library and will be celebrated Oct. 18-24, 2015. The theme encourages teens to escape to the library to enjoy novels from genres such as fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, travelogues and many more.

Teen Read Week is an opportunity for libraries to showcase to their communities all of the great literacy related resources and services that are available to teens and their families.

Anyone who joins the free site will have full access to a variety of resources to help them plan their Teen Read Week (TRW) activities.

Resources and incentives include:

• Forums: Discuss and share TRW related resources and experiences;
• Grants: Teen Read Week Activity Grant and Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway;
• Planning and publicity tools;
• Products: Posters, bookmarks, manuals and more;
• Showcase: Share your planned events;
• Themed logo (site members only): Downloadable low-resolution theme logo;
• Webinars (site members only): Free access to a live webinar to help you prepare for TRW, as well as archived webinars.

Banned Books Week Focuses on Young Adult Novels (September 27- October 3)

Young Adult books are the focus of Banned Books Week in 2015. Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read, will run from September 27 through October 3, 2015, and will be observed in libraries, schools, bookstores and other community settings across the nation and the world.

“Young Adult books are challenged more frequently than any other type of book,” said Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee. “These are the books that speak most immediately to young people, dealing with many of the difficult issues that arise in their own lives, or in the lives of their friends. These are the books that give young readers the ability to safely explore the sometimes scary real world. This Banned Books Week is a call to action, to remind everyone that young people need to be allowed the freedom to read widely, to read books that are relevant for them, and to be able to make their own reading choices.”

In recent years, the majority of the most frequently challenged books in libraries have been Young Adult (YA) titles. Six YA titles were on the list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2014, according to the American Library Association. Attempted bans on books of all kinds also frequently occur under the guise of protecting younger audiences.

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read by encouraging read-outs, displays, and community activities that raise awareness of the ongoing threat of censorship. Last year, tens of thousands of people participated in Banned Books Week online.  More than 500 videos were posted in a virtual read-out, and thousands participated in hundreds of events in bookstores, libraries, and schools and universities across the country.

Do yourself a freedom favor and read a banned Young Adult book this week!

Here is the ALA's list of frequenlty challenged YA title from the past year:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
2. Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday) 
3. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)
4. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury Publishing) 
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books/Simon & Schuster)
6. Drama, by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix/Scholastic)
7. Chinese Handcuffs, by Chris Crutcher (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins) 
8. The Giver, by Lois Lowry (HMH Books for Young Readers)
9. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (Vintage/Knopf Doubleday) 
10. Looking for Alaska, by John Green (Dutton Books/Penguin Random House)

Still Banning Kids' Books? Really?

We have to ask ourselves the timeless questions:  Are kids' books still being banned?  Why?  And by whom?  The answers are as varied as children themselves.  This blogger believes a couple of words could readily sum it up:  fear and ignorance.

According to the American Library Association, 2014 saw 311 book challenges. That’s 311 times that some adult decided that not only did they not want their kids reading a particular book, but that they also wanted to keep others from getting the opportunity.

Banning books give us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.

Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

 Have a look at the top 10 most challenged books of the 21^st century, you see literary classics like The Bluest Eye and Brave New World alongside fun tales like Bone and Captain Underpants.

Here are some examples of banned or challenged books and the reasons given:

Winnie-the-Pooh has been banned because he has no clothes on.  No animal nudity, please!

Another banned treasure is:  Where the Wild Things Are.  The reason for banning is "that it glorifies bad behavior." 

Another example of classics banning is:  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Reason given:  The book showcases women having too much power.  In 2004 both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson conspired to get the movie banned from broadcast on public television because of “moral turpitude.”

Robertson would publicly state that “The Almighty told me that flying monkeys and witches are an affront to all good Christians.”  When asked at the time if either had ever seen the movie or read the book, they denied, saying that they “feared ungodly influence."  As recently as 2004, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell tried to have the film banned because of its "wicked flying monkeys."

