An open letter to a frightened mother and her bookless teen.

To: Amy Freeman
CC: Meghan Cox Gurdon
Re: Darkness Too Visible

Dear Ms. Freeman,

I am disheartened to know that you did not find any books for your 13-year-old daughter at your local Barnes & Noble. I mean, the saddest part of this whole fandangle is that you went home without a book! Or maybe the saddest part is that there were, indeed, a bazillion choices for a) a younger, more innocent YA reader and/or b) a conservative mom to share with the aforementioned teen who may or may not be as innocent as you believe.

The bookseller in question, well, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was new to the store and specialized in cookbooks and didn't know who to tag in. Either way, a GOOD bookseller could have helped you. Since I am a former bookseller who was TOTALLY badass at her job, I'm going to help you out. The following are a list of books that I would have suggested. Some might be too saucy for your tastes. You might object to a few titles because of purported violence or swear word or vampires. But, ho! I will be letting you know why they are good books for your girl! And all of them are light reads that I feel completely comfortable selling to an 11-13 year old who enjoys reading OR to a conservative family with a parent willing to answer her daughters questions should she have some. Here goes:

1. I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter
Yes, the word "kill" is in the title of this book. But Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series is about butt-kicking smart girls in an academy for spies. SPIES! There're hints of romance, action, and adventure, but you won't find over-the-top violence or sexual themes here. Bonus: readers will SO be inspired by the overflow of girl power!

2. DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK by Marlene Perez
Again, this might look like a "dark" book. But I swear, it's not! I don't even think it has any swear words. Yes, it's a paranormal. The main character is from a family of psychics and her mom works with the police department. Yes, this series has murder mysteries. But at heart, this is a comedy. Think Nancy Drew meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So if your girl is aching for something ghostly with a side of werewolf, fear not. The DEAD IS series will sate her passion for the paranormal without putting too much of the dark, sexy stuff on her plate.

3. ANGUS THONGS & FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING by Louise Rennison
I love this book. I love that the most salacious thing about this book is the title. And I love that the protagonist Georgia Nicolson is such a real girl, and in this diary-formatted series, she says everything she thinks. And like so many girls her age, she thinks she knows a lot more than she does. What really shines through is a lot of her naivete. I mean, all she wants to do is kiss boys and play pranks! And while she might be a bit boy crazy, she's a good sister, way supportive of her family, and (albeit at times reluctantly) a good BFF. I guarantee this book will make your daughter laugh her butt off, and it won't put any ideas in her head that she isn't ready for.

4. CLOVER TWIG AND THE MAGICAL COTTAGE by Kaye Umansky
This is a book that you will probably find in the middle grade section, but I think most 11-13 year olds read a decent mix of YA and MG. Clover Twig is a precocious young lady who has taken a job as housekeeper for a witch. Little does she know that the witch's sister has a major case of jealousy, and that she has a nefarious plan to steal the magical cottage that Clover is currently in charge of. This book is a completely silly fantasy and I don't know anyone who's read it -- of any age --and not enjoyed every minute. I swear!

5. DEALING WITH DRAGONS by Patricia C. Wrede
I love love love Patricia C. Wrede. One cool thing about her is that she's a very prolific author with books for all ages from young readers to adult, so if your daughter becomes a fan of PCW, you'll be able to stock up! DEALING WITH DRAGONS is another of my fave girl power books -- it's about a princess who doesn't want to be a princess and runs away to live with a dragon instead. It's hysterically funny, rife with fun feminism, and full of magic! It's also the first in a four book series which I read and reread many times during my own tween years. I was so inspired by the main character, Cimorene, that I truly believe she had a part in making me the confident woman I am today. This series definitely straddles the line between MG and YA, making it a solid tween title. Your girl will love it.

6. FRONT PAGE FACE-OFF by Jo Whittemore
Another book that straddles MG/YA, this tween comedy from Jo Whittemore tackles the middle school issues of popularity, competition, and crushes with a serious sense of humor. I love that the main character is a smart girl with absolutely no intentions of toning it down. I love that this book made me laugh out loud when I was reading it on the bus. And I love that it's a book about competition for control over the school newspaper. If your 11-13 year old likes a good, girly comedy, this one hits the spot and then some.

