Another short week this week! It’s great to see everyone back in class refreshed after the long weekend.
As many of you know, I love to read aloud to my class in the afternoons. I use this time to read books that tackle tough subjects – inclusion and accepting differences with Wonder, and racism and segregation with the book Maniac Magee, which we just finished last week.
The book we will be reading next is Ban This Book by Alan Gratz. It is a wonderful story about a 4th grade protagonist who’s favorite book gets banned so she stands up for what she believes is right and starts a banned book library out of her locker. It tackles the big topics like censorship, standing up for what you believe in, and the fact that though adults want what is best for children, sometimes we make mistakes on how to go about it. All books that are banned in this story are real, and all have been challenged or banned in American libraries at least once in the last 30 years and I look forward to the lessons this book will help open up to us.
Now, as the protagonist Amy Anne says in the story “No one has the right to tell you what books you can and can’t read. Except your parents.” I feel it is important to tell you that this book does bring up sex as the subject of one of the banned books. The book in question is It’s Perfectly Normal; Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. While Ban This Book does not go into detail, it does bring up the subject on a few occasions in the beginning of the book. For example, the book addresses it thus: “So, it turns out It’s Perfectly Normal is not a novel. It’s a nonfiction book all about S-E-X, as Mrs. Spencer would say. With pictures.” and then moves on. In another spot, during a school board meeting, we read: “‘I’m not for censorship. I’m for common sense. We have to protect our children. It’s not censorship to keep things away from children that aren’t age appropriate. it’s common sense. I’m sure Mrs. Jones wouldn’t call it censorship to keep adult magazines filled with S-E-X out of her library.’ S-E-X? Who was she spelling that out for? Did she think the kids in the room had never heard the word sex before – or that we couldn’t spell?”
I would like to offer families the following opportunities: One, that students are able to sit out in the hall and read independently either during the entirety of the book, or during those sections that mention sex (I have them flagged and can give appropriate warning to those who wish to choose this option.) or two, the opportunity for parents to come in and listen to the book being read. We read about 3-4 chapters a day from 1-1:15 or so. We will likely be hitting the chapter about the school board meeting with the second excerpt from above by tomorrow afternoon.
Please take some time to look over the book – great synopses and reviews of the book can be found here:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alan-gratz/ban-this-book/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31702735-ban-this-book
Review! Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Please contact me at lhughes@mariamontessoriacademy.org with questions, comments, or concerns. And please let me know if you have chosen to not let your student listen to this book being read.