Perhaps the point has been made here that book banning is an affront to freedom.  Parents do have the right to govern what their minor children read.  In a democracy, they do not have the right to actively ban books so other parents and their kids cannot make up their own minds about the books under attack.

Discussing Banned and Challenged Books is Not Only for September

I realize that Banned Book Week every September is important to keep this important issue in front of the public.  But it's also necessary to discuss issues like censorship year round as well.

Banned booked are books that have actually been removed from a library or school system, a challenged book is the attempt to ban. Read about these challenged books and authors, including Katherine Paterson, Madeleine L'Engle, James Marshall, Roald Dahl and more.

Most of these books listed below were challenged for being sexually explicit, containing offensive language, or being unsuitable for the age group, and most were challenged because they were included on a suggested reading list for students, part of a class assignment, or available in a school library.  However, many of these books have received high accolades for teaching tolerance and understanding of others.  According to the ALA President Carol Brey-Casiano:

Not every book is right for every person, but providing a wide range of reading choices is vital for learning, exploration, and imagination. The abilities to read, speak, think, and express ourselves freely are core American values.


The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees our right to free speech, which includes the right to read and write books that might be considered by some to be too violent or offensive. Because this freedom is one of our fundamental rights as Americans, some people feel that any form of censorship is wrong. Most people fall somewhere in the middle, believing that people should be free to read whatever they choose, but that in some rare instances censorship is acceptable.

Have a look at a partial list of banned books below.  I think you will be surprised at the extent of them.  

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

• was discontinued from use in a middle school in West Virginia
• Montana students fought to keep it on the shelves in their school
• was compared to Fifty Shades of Grey in a challenge by a mother in New York

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

• was removed, then reinstated, in an Idaho classroom

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

• has met multiple challenges in North Carolina

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

• was challenged in schools in Iowa

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

• was challenged, but stayed on the school library shelves in Minnesota

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

• was challenged in Kentucky

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

• was challenged in North Carolina

The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time by Mark Haddon

• was challenged in Pennsylvania schools but ultimately retained

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

• was challenged by parents, but kept in a Virginia school

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

• In Georgia, a parent complained about it being included on a long list of books from which students could select a title for an assignment

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

• was reinistated in classes in Illinois when Judy Blume (whose books are also frequently challenged) supported its use in classrooms

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

• was kept in classrooms in Illinois after being challenged

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

• wasn’t “banned” according to officials in Illinois, just removed from the 7th grade curriculum 

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

• was challenged in New Mexico for being on a high school reading list

Caldecott-Winning Authors' New Books in 2013

Three previous winners of the Caldecott Medal — given annually by the American Library Association to the best-illustrated children’s book — have published new books this year.

Here’s a look at these new literary gems for young readers:

With her long blond hair, Yuriko doesn’t fit the stereotype of a Japanese girl, and her classmates sometimes make fun of her. But her father is Japanese and Yuriko understands that her father’s heritage is something she should take pride in.

In “The Favorite Daughter” (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 5-8), author/illustrator Allen Say reveals a slice of his life as father to his daughter Yuriko, as she struggles with her desire to fit in with her classmates but still be herself.

Chris Raschka has twice won the Caldecott Medal: in 2006 for “The Hello, Goodbye Window” and again just last year for “A Ball for Daisy.” Still, Raschka never seems to run out of inspiration as shown in his latest book, “Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle” (Schwartz & Wade, Random House, $16.99, ages 4-8).

The story is a universal — perhaps even an overly traveled — one: a child wants desperately to learn to ride a bike, the child has trouble learning to balance on a bike, the child is ready to give up but tries one more time, and — voila! — he/she can suddenly ride a bike.

Erin Stead, who won the 2011 Caldecott Medal for “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” takes what, at first glance, looks like a minimalist approach to illustration in her picture books.

Stead is a master of using seemingly understated illustrations to both bring the reader into the story and expand the world of the tale being told.

Such is the case with her latest book, “If You Want to See a Whale” (Roaring Brook, $16.99, ages 3-7). As in the 2012 best-selling picture book “And Then It’s Spring,” Stead has paired up with author Julie Fogliano to tell a quiet, thoughtful story that will inspire young readers to use their imaginations.

