Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?

Um… not really. In the mirror/window illustration made famous by Mitali Perkins☺, I consider myself a mirror –I’m turning my work around toward my community, and these are the people I see. I try to be inclusive of the sometimes invisible things –the differently abled or those with other challenges, multiracial blends, blended families, various faiths, etc. –because that’s real-world stuff, and I really feel there’s too much culture-less, colorless fiction being published.

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For most in the YA book community, when we talk about censorship, we talk about books in children’s libraries that have been challenged by parents on the grounds of age-inappropriate material. 

The American Library Association (ALA) holds the following position: “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.” Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.”

 

But clarifying the definition of censorship can be difficult, as Lester Asheim–Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate Library School, and former director of the ALA’s International Relations Office–pointed out. In his 2004 article, “Not Censorship But Selection,” posted on the ALA’s website, he says, “When librarians discuss the matter among themselves, they are quite satisfied with the distinction between censorship and selection, and are in smug agreement that the librarian practices the latter, not the former.”

 

The jab at his colleagues aside, Asheim’s piece is a worthy primer on why librarians act as curators and not censors. But first, he presents the counterpoint. How do we differentiate between what librarians do, and what pressure groups demand that they do…cull books from the archives? 

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The National Book Awards Gala is coming up this Wednesday and one of the finalists in the Young People’s Literature category is

Never Fall Down

by Patricia McCormick. It is a novel based on the real life of Arn Chorn-Pond—a man who survived unspeakable horrors in the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge as a boy, escaped as a soldier, and was later adopted and brought to the United States. This is a story of brutality, but ultimately it’s an inspiring story of how the arts can save a life, and how the resilience of the human spirit can shine even in the darkest of times.

In her brief introduction, Patty writes:

Nearly two million people died—one quarter of the population. It is the worst genocide ever inflicted by a country on its own people.

I used this quote often in my pitching because when I’d first read it, it shocked me…and I knew it would shock others. It did. What I learned from the many journalists and producers I spoke with is that a lot of people don’t know these facts. This doesn’t altogether surprise me as the Cambodian genocide is not a piece of history that is widely taught or discussed. Cambodians themselves would prefer to avoid their terrible past. When Patty and I discussed the history and the current relevance, she wrote me the following for background and context:

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Do YA authors, editors, and librarians promote the idea that YA books have the power to do good, but reject the idea that they can do harm?

These days every book festival has a YA panel, and every panel has a moment when a well-meaning attendee will stand up and ask: Are YA novels becoming more perverse?

And the answer, from any honest person, is yes. They are becoming more everything, because there are more of them. It’s really quite that simple.

Moving on.

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