Banned Books
It was awful to read the front page of the N&O on Sunday, about Johnston essentially going through it's collection and pulling books it finds "offensive". I hate that word. At least in terms of literature. For one thing, it's exclusive. I don't mind cursing or sex scenes in my books, but can imagine there are a lot of people who do. I am not biased by ethnic or religious authors. I think you can read either and both just fine and am not offended. I think that drugs should be a part of YA literature, since they are a part of YA life. So what is offensive? Apparently, it's whatever Fred Bartholomew thinks. And no one knows what he thinks. When the newspaper talked to them the BOE was very vague about how they were selecting books to pull. Were they selecting all the books that contained sex and drugs or just a few of them? Would all minority authors be up for review, or just those that are filling children's heads with "filth". I'm fascinat