Stead’s illustrations, done using linoleum printing techniques and pencil, portray a young boy and his devoted hound enjoying a series of adventures while hoping for a whale sighting.

Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2012

Here is the list--only a step above actually banning a book.  Take a look at this year's offerings.  Have you or your kids read any of them?  All of them? 

The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year. They have linked to free samples of all the books on the list–follow the links below to read these controversial books yourself.

Captain Underpants

The list was part of the ALA’s 2013 State of America’s Libraries Report. During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 464 reports of challenged books. Here’s more from the report:

In California, a school committee voted to remove the Stephen King novella “Different Seasons” from Rocklin High School library shelves. The lone dissenter on that committee was 17-year-old student Amanda Wong, who continued to fight the ban and spoke against the decision at a later school board meeting. After hearing Wong’s concerns that the removal “opens a door to censoring other materials,” the district superintendent overturned the committee’s decision and returned the book to the Rocklin High School library’s collection.

Thirteen Reasons Why

10 Most Frequently Challenged Library Books of 2013

1. Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: offensive language, unsuited for age group
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

The Kite Runner

Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit
5. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: homosexuality, unsuited for age group
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska by John Green
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
8. Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: unsuited for age group, violence
9. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit
10. Beloved by Toni Morrison
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violent

And Tango Makes Three

Again, whether we approve of the books listed above, and lists in the past and those to come, we must remember there is an inherent danger in getting close to the act of wholesale banning.  

Of course, parents have the right and expectation of approving books their children read.  But for an entire community to mandate what citizens can read does not belong in a democracy.  What do you think?     

Gary Paulsen--A Master Survivor of Survival Tales

Some may think he's rough around the edges, or even, dare I say, a bit crude?  Perhaps.  His genius, however, is something to behold in books such as Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room, all three of which were Newbery Honor Books.


Gary Paulsen
Illinois Reading Council Conference
March 17, 2012

His books frequently appear on the best books lists of the American Library Association. Who am I referring to? Why, Gary Paulsen, of course.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Paulsen at the Illinois Reading Council Conference in March, 2012, where we were both speakers.  A true character he is, with some good reasons.

Born in Minneapolis in 1939, Mr. Paulsen had no formal education after the age of fourteen when he ran away from home to join a circus. ( I've thought for years that incident sounded like a book in itself!) 
 Paulsen had a generally rough childhood with alcoholic parents.  He did not meet his father until the age of nine because of World War II.

 He worked on a farm as a youth, worked as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor.  He also had done two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod. 

Paulsen's realization that he would become a writer came suddenly when he was working as a satellite technician for an aerospace firm in California.

He spent the next year in Hollywood as a magazine proofreader, working on his own writing every night. He left California and drove to northern Minnesota where he rented a cabin on a lake. By  winter's, he had completed his first novel.  The rest, as is said, is history.

In listening to his speech at the conference this past spring, I was struck by how every nugget of our lives becomes the true fodder for our books.  Mr. Paulsen's early life was one of constant striving for survival.  It only follows, then, that he is a master of the survival tale.  Kudos to him for surviving and sharing his gift with the world.

ALA Youth Media Awards Announced January 23, 2012!

Tomorrow in Dallas (7:45 a.m. CT on Jan.23, 2012), the American Library Association (ALA) will  announce the top awards in children’s and young adult literature as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 20 - 24.

(Please see the video at the bottom of this post.)

The ALA Youth Media Awards honor children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, as well as producers of children’s audio and video materials.

Known worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards are selected under a cloak of secrecy by national judging committees composed of librarians and other children’s literature experts.


The ALA will announce 18 awards, including the renowned Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and Printz award.

  The books honored serve as a guide for parents, educators, librarians and those interested in providing children and teens with the very best reading and viewing materials.

Be sure to tune in.  And you parents out there, this is a great list for books for your kids and grandkids.