Beware of the Book! Censorship

[GoldenFleece]

I'm just surprised that's the only part of the "updated" version that's bothering the mom. Our school library had a copy of that and you could tell all the students had just flipped to the part where Anne described kissing a girl because the pages were so worn. She got pretty heavy with Peter physically, but it was written about in oblique enough terms that the pearl clutchers probably didn't realize. Between this and Bieber's stupidity at the Anne Frank House, it's reminding me to give The Diary of a Young Girl a re-read.

[chonies]

I agree!

That aside, however awful the requests for censorship and banning, for some reason I was more distressed by reading the one star reviews on Amazon.

Here's a sample:

This is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. I have neither found the carm of it or the point of the book. Firstly, this book does not really show or deal with the Holocaust. It is about a girl who is growing up!...Secondly, the book is very boring. She goes on endlessly about her bordemn and the fights that happen in the Annex. Lastly, it does not really share anything historical about the Hollocaust except for the idea of hiding.

Good grief. All I can think is, does she not know how this story wraps up? I know there is a problem with reading people's diaries, but holy crap. The point of the diary is the diary--the everyday life of an ordinary person! Of course, the person who posted that was 14, but she was like totally bored.

Here's another:

Quite Possibly The Worst Book Ever, December 29, 2003

Lets just start out saying, if I could I would give this book 0 stars.
Recently, I had to read this book for school. Trying to get through this book was phisicaly painful. There is no plot what-so-ever. She just skips from one topic to another.

This book is so boring and dry, that the most intresting part might be when she talks about peeling potatos.

If I could I would burn all of the copies of this book, so people don't have to go through the hardships I did.

If you have at least one brain cell, you won't buy this book.

Now, excuse me, I need to go scream into something soft and upholstered.

[Gigiree]

I would bet you 10 to 1, Chonies, that these same "reviewers" would give rave reviews to that awful, steaming pile of excrement known as the Twilight series.

[angelaudie]

The Michigan mom... GAH! This little gem takes the cake:

"It doesn’t mean my child is sheltered, it doesn’t mean I live in a bubble, and it doesn’t mean I'm trying to ban books."

Yes it does. Yes it does. Yes it does.

[chonies]

I wonder if I'm missing something. Although I disagree, I can see her point about the genitalia, but it sounds like she was all NOPE NOPE NOPE from the beginning, and she's not interested in finding a solution through compromise or teachable moments.

[SweetOblivion]

Like you said, it's a fairly clinical description of female genitalia. Anne was 14 when she wrote it, isn't the girl who was "uncomfortable" the same age? A girl who's probably had her period, and so would have to deal with her genitalia at least during that time?

Michigan Mom has probably made sure her daughter is uncomfortable with her own body. She probably thinks it's disgusting. Unfortunately, I suspect this because I had the same mother. (But that's a topic for a different thread)

My bottom line is: if you don't like a book, don't read it or let your kids read it. Wanting to take it away from *everybody* makes you an asshole.

[chonies]

I've been overthinking this Anne Frank thing. In my previous experience, which is all second and third-hand at best, the general protocol for a situation for a parent objecting to something is to work discreetly with the teachers to find an alternate assignment, or go sit in the library during sex ed or whatever. Part of this, I thought, was to avoid potentially embarrassing attention for the child.

I've looked for a few articles to see if Mrs Horalek speaks for a large number of parents in her school, or if she's a rogue agent but I'm not having much luck.

[chonies]

Oh yeah: another school year, another masturbation-based challenge to an award winning book. NY School district parent protests Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Adventures of a Part-Time Indian.

‘It was like “Fifty Shades of Grey” for kids,’ said Kelly-Ann McMullan-Preiss, who refused to let her son read the book.

O RLY. And, unlikely.

[narm]

That is the book I am using to teach to adult students practicing for their GED this year! I start in late August so I still need to read it- now I can't wait to do so! Ima download it right now.

[chonies]

I will read it too! I have a basic Kindle, so I'll try to get the book so I don't have to miss the pictures.

Also, this kerfuffle reminds me of a play I saw in junior high--a Mr Kotter type teacher taught his students to spell with words like "diaphragm" and "prophylactic."