7. THE TIME-TRAVELING FASHIONISTA by Bianca Turetsky
Once again we have a book that fits easily in either the teen or kids section of the library (though you will probably find it with the middle grade books), this is a fun, girly book with a touch of sci fi (time travel, hello!) and history (it takes place on the Titanic. Yes, THAT Titanic). When Louise Lambert puts on a dress at a mysterious vintage sale, she slips backward in time into the body of a teen actress on board the aforementioned doomed ship. At first she's having the time of her life, but when she figures out that, you know, she might drown, everything changes. Louise has got to find a way to save herself -- and her new friends -- before the ship sinks. And she wouldn't mind getting back to the future either. The first in an upcoming series, this one is sure to delight any burgeoning fashionistas and it will absolutely spark an interest in history as well!

8. GIVING UP THE GHOST by Sheri Sinykin
Yes, it's a ghost story. Yes, it's a southern Gothic, taking place at an old Louisiana plantation. Yes, there are some, er, questionable deaths on the part of the ghosts. And it's not like the elderly aunt that our protagonist, Davia, is taking care of is going to survive the book (I promise, this isn't really a spoiler). But the cancer-survivor mom is inspiring, and the fact that this book is, at its heart, about overcoming fear really hits home for almost everyone. I love the idea that Davia has to help the ghosts at the plantation in order to help her aunt. GIVING UP THE GHOST isn't about death, it's about finding strength, about forgiveness, and about facing the things that scare us the most. If your daughter wants a more serious book, this would be a good one to start with.

9. OYMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
This comedy about a Jewish girl at a Christian summer camp has a bit of a serious side, but that doesn't make it any less fun to read! I mean, who doesn't love a girl who loves to argue -- and does it so well that she's a candidate for a debate scholarship? Who doesn't love a grandpa who speaks Yiddish and encourages his family to be strong in their faith and to be proud of their culture? And while the protagonist of this story does have to face antisemitism while in pursuit of her scholarship -- and her crush -- I think that the message of the book is a good one: being true to yourself is worth more than any boy, OR any prize.

10. ZITFACE by Emily Howse
If your daughter loves stories about teen Hollywood, this new YA/tween novel from Emily Howse is a sure-fire hit! It's about a teen actress who has just landed a job in a major commercial campaign. She's also just landed the boy of her dreams -- the new kid at school who is just completely crushworthy. But everything goes awry when she breaks out. And one breakout leads to another and she's diagnosed with every actress' nightmare: acne. She goes from being popular to picked on at school, and her agent is none too pleased either. But this is how she learns who her true friends are, how she learns to persevere and pursue her Hollywood dreams despite her condition, how she becomes a stronger person. ZITFACE is funny, cute, and a great read for younger readers looking for a new YA title.

11. DRY SOULS by Denise Getson
Dystopian novels are a major trend right now, and if your daughter is interested in reading about a not-too-distant future in which things have gone awry -- but she's not quite ready for some of the harsher, more violent titles -- DRY SOULS is a great choice. It's about Kira, a girl who, in a world where water is beyond scarce and controlled by the government, discovers that she can generate water herself. Kira runs away from the orphanage in which she grew up, hoping to find a way to share her gift and replenish the world's water sources. But it's not long before she realizes the government is on her tail, and they have other plans for Kira. In this book about friendship, ecology, and survival, there's nothing I would feel uncomfortable sharing with an avid reader as young as 10.

13. MY SO-CALLED DEATH by Stacey Jay
Stacy Jay has written a lot of books about zombies, and this is one of my favorites. It's about a young cheerleader who falls during a stunt, dies, and comes back as the undead. But while the topic seems grim, I'd hardly classify this as a dark book. I mean, it's about a cheerleader, right? It's not long before the girl is whisked away to a secret academy for the undead, where she'll learn all about being undead along with, you know, math and reading and all that jazz. Of course, no zombie book is complete without a little brain harvesting, and this is where our heroine comes in to help solve a mystery and perhaps even save some of her classmates from a sinister power using forbidden magic to steal her friends' brains. No, seriously, this book is funny, sweet, and a great book for kids and teens who want to read about zombies but still want to sleep at night. And, on the sexy front, there's nothing more than crushing and kissing!

13. FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs
Everyone loves a mermaid tale! (Tail?) And in this coming-of-age novel a teen is torn between her new life on land (an experiment to see if she would ever want to leave her mermaid heritage) and her old life at sea. Of course, everything gets completely messed up when she's tricked into kissing the annoying guy next door instead of the boy of her dreams -- because in the world of mermaids, when you kiss a boy, you're choosing him for life. So now she's on a mission -- to ditch annoying neighbor boy and get back to her life -- whichever she should choose. But what she can't predict are the sparks of romance in the last place she'd ever expected. FORGIVE MY FINS is a totally adorable and safe pick for teens looking for the paranormal, magical element without anything too dark or sexy. I think your daughter would love it!

Hopefully this list is helpful. If not, feel free to write me for more choices. I'd be happy to reply! I mean, I could go on all day.

And if you're looking for, you know, well-written, heart-felt, and intelligent replies to the article in the Wall Street Journal, I hope that you will look here, here, or here. Or, like, Google it -- everyone in YA has something to say about the bias in the article, the anger, the ignorance, and the hate. I'm choosing the let the other voices say what I'm thinking about this part of your complaint, because they've already done it so well. I'm offering you my book shopping help instead. Because YA is so big. Kidlit is enormous. We have books for everyone!

Warm Wishes! (For real!)

What are YOU doing to celebrate Banned Books Week?

You may have heard that I am up to my EARS in Banned Books Week celebrations. All month, at my main blog, I've asked readers to send in photos of themselves reading banned books. (Keep 'em coming! I'm accepting submissions through the end of Banned Books Week!) In return, I've been sending readers some fabulous buttons to declare their own banned book-reading awesomocity. Here are the buttons:



And this week, for every single day of Banned Books Week (which started on Saturday, the 25th, btw), I've got an interview with a banned author of SCANDALOUS books. So I hope y'all will check that out and leave these authors some love!

In any case, I wanted to show y'all what I'M reading in celebration of Banned Books Week, since everyone has been so forthcoming in sharing their own favorite banned books.

When I was about ten (that's me in 4th grade, right there), I was pretty busy tearing through all the Judy Blume I could get my hands on. I had always been an advanced reader, and my mom was pretty good about letting me read what I wanted. (I remember picking up Patricia Cornwall and John Grisham from my dad's bookshelf when I was in 7th grade. I eventually got bored and traded them for some Piers Anthony Dad and I found at the bookstore.)And , at the time, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. was like my Bible.

One night my dad took me to get a new book and I came home with FOREVER..., one of Judy Blume's most famous books. I was so psyched to read it and I showed my mom but she did not share my enthusiasm Actually, she sort of panicked. She took it and hid it away and told me that it wasn't appropriate reading for me. I was like what the heck, mom? It's by JUDY BLUME. How could anything Judy Blume wrote be scandalous?

(This goes to show that my pre-pubescent self hadn't quite picked up on the sexual subtleties of TIGER EYES and DEENIE, which remain some of my faves.)

Anyway, I never wound up reading FOREVER.... But as an adult I have not one but TWO copies of Blume's most banned book. And, putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak, I figured I'd get my read on with the one book I was personally forbidden to read.

And I loved it.

I'm not going to go into a detailed review, because I'm probably the one person on the planet over the age of 18 who hasn't read FOREVER.... But I loved this book for its sensitive but uninhibited explorations of sexuality. I loved that the characters in the book were real teens that I related to as a kid who grew up in the 90s, even though they were written in the 70s. And I think that their experiences carry over in a way that remains real and relatable for today's teens.

