jeavinl's Full Review: Pat Scales - Teaching Banned Books: 12 Guides for ...
My daughter throws all of the books off of our giant bookcases on a regular basis and Im always reshelving. A couple of weeks ago, my husband spotted this book on the floor after one of her tirades and he laughed. Why would you want to teach a banned book? he asked in a puzzled though amused tone. I stared at him as if he were a completely ignorant alien from outer space and explained that bans on books are often arbitrary and that its more important to help guide young readers through these often challenged texts so they can grow and learn from them. With that, he seemed content, especially when I started mouthing off some books that hes familiar with that have been banned in the past (and/or are still banned in some school districts), such as Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in Time, The Outsiders, Lord of the Flies, and even Wheres Waldo?.
Though I had taken his question as an attack on First Amendment rights, he may have been questioning why I own the book in the first place. See, Im not a teacher. Im not a reading specialist or a librarian. I dont even work with kids. Right now, Im a stay-at-home mom raising a toddler. But I used to work at a childrens book review magazine and I still freelance for them. Ive gotten well acquainted with book challenges and censorship during my on and off eight years working there. In some cases, if school districts dont have a book challenge policy in place, a book can be removed without question from the librarys shelves with just one parents complaint. When I saw this book several years ago, I knew I better hold onto it. I planned at that time to get my masters in library science and figured Id one day cross paths with a distressed parent. And even if I didnt, I wanted to be able to sing the glories of some of my favorite childrens books to the children Id one day be working with.
NUTS AND BOLTS
As the subtitle indicates, there are 12 teachers guides in this 134-page paperback. All are geared for middle graders and include a 2-3 page plot summary of the banned book in question, about two pages of discussion questions/topics, a page of activities, and 2-3 pages of additional books that could be tied into the lesson.
The first lesson guide is slightly longer and doesnt cover a particular book. Instead, it deals with teaching the First Amendment. The discussion topics range from examining the difference between a book challenge and censorship to interpreting a quote. For instance: Interpret the following quote by Oscar Wilde: The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame. Thats pretty thought provoking no matter what your age. The activities for this chapter range from conducting a poll about whether/why adults feel scary stories are bad for children to writing a tribute to deceased Justice William Joseph Brennan, who ruled in favor of students rights on the Board of Education vs. Pico censorship case in the 1980s.
The books that are covered in the following lesson plans are all fairly well known by avid childrens book readers. Judy Blumes Places I Never Meant to Be, a compilation of short stories by various censored writers, and Blubber are included. Brock Coles The Goats, Robert Lipsytes Summer Trilogy (One Fat Summer, Summer Rules, and The Summerboy), and Suzanne Newtons I Will Call It Georgies Blues are also covered. Five of the books discussed have won the Newbery Medal: Mildred D. Taylors Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Katherine Patersons Bridge to Terabithia; Lois Lowrys The Giver; Jean Craighead Georges Julie of the Wolves; and James and Christopher Colliers My Brother Sam Is Dead. Christopher Paul Curtiss Newbery Honor-winning The Watsons Go to Birmingham is also discussed in a chapter. The books span the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with Blumes 2001 Places I Never Meant to Be being the most recently published. All have endured banning. Scales provides recommended age levels for each book as well as the year it was first published, the publishers name, and the page count. The book ends with a fairly extensive bibliography and a well-organized index that includes titles and authors of all books mentioned, even those in passing, as well as some general phrases like book challenges.
I believe this book retails for around $30. It costs slightly less for members of the American Library Association.
READING ENCOURAGES THINKING AND THINKERS ARE LESS LIKELY TO BECOME CENSORS
Pat Scales is a librarian on a mission. Dont expect this book to pacify those who challenge books. She believes that the First Amendment applies to everyone and children need exposure to books and Web sites that give them a clear picture of the real world. She argues that its not the job of educators to dilute facts, but to use them as an opportunity to teach and expand childrens experience.
Scales is one of the eminent figures at the American Library Association (ALA) working to promote intellectual freedom. She won the Intellectual Freedom Award in 1983 and has served on numerous awards committees. She has been a librarian for over 30 years and has taught childrens literature at Furman University almost as long. Her background and her desire to promote the reading of all books might make you think that her writing would be either sugary or scathing. It is neither.
MY THOUGHTS
Though I dont plan on becoming a teacher and Im wavering on my library science degree, I am a parent who encourages my child to read. With that role comes a responsibility to teach and guide my daughter as she grows up so that shell understand what shes reading and be encouraged to learn from the issues she encounters.
I think this book is wonderful for that purpose. Its certainly not comprehensive with its 12 guides, but it does address those 12 topics/books well. Ive learned a lot from this book. I wondered, for instance, what the big fuss over Patersons Bridge to Terabithia was. To me, it seemed like a harmless book that combined innocent exploration of imagination with real-life pain and ended with sibling bonding. What could be wrong with that? Apparently, that book has been challenged on the basis of offensive language, disrespect of adults, and being an elaborate fantasy world that might lead to confusion. Though Scales doesnt go into depth about these accusations, she asks readers and their students to discuss those aspects of the story and come their own conclusions.
This is the case for all of the books she discusses. There isnt a section that explicitly relates why the books were/are challenged and how to defend them. Instead, the issues are raised in passing through the discussion questions and activities. For me, thats a little disappointing since Im very curious about the why of some of these bans and wouldve liked to be able to quickly access that information.
Still, this book provides a lot of guidance for teachers, librarians, parents, and students and will come in handy when discussing these often banned books.
Though I wouldnt call her tone neutral, she does do a good job of promoting education over the politics of the issues. So there isnt any ranting or raving about how anyone could possibly ban such a wonderful book as [fill in the blank]. Instead, this is a book filled with educational tips on encouraging kids to read and think. In fact, it's all very readable. The plot summaries are thorough and give a good feel for what the original texts are about. Though Ive read half of these books, I didnt remember a lot of the details and the summaries really helped jog my memory. In particular, the description of Blubber, which I read more than 20 years ago, really brought back a lot of the choked-up feelings that book about taunting inspired. The discussion topics are varied and seem like theyd work for an even larger audience than the middle grade educators and parents that Scales is targeting.
Teaching Banned Books: 12 Guides for Young Readers
Written by Pat R. Scales
Published by ALA Editions in 2001
ISBN 0-8389-0807-1
This review has been part of pestyside's Banned Book Week write-off.
Here is a useful link to a resource on anti-censorship put together by the National Council of Teachers of English that may come in handy in conjunction with this book or others like it. http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship
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