Ban What?

Even if you are not an avid reader, you have probably heard news about the astronomical rise in book banning and challenges at school and public libraries.  These have occurred all over the United States, but one particularly egregious township council meeting took place not too far from me. Video of the Byron Township Council meeting was also shared on the Michigan Library Association website as an example of challenges to intellectual freedom.  Feel free to watch the video or read this news article about the meeting.

Can we all agree after watching the video that the Kent District Library director deserves an Oscar for his "Good Ol' Boy" way of talking to this group of primarily old white dudes.  To paraphrase: "If it were up to me we would probably just have Louis Lamour westerns and fishing books in the library, but we need to have something for everyone." I was shocked that he wasn't chewing on a wheat stem and wearing a cowboy hat. 

Let's move past political prowess, though, and take a look at this "trash" book that a college educated vet who was "no prude" found unfit for readers of any age. 

Check Please! is a graphic novel written and drawn by Ngozi Ukazu, who first started writing the story of Bitty when she was still a student Yale University. Originally from Houston, Ukazu had little exposure to hockey before attending Yale. It required a significant amount of research into both hockey and baking for Ukazu to publish the story of a gay former figure skater who receives a hockey scholarship and loves baking first as webcomic. The massive popularity of Bitty's story on the web resulted in one of the largest kick starter campaigns for a web comic ever to have Check, Please! published.

So, getting down to details of Check, Please! is it pornographic, obscene, or 'trash"? The quick answer is No. Yes, there is language. This is a story about college students, mostly male that are on a sports team. I don't know what high school and/or college the Byron Township Council members attended, but teens swear. I was a teenager, a college student, a mother of teens, and now I work with a lot of teens. Swearing is not abnormal. It makes teens feel grown up and like they are doing something "forbidden" without actually doing anything. Now, please do not think that I condone swearing or that I allow my teens or the teens at my library to stroll around dropping F-bombs left and right. There are rules of behavior, especially in public, where others may hear them, but swearing is often a way teens rebel and express their emotions and independence. Now the minute language becomes mean-spirited or derogatory that is a completely different story. Honestly, I question the members of the city council who seemed so preoccupied with the notion of kids reading swear words, but never mention the homophobic slurs hurled at Bitty by opposing teams at hockey games. As a parent, I would be far more upset if my child said something purposefully degrading about someone's sexual orientation, race, weight, appearance, etc. than them saying shit or damn when goofing around with their friends.

Please know that I am not trying to make light of anyone's aversions to cursing. However, this is a graphic novel recommended for readers in 10th grade or higher and the author is using language authentic to a group of college aged boys living in what is basically a frat house. If anything, the language is probably cleaner than what is typical in many college dorms, locker rooms, or fraternities. As far as the abuse Bitty endures (which I am sure is probably less than what many LGBTQ youth are subjected to) it is integral to the story.  If you are concerned read it with your child and talk about it together. Discuss the language. Why does it bother you? Have you heard other kids talk this way? What about the way some people talk to Bitty (or other LGBTQ people)? How does that make you feel?

Another issue with Check, Please! that came up in the council meeting is that drinking occurs in the story. Once again, I am not saying that I condone excessive drinking and I definitely don't want to say that underage drinking is acceptable. This is a book about college students, though, and many college students can legally drink. If you are worried, talk with your teen about alcohol, the dangers, the risks, and how to drink responsibly once they are over 21. 

The wonderful thing about books is that they can give adults an easy way to connect with kids about serious topics. If you read a book and than sit and talk about it together, it becomes a discussion of thoughts and feelings, rather than a lecture.

Now I am going to address the elephant in the room that was never brought during the council meeting. Would there have been the same brouhaha if Check, Please! was about a female freshman who loved baking and fell in love with a the captain of the hockey team? Probably not! Maybe a parent would have said that they didn't like the swearing, but they would not have spread copies of pages everywhere and taken it all the way to a council meeting. The recent tsunami of book challenges (which have only been about books that deal with race or LGBTQ issues-go figure) are about hatred and fear. 

Check, Please! and the sequel, Sticks & Scones, are both such fantastic stories of inclusion, friendship, love, and camaraderie. My soul aches when I think that people think it is garbage unfit to be read. You may raised an eyebrow during the meeting video when one council member claimed that a coach has a relationship with a player in the second book. That does not happen, and it was quite obvious that not a single one of those council members knew anything about these books other than there was swearing, parties, and two young men kissed (once, so hardly pornography). What I found so beautiful about these books was the love and support Bitty's teammates show him and Jack. The team doesn't care that that they are gay. All the team wants is for their friends to be happy and comfortable being themselves. Isn't that what we all want and deserve? 

I have not been in locker rooms with many hockey teams, or any sport team for that matter, but it saddens me to think that Check, Please! may not be as realistic that I want it to be. Unfortunately, there are kids every day that are too afraid to come out or ones that do and they are ostracized and tormented by people in their communities, schools, and even families. Everyone deserves to have a family and a "team" that loves and supports them. Just as every reader should be able to go to a library and find a book in which they see themselves. And every library needs to have books in which readers can step into the minds and lives of people who are different from them. It builds empathy, respect, and love that can only make this world a better place.

Nothing sums up my feelings more on this than a passage from the book In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner.

"You'll never regret a decision more than one you make out of fear. Fear tells you to make your life small. Fear tells you to think small. Fear tells you to be small-hearted. Fear seeks to preserve itself, and the bigger you let your life and perspective and heart get the less air you give fear to survive." 

So, what can we do about book challenges, the increased desire by some people to censor what kids read, and make our world smaller rather than larger. Well, first off. Pay attention to what is happening in your community and when you hear about groups wanting books taken out of libraries and schools speak up. Attend the library, school, or city council meetings and make your opinions known. I firmly believe that the vast majority of people support intellectual freedom, the need for diversity in books, and learning history even when it is ugly and makes us uncomfortable. Unfortunately, at most of the board meetings that deal specifically with book banning it is a very vocal few making the most noise. Let people know that you support your library and school and tell them about the positive impact reading has had on your life and the lives of your children and friends. 

The most important thing you can do, though, is READ MORE BOOKS! Go to your local library and check out books about all different types of people and places and if they are not on the shelves request them so the library will know that people want diverse collections. Jason Reynolds who is a fantastic young adult and juvenile author and also happens to be the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature said in a recent interview: “We need to make sure that they know, that we know that they’re in the world. That they have value”. Every child, teen, or adult no matter their race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc. deserves to see themselves as the hero of a story. Just as important, though, is for kids that are not part of a marginalized group to read books where kids not like them are the accurately and honestly portrayed. 

Lastly know that book banning, fear of the unknown, and vilifying what is different is nothing new. Below you can watch the book banning scene from Field of Dreams which came out in 1989. People have always feared change and what they don't understand and that leads to them wanting to withdraw and make the world smaller. Those of us that reading need to continue to stand up for the books.