Part of me remains surprised that this book was written in the 70s. It's pretty explicit, and I have to commend Judy Blume (or, THE JUDY, as I think of her) for not pulling any punches. Authors like Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, who are writing contemporary YA and selling jillions of copies, still get challenged every year for being too racy. And I'm really glad that they -- and other authors, myself included -- have THE JUDY to fall back on. She paved the road for writers who want to keep it real, and that's freaking awesome. So if you, like me, never got around to reading FOREVER... as a teen, I hope you'll go pick up a copy soon.

And, for the record, I hereby forgive my mother for not letting me read FOREVER... as a kid. I wasn't ready for it. Though, I'm pretty sure I would have been so scandalized by the first sentence of the book that I would have hid it from myself in the closet and forgotten about it until I was ready.

Let's open our hearts today.

Okay, before I get all serious on you, I want to remind you to visit my other blog at the dot com for the purpose of hate-mongering all over censorship. Or rather, so you can learn how you can win some supacute Banned Books Week swag.



Anyway, it's serious time. Why? It's National Suicide Prevention week here in the US, and I want to shed a little light on the topic.

I've mentioned in other posts that I struggled with mental illness as a teen -- trufax. Here's the part where I full-on out myself: I'm a woman with bipolar disorder (in remission, as my adorable, grandfatherly general practice physician calls it) and panic disorder. And I'm totally okay with talking about it. Why? Because the stigma is still floating around out there, and that can make an already difficult illness even more tough. Especially if you're a teen.

Whenever I tell someone about my illness, I get the "I never would have known!" response. Even from people I talk to regularly who also know that I have frequent panic attacks (which I guess seem common enough, especially on TV these days) and am easily overexcited and obsessive. Sometimes that makes me feel happy, because, hey, that must mean I'm doing a good job at assimilating as a fully-functional grown up! But in the back of my mind I think, well, it's not always easy to pick us out of a line-up.

Okay, here's an idea: think of your lunch table. Picture them lined up in front of you, in your head. Think about what they like, what they talk about, what they do after school, what classes they're good at and what classes they'd love to skip. Do any of your pals have bipolar disorder? Clinical depression? Anxiety? Schizophrenia? Borderline personality disorder? An eating disorder? Addiction?

Now I'm not saying you should get all diagnose-y on them. In fact, I very much discourage playing therapist at your lunch table. But what I'm trying to say is that there is probably someone you know suffering from mental illness, and you don't have a clue. And that's okay. What I'm trying to say is that you should be there for your friends no matter what, because if someone you know *is* thinking about suicide, or is self-harming, or is having secret panic attacks in the bathroom between periods, sometimes all it takes to keep someone from doing something drastic and ambulance-ride-y is knowing they have someone they can call and talk to when they're having a truly shitty day.

When I was in high school that person was actually my sweetheart (at right, with me, at my parents' before senior prom), whom I'm still in touch with via Facebook. He had issues of his own, too, which, admittedly, made him easier to talk to. I remember one day I was such a mess that I locked myself in the bathroom, refused to come out, and was feeling particularly destructive. (Let's just say it's a good thing my parents were already thinking about remodeling). My parents knew how amazing Sweetheart was, and they called him and my grandmother (who is my best best BEST friend to this day) and they got me out of the bathroom and we talked on the porch and, well, I can't say it was all better, but I survived.

Why am I sharing this with the whole wide Internet? Because I'm hoping that it will help someone reading. I'm hoping this will save someone the scary, scary pain that comes with suicide. Of all my adult friends, I can list on one hand the ones who didn't lose a high school classmate to suicide. Is that terrifying or what?

So let's think about that this week. Let's give our friends extra hugs and let them know that they can call us in an emergency even if it's four a.m. on a school night.

And in case you're looking for something to help you relate, one of my favorite books that deals with suicide is HOLD STILL (Penguin Speak, 2010) by Nina LaCour. In HOLD STILL, the protagonist has just lost her best friend, and is struggling to find her own identity, to make new friends, to relate to teachers who know what she's going through but who are scared to reach out. I also love WINTERGIRLS (Penguin Speak, 2010) by Laurie Halse Anderson, which is way too good at illustrating the harsh reality of anorexia and bulimia, and also deals with the loss of a best friend to mental illness. Of course there is also CUT (Scholastic Push, 2002) by Patricia McCormick, which is a beautifully written novel about a girl in a mental health facility, who refuses to talk about anything, let alone her self-harm.

