Banned Books Week--on the way to library

Actually nothing happened. LOL.

Last night, my local library system had a program on Banned Books Week. I'm sure the closest library to me has a display set up where you can actually sit behind a glass and do something dangerous...read a banned book.

But I digress.The program had a couple of local authors and they read from their favorite challenged books.

I took my 10 year old. LOL yeah. She's gotten to the age where I think she can understand about Banned Books Week. She was shocked, especially as a I pointed out her favorite series, Harry Potter has been challenged quite often. She couldn't understand why.

The authors handed out a list of frequently challenged books. I'd read more than 30. She'd read about 11. Yes, she's read challenged books. She reads a lot. I pretty much do not censor what she reads. She tells me about stories I haven't read yet and we talk about what she's read. She couldn't believe that James and the Giant Peach is on the list.

They read snippets from their favorite banned books, including the Kite Runner, A Wrinkle in Time (yay!), Olive's Ocean, and To kill a Mockinbird (yay!).

After the program, oldest and I talked about what she'd heard and about banned books in general. I want her to grow up knowing that the freedom of ideas is extremely important.

I put a copy of Olive's Ocean on hold at the library. It's a young adult book, and I really enjoyed the snippet that was read. If the oldest wants to read it, I will probably let her. Then we'll discuss it.

Mechele