For those of you following the book banning controversy that was recently brought to light in the Springfield News-leader (MO), there was another article published this morning.
Entitled "Republic School Book Choices Under Fire," this article includes quotes from authors Sarah Ockler and Laurie Halse Anderson, both of whom have a book that is being challenged (Twenty Boy Summer and Speak, respectively).
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For those of you who don't get the Springfield News-Leader, here is a caption (quoted) that was included along with the article in the print version, but not online.
"The Springfield-Greene County Library District says there is high interest in the books under review. All are checked out and there are holds, meaning library patrons have requested a copy when it becomes available.-Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Two copies in book for with a total of seven holds. CD, cassette and DVD forms are also checked out.-Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. There are 20 copies and a total of five holds.-Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. There are three copies and a total of 10 holds."
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Some interesting quotes from the article:
"He (Scroggins) raised his issues and we met. We very much have paid attention to him, we just don't agree on some issues." --Vern Minor, Republic Superintendent
"Both authors took offense to any suggestion that a rape scene is pornographic. Scroggins said that wasn't his comment. "I never said rape was pornographic or in any way sexually explicit," he said."
Scroggins' original "soft pornography" comment:
"In high school English classes, children are required to read and view material that should be classified as soft pornography. One such book is called Speak. "
My Thoughts
First of all, I'm happy to say that Scroggins' article has DEFINITELY sparked interest in these books in our community. Did you see those library statistics? EVERY. SINGLE. COPY. is checked out, and there are multiple holds! At least it seems like our community members are getting involved!
As far as Scroggins' comment that he "never said rape was pornographic," I think it's pretty obvious that he DID (or at least made the heavy implication that it was). I'll let you make your own decision. You can take a look at his original comment above.
Well, I'm glad to see that at least his idiocy has sparked more interest in these books. That's the positive that comes out of this :) Thanks for posting this, Natalie!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that the superintendent doesn't heartily agree with Scroggins and even better to see that all the copies are checked out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Natalie :D
Glad that the schools are listening to us as well as Scroggins. Wish he'd have the decency to apologise for using an insensitive choice of words though, because it's quite clear what he said, even if it wasn't what he meant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this link! Funny, he said the book was pornography and it only involves rape scenes. And, that was quoted. *smacks forehead*
ReplyDeleteI was fist pumping while reading this!!!!! Yes!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the follow up. Great news about the books being checked out from the library and about Scroggins trying to do some backpedaling about his atrocious comment. Yay!
ReplyDeleteYep, it wasn't hard to figure out that would happen. It isn't often reported, so I'm glad it was.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned, he did say it was pornography. He just can't stand the heat, so he's backpedaling.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the follow up! :-)
ReplyDeleteWow. At least something good came out of his dumb article.. glad to see so many people interested in those books.. and just reading in general!
ReplyDeleteWait, so his kids don't even go to the school he's meddling with?!?! UGH. Thank you for keeping us updated!
ReplyDeleteThey're always telling us in school that we should be careful of what we put on the internet because it never goes away...so how can he deny that he said it was pron when it's out there for EVERYONE TO READ? Thank goodness some people have a level mind!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow up! I count myself as totally unsurprised that Dr. Scroggins tried to back his way out of his rape as pornography comment too. Hopefully what comes out of this is people making their own educated decisions as to whether or not to read a book, regardless of which one it is.
ReplyDeleteThe one advatage to negative publicity is publicity! Scroggins has focused the spotlight on Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" which will now be read by more people who will see what a wonderfully written & valuable work of literature it is.
ReplyDeleteIf Scroggins wants to play the game about what he said & didn't say, how's this: "Speak" is about a rape & Scroggins said 'in high school English classes children are required to read & view material that should be classified as soft pornography. One such book is called "Speak" ". Well, I was taught in high school that "a + b = c"..."a" & "b" are his statements & "c" is "Rape". Scroggins obviously has a lot of issues & is very close-minded. I could say much more but I'll save it for a post!
I'm so glad you wrote a post about this, Nathalie. Thank you!
~ Amy
The guy who said these things is just providing free publicity for the books, and if he thinks it's soft porn then if that's not the way the book's written, it says more about the guy complaining than about the book.
ReplyDeleteHow people perceive the world through their own predjudices is one of the themes I like to write about. If you're interested, you can read ch 1 of my YA fantasy novel, 'Lethal Inheritance’ on my blog.
No matter what book it is, it seems someone can always find something to object to. Unfortunately, at our library, if people object, they may complain, but more often than not, they just take the book so no one can read it. We replaced the first Harry Potter book 10 times. Ellen Hopkins' books GLASS, CREANK, etc have all been taken multiple times. One of the biggest problems is many of the people protesting have no idea what the books are about. I put a sign up showing where the Graphic Novels were. We had several people come to the desk wanting to know why we were putting books with graphic content in the teen section, or in the library at all. When I asked them if they knew what a graphic novel was, they had no idea.
ReplyDeleteI was raped in college by my boyfriend I had nowhere to turn, nowhere to go. At least that is what I thought and believed. So many people go through traumatic events without coming forward, without the knowledge that there is outreach. It upsets me to know that singling out books, because of their objectionable content for some, might be the saving grace for others.
ReplyDeleteTo be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have read these books prior to all of this. They are now on the top of my TBR :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that guy has a job at a university - you know, the places where people with brains work. Thank god the school board seems to be run by such brain-filled people who aren't bowing to his ridiculous assertions!
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