If you want to make a book popular, ban it. Some of the greatest classics have been highly criticized over the years. And why do we love them? We love them because they're bold, daring, innovative. They challenge the way things are done. They drag our secrets out into the light. They make us uncomfortable. They change us. We are made better by our exposure to them!
According to the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, Lauren Myracle's TTYL is this year's most challenged book. Myracle confesses to crying when she received the news. She assumed that there were forces out there that wanted her to go away for her gratuitous openness. The feeling slowly faded as she noted that OIC's e-mail had congratulated her. Being banned was an honor. Still, she admits to feeling sad about being banned. Sad for the close-minded adults who would keep truth from their children, sad for caretakers who, in an attempt to protect their children, keep them from knowing the world and growing.
I invite you to read Myracle's response and form your own opinion of her work and the outcries of those so opposed to it.
What are your thoughts?
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