Last month, a school district in Mississippi decided to pull To Kill a Mockingbird from its shelves, citing issues with what is now considered derogatory language. What the district doesn't get is that it is the very discussion of those times and those words that helps to ensure we don't go down that path again. As the saying by George Santayana goes, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
How do you react when a book makes you feel uncomfortable?
Do you abandon it immediately, and reach for something soothing, less volatile? Or do you keep reading, pausing a bit more to check in with your thoughts and feelings?
Lest you think librarians are immune to this phenomenon: this very thing happened to me while reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for my YA Lit class in my master's program. It's a brilliantly written book, but the underlying messages on reality television and the predatory practices of government made my stomach clench. I powered through it, and found my awareness of both of those topics broadened, my own opinions and values strengthened.
I understand the avoidance tactic, too. After finishing The Hunger Games, I could not bring myself to read the rest of the trilogy; I wasn't ready to continue the emotional wringing while juggling the demands of work, family, and grad school. I'm still glad I read the book.
I bring this understanding to my practice of librarianship. I reiterate that not every book is for every reader, but at the same time encourage parents and teachers to use those tough topic stories to spur discussion in the safe spaces of classrooms and homes. Because of our tenets of intellectual freedom, we are fortunate to have access to books that make us uncomfortable; it is these very books that widen and deepen our thinking, becoming more self-aware for the reading.
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The grown-up book that inspired my post today is my current read: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty.
Doughty is a YouTube vlogging, real-life mortician who recounts her early years in the cremation business in graphic detail in her first book (she is kind enough to warn readers beforehand!). This book and her second, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, befittingly arrived on my doorstep on Halloween. Death is a hard topic for our modern culture; Doughty revisits the rituals and ceremonies of the past in an effort to honor this inevitable event for us all.
Last month, my most beloved children's book that deals with loss arrived in our fall book order: Old Pig by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Ron Brooks.
My children were toddlers when my mother, then my husband's father, passed away. This book on our home shelf was a gentle reminder of lives well lived, and how we could carry on after loss, better people for the lessons learned from our loved ones.
It's Monday! What tough topic books have you encountered, and what lessons did you learn from them?
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