
Each year I post about Banned Books Week. I do so because information literacy addresses the social issues around information (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2015). Banned Books Week 2015(September 27-October 3) will focus on young adult books.
Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems (WritersCorps, 2003) was challenged twice in one period. A 2009 parental challenge led a Vineyard, NJ school principal to remove the pages with the poem “Diary of an abusive stepfather.” In 2010 the North Fond du Lac, WI school district required the middle/high school library’s copy to be labeled for high school use (Doyle, 2010, p. 8).
Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy concerns both teen poets and censorship. When a sleazy competition show comes to their school, four friends use poetry to launch a protest (Hattemer, 2014).
I celebrated Banned Books Week with a challenged title and a tie-in. How will you celebrate it?
References
Association of College & Research Libraries (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
Doyle, R.P. (2010). Think for yourself and let others do the same: Books challenged or banned in 2009-2010. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/banned/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/free_downloads/2010banned.pdf
Hattemer, K. (2014). The vigilante poets of Selwyn Academy. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
WritersCorps. (2003). Paint me like I am: Teen poems. New York, NY: HarperTempest.