The Ironic Cherry Reads...

...Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Two decades after I graduated high school, I ran into one of our class's popular girls.  She was well-liked, a cheerleader, and academically successful.  In our short conversation, she commented on how horrible high school was.

Dave Barry has facetiously said that when an adult of any age commits suicide, it is because he can't get out of his mind some dumb thing he did when he was a teenager.

The young adult book, Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers, was one of the choices on the 9th grade honors summer reading list at West Ashley High School this year.  Thanks to a single parent's protest, it was removed.  I happened upon it at my branch library, where free copies were made available and displayed during Banned Books Week.

And I read it.

I was astonished at just how good the book was.  Yes, parties with drugs and drinking.  Sex, including attempted rape.  Smut, as this horrified West Ashley parent called it.

But that is not the point of the book.

Teenagers, trying to grow up, facing pressure from peers and teachers, and oh, clueless parents, all while trying to excel:  at academics, at sports, at popularity, at love.  Given the incredible mistakes adults make in their lives, it is no surprise that teens will make big mistakes.  And suffer for them.

I identified with this story on so many levels.  As a former high school psychologist.  As a parent.  And yes, friends, as a former high school student.  Because the conflict was there, the longings and the hurt, the striving and the feelings of failure.  All those hormones don't just go into the drive for sex, although they do indeed go there.  The passion for wanting to be a part of what is going on, while never really knowing what is going on, or what it is you really want, who can forget that?  How many people do you know that honestly enjoyed those school years?

And don't forget those clueless parents.  Parents who are proud or disappointed, who ask the wrong questions and hear what they want to hear.  Parents who have somehow blocked the pain of high school society from their memories and have no idea what their kids are going through.

Parents like this helicopter mom at West Ashley.  Who reads along with her daughter's summer reading assignment, but just can't handle the material.  Who can't deal with the discomfort of the bad things that do happen in high school.  Who was so blown away by scenes that reflect the reality of drugs and sex that she wasn't able to see the fear and pain that floats under the surface, under the facade of confidence, throughout every school day.

Who saw to it that if she couldn't handle it, no one else would get the opportunity.

I thought it was interesting that she took the book away from her daughter, got it banned from the school, but finished it herself.  Proclaiming about its indecency all the way through, while having her moment of fame and power.  Almost as though she were still there, in high school.

Of course, there is no excuse for the actions of the principal.  Except that is exactly what the principal at the fictional high school would have done.  We will have no controversy in our schools.  We will cover over the problems with a poor paint job, censorship, and detentions.  We will not defend our teachers' professional decisions, because we are afraid of creating a controversy.

Meanwhile, our students are dealing, every day, with tough decisions about conformity and rejection.

The banning of this book is exactly what the writing of this book illustrates.

The alternative would be letting teens know that they are not alone, that adults have been there and will be there for them.  Opening the discussion about how it feels to be afraid of making the wrong choice, of being rejected, is the way to give our teens real options.  Banning the discussion is the way we perpetuate the tyranny of high school.

And by the way, the educator that put this title on the summer reading list had intended that it would pave the way for the reading and discussing of books like Lord of the Flies, also banned in its day.

Some Girls Are is a quick read, and a page turner (I don't blame that West Ashley mom for not wanting to put it down), and the characters are intense.  In a very real sense, they are alone on an island, with the grown-ups far away and unreachable.  I urge you to give this book a try, and then pass it on to your teens.  

Let the Banning Proceed!

When I moved to Charleston in 1999, I learned that my son's elementary school library was not ordering the Harry Potter books.  Not because the librarian thought they were bad, but because she feared parent complaints.  You know, Christians worried about making witches look like heroes, and the evil of magic.

Charleston County Public Library, then one of the best libraries I have ever encountered, happily filled the need.  In time, as more and more children absorbed the wonderful series, the Harry Potter controversy dissolved.  And the juvenile and young adult books the library has since made available to our children I believe continues to be among the best collection in the country.

More incredibly, just over a year ago, South Carolina lawmakers threatened to cut funding for the College of Charleston because the book Fun Home by Alison Bechdel had been on the freshman reading list.  The book deals with issues of gay identity in the context of family conflict.  It was horrifying to imagine that our legislators would attempt to censor college reading based on their homophobia.  But it happened.

Last week was Banned Books Week, and my branch at Johns Island had a wonderful display to remind us, once again, of the astonishing poor judgment that has caused communities over the years to ban some of our best books.  And to recognize once again, those amazing books.

On the bottom shelf of that display was a stack of books.  The accompanying sign welcomed patrons to take one.  Never one to resist that kind of bargain where books are concerned, I picked up a copy and flipped through it.  There was an insert from the author explaining why the book was being given away.  During the summer, a parent had complained to West Ashley High School's principal that this book was on the Honors required reading list (actually a choice between this and another) and was not appropriate and should be pulled off the reading list.

Instead of following the process in place in the school district, this principal decided to pull the book from the reading list.  Charleston County Public Library and others then agreed to distribute copies of this book so that any young adult that wishes can read it.

As a parent of two now adult former honors students, it horrifies me when any kind of information is blocked.  The purpose of education is not merely to provide facts, but to pose questions.  In my home any book could be read, any movie could be watched (which at times got uncomfortable), and both kids knew that we could talk about anything therein.  If our schools are not up to teaching honors students (or any student) critical thinking, we are failing them.  Parents who judge material unfit always have the option of not allowing their own child to participate, and I know that teachers and administrators are more than cooperative in this regard.  But to deny others access to material based on one's own comfort level is wrong and should under no circumstances be courted by school administrators.

The same blocking of information is now going on in the Charleston County School District regarding the new law that would require sexual education to be accurate and up-to-date.  Really???  There are people who work in education, serve on school boards and are raising children who do not want sex ed to be accurate?  Yes, and they are working hard to prevent that information from going out to any students in Charleston County.

But back to books.  The one that has been banned from West Ashley High School is by Courtney Summers and it is entitled What Goes Around and is actually two books in one.  The author has received awards and rave reviews for a number of young adult books.  Her writing is honest, the problems are complex, and if you are looking for pat, polite answers, you aren't going to find them here.  It is a wonderful opportunity for young adults to explore the complex and often very adult problems that exist in their world.

Again, it is chilling to imagine that one parent who does not want her teen reading about gritty, real-life problems can prevent all others in a school from having access to that material.

I am proud that Charleston County Library has stepped up to fill that void, and in so doing, make us all aware that important books continue to be banned in a country that was built on freedom of speech, openness to ideas, and the ability to engage in critical thinking rather than hide from unpleasant realities.

I also hope that parents made aware of this poor decision will speak up.  Charleston County School District has a process for reviewing parent complaints (as does the library).  The freedom to read and explore controversial topics is essential, and decisions to censor any book should never, ever be made lightly.

Thanks, Charleston County Library, for stepping up.