Feeding the ducks with Harper Lee

If you haven't seen all the hoopla (and frankly, we don't know how you could miss it), 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the incomparable novel by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.      

And while A Reader's Respite counts this work as amongst our very favorites, we've been feeling a little sorry for Harper Lee lately.  The extremely reclusive author recently consented to give just her third ever interview recently to reporter Sharon Churcher, of the Daily Mail.  This was a very, very big deal.  It could have been the interview that elevated Ms. Churcher into a legend amongst journalists (move over, Bahbwa Wahltahs). 

The only stipulation for the interview?  Don't mention Mockingbird.  When Ms. Churcher arrived for the interview, Lee invited her to come feed the ducks.

So much for the scoop of the year.

Now for some odd reason, this sent A Reader's Respite into peals of laughter.  Perhaps it's because we sympathize with Harper Lee.  She's eight-four years old now, which means To Kill a Mockingbird was published when she was thirty-four.  It won the Pulitzer Prize and then....well, that's pretty much it.  Harper Lee never published another word (exception: a couple of short stories that didn't come to much).  She retreated from the world, refusing to give interviews or to even speak about Mockingbird.

And who could blame her?  Just imagine...you publish your first novel and it wins the Pulitzer.  For a true artist, how could you ever hope to top that?  Would you even want to try?  The artistic pressure (never mind the media pressure) would be overwhelming.  Her support system crumbled when her agent developed cancer, her editor passed away and her close friend, author Truman Capote, drifted away into his own world. 

Capote

On a side note - A Reader's Respite has always gotten a chuckle from imagining Capote's real thoughts about Mockingbird.  God love him, but that man was a drama queen if ever there was one and we can just imagine his private reaction when his "protege" submits her quaint little novel and bam....instant best-seller, Pulitzer Prize and a movie deal starring Gregory Peck.  He must have turned an exquisite shade of green with envy.

In the end, Harper Lee (to quote Sinatra) did it her way.  And that is something A Reader's Respite deeply admires. 
                  

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For those of you interested in learning more about Harper Lee, A Reader's Respite whole-heartedly recommends the biography by Charles Shields.  Engaging and meticulously researched, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee is an essential read for those who want to know more about Harper Lee.

Challenged Book Spotlight: To Kill a Mockingbird

There's still time to enter (go here) this week's giveaway of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, along with a signed copy of Mockingbird, by Charles J. Shields. But now it's time to answer the question: Why has this book been challenged and banned so often? After all, the book isn't exactly filled with obscene language or lurid sex scenes and it did win the Pulitzer Prize.

A powerful story told from the viewpoint of a young white girl being raised in a small town who relates the events surrounding the wrongful arrest of a local black man for rape and the subsequent trial in which her father defends this innocent man, this novel explores the dangers of group-think and encourages the reader to explore their own preconceived notions.

As it turns out, objections to the racial themes is the number one reason for challenging Harper Lee's powerful indictment against racism written during a time in American history when racism was acceptable and rampant. Perhaps due to fear of stirring up already heightened racial tensions in schools, educators will frequently remove this novel from their reading lists.

One of the most disturbing cases occurred in the town of Lindale, Texas, where officials removed the novel from the school's advanced placement English reading list in 1996 because it "conflicted with the values of the community." Perhaps one should question the value of a community in this case?

To Kill a Mockingbird has taught generations of children compassion, empathy, and the need to stand up for what you know is right no matter what it costs you personally. If those traits prove to conflict with the values of my community, well then, it's time to move.

Read more about the Lindale case here.

Challenged Book Spotlight: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Reasons for banning or challenging book generally fall into the same repetitive categories: obscene, offensive, unsuitable for children, vulgar and racist. But here's a twist for you:

In 1931, in the Hunan province of China, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll was banned outright because "animals should not use human language" and it was fundamentally wrong to portray "animals and humans on the same level."




And if you really want a good laugh (in a I-can't-believe-governments-are-so-incredibly-stupid kind of way), Anna Sewell's classic novel, Black Beauty, was banned in South Africa in 1955 because the word "black" is in the title.

Source for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Source for Black Beauty

Challenged Book Spotlight: The Bible

Bet you're surprised to see this on the list, aren't you? But the Bible is a pretty controversial piece of work and not just amongst argumentative religious factions. Of course it was banned outright in the Soviet Union and other communist bloc countries prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, but did you know that as recently as 1992 it was challenged in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota for being "lewd, indecent, offensive, violent, and dangerous to women and children"? Or did you know it was challenged in 1993 in Fairbanks, Alaska for being "obscene and pornographic"?

But not to worry, the Bible is still the best selling book of all-time. I'm wondering who receives those royalties?

Citation: Women, Men & Gender by Mary Roth Walsh

Challenged Book Spotlight: Snow Falling on Cedars

Each morning for ten years, teacher David Guterson would rise in the early morning to work on his novel before heading off to school. Such dogged determination would have an immense reward: Snow Falling on Cedars. Published in 1995, Guterson's first novel won the PEN/Faulkner Award that same year. Once it became more widely available in paperback, sales went through the roof as it's popularity grew and it was adapted into a film in 1999.

San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched. Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and changed.
from Vintage (Publisher)

In 2007, Snow Falling on Cedars was challenged by a parent as required reading for 11th grade students in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho school district. Vulgar language, vulgar subject and adult material harmful to minors were the stated reason for the challenge (because 11th graders can't handle the "F-word"). The challenge was referred to a school district Review Committee, whose job it was to review the challenge and then make a recommendation to the school district's trustees.

Their recommendation? Thankfully it was to leave the book on the reading list, and the trustees then voted 3-2 to accept this recommendation. So now we know that at least three of the trustees up there are sane.

(On a sad note, however, in a town not 20 miles from where I live in Washington State, the South Kitsap County School District school board voted 3-2 to go ahead and remove Snow Falling on Cedars from their reading list.)

Article of interest: Coeur d'Alene Press Newspaper
And yet another one: Spokesman Review

Challenged Book Spotlight: Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate was first published in Spanish in 1989 and was the first novel from Laura Esquival, a Mexican screenwriter. The English translation was published, to great acclaim, by Doubleday in 1992. The novel also inspired the Spanish-language film, directed by Esquival's husband, of the same name and enjoyed immense success in the U.S. with English subtitles.

Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, this romantic, earthy, and poignant story, touched with bittersweet moments of magic and sensuality, celebrates food and passion. As the youngest daughter in a traditional Mexican family led by a tyrannical rancher, Tita de la Garza is bound by tradition to remain unmarried so that she can care for her mother in old age. What follows after Tita falls in love is a lively, funny tale filled with irony, wit, magic, realism, and folklore, as Tita struggles to be true both to family tradition and her own heart.
Random House, Inc.

In 2004, the parents of an Arrowhead High School student in Merton, Wisconsin challenged the books presence on an elective reading list -- for which students had to obtain a parent's signature in order to participate -- on the grounds that the book contained "sexually explicit and inappropriate material." The complaint was filed in March of 2004 and, interestingly, originally centered around a different book entirely. But after an internal staff review dismissed the complaint, the parents filed an appeal that requested several other books, including Like Water for Chocolate, be removed as well. The appeal went to the Arrowhead School Board who voted to form a committee to review the books in question. The parent in question was quoted as saying

“When you’re a parent, there’s a level of trust when you send your kids to school,” Krueger said. “I don’t expect things to be given to them at school that I wouldn’t give them at home. I think it’s abusing the basis of trust that parents have.”
Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom

Although I could not find the decision of the School Board recorded anywhere, I think we can safely assume the challenge was ultimately defeated, since Like Water for Chocolate remains on the Arrowhead College Bound Reading List.

Relevant article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A follow up article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Banned Books Week is Here!

Banned Books Week has finally arrived and it's time to celebrate our freedom to read or write whatever we choose without government interference. We tend to think of book banning as a black spot in our history, but the "challenging" and removal of books continues every year.

One of the strongest advocates for our freedom to read is the Kid's Right to Read Project, which responds to book banning in our children's libraries around the country. You absolutely must take a moment to read their report regarding specific instances of book banning and their advocacy. Here's a sample:

The Amazing Bone by William Steig (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) was challenged at Sunshine Elementary School in February 2008 by a parentwho objected to a scene in the book in which robbers try to steal from the main character (a pig) and brandish pistols and a dagger. The parent wanted the book removed from the library. NCAC and ABFFE worked with the school principal and provided informational resources on the First Amendment in schools to the school’s book review committee. In an interview with a local TV station, we emphasized the importance of protecting all parents’ First Amendment rights to decide what their children may read. The review committee voted on February 8, 2008 to keep The Amazing Bone in the school, and school officials worked with the parent to accommodate the family individually.
Tampa, FL
from The Kids' Right to Read Project

So what can you do to participate? Easy....pick a challenged book from the ALA List and start reading! If you're feeling really industrious, head on over to The Book Lady's Blog, Maw Books, or Just a Reading Fool and join in their personal challenge of reading seven banned books in seven days (wow!).

Or, if you prefer, just pick ONE banned book from the list and read it. Leave me a comment and tell me which one you chose!

Throughout the week I'll be spotlighting random books that have been challenged or banned and giving you a review as well as a history of it's challenges. Also look for a giveaway!