Recently the book HOW I MADE IT TO EIGHTEEN (Roaring Brook, 2010) was released. It's an autobiographical illustrated novel by Tracy White, about a girl who checks herself into a mental health facility to figure out how to deal with her depression, her eating issues, her substance abuse, and, ultimately, her emotionally draining relationship. Also, check out Samantha Schutz's memoir-in-verse I DON'T WANT TO BE CRAZY (Scholastic Push, 2007) about panic disorder and anxiety. I think all of these books give an intimate picture of what it's like to be a teen with mental illness. And they could be just the trick to opening new doors with friends who are also struggling.

And, please, if you'd like to, take this as an opportunity to share your story. Post it in the comments, or blog about it and send me a link. I think the more we talk about our struggles, the more we can keep the stigmas at bay, and the more lives we can save. Sharing our stories can help us share the struggle, and ultimately help us heal.

(PS, check out Samantha Schutz' blog on this topic, You Make Me Feel Less Alone. I tried to work that in more eloquenty, but failed. Woops.)

I will now leave you with an entry me and my BFF Fiona wrote in my journal in 1999. This was probably around the time I was first seeing a therapist, but I still wasn't aware of the my diagnosis or the seriousness of it, and Fiona didn't know much about my illness yet, either. We were watching a rerun of Nirvana on MTV Unplugged, and it was breaking our hearts and blowing our minds:

(Click the image to see full-size & read my teenage ramblings.)

Censorship Sucks

When my daughter was a year old, I was struggling my way through my first year as a public school teacher.One of these days I'll actually blog about that year (one of the best, worst, and insane years of my life so far) but I'm not going to do that today.

Today, I'm going to talk about censorship. Because during that year, I stared censorship square in the face for the first time.

Now, it almost seems quaint to talk about the stink people made over the Harry Potter books a decade (or more!) ago. There were phone campaigns and demonstrations and well-meaning public radio hosts who were misguided into thinking that balanced reporting meant having a bunch of illiterate book-haters spewing nonsense on their show about how a single book was going to turn Our Nation into a bunch of tree-hugging, goddess-worshiping (though still godless, right?) hippy-freak magic addicts. One page of Harry Potter, and it's off to Hell we go!

I mean, sure, there's still people out there stinkin' it up like it's still 1999, but mostly it's all water under the bridge, right?

Or, maybe not.


Ten years ago, I was teaching a leveled reading class, and the kids had six weeks of literature circles - two weeks per book, and the kids would rotate from table to table, choosing the books and groups that interested them. There was one table devoted to Harry Potter. I'd say about twelve kids in all read it.

And oh! The Stink was mighty.

What killed me was that the parents who complained didn't even have kids who chose to read Harry Potter. I designed the course specifically so that there were more stations than there was time to read it all. Best to allow the kids to hear other kids talking about different books. Create a culture of reading. A multiplicity of books! (See how young I was! How brimming over with optimism and hope!)

Still, there were parents who didn't want their kids in the same room as other kids who were reading Harry Potter. Apparently, immorality and magic can spread like lice, and book cooties are epidemic.

I remember having a conversation with a parent, trying to reason my way through a forest built by un-reason. She was concerned that having the book in the same room as her son would make him lose his faith. (Yeah. I know.)

"Listen," I said, "I'm a practicing Catholic, a Theology major and a general Acts-Of-Christian-Mercy type, and I'm noticing all kinds of themes in this book that are actually friendly - and largely in sync - with our religion."

"Well," she said. "I wouldn't know anything about that. I haven't read it, and I never will."

Which seems to be the theme with those who seek to censor.

Later, when I was an on-the-road fiction instructor with the Writers in the Schools program, I had a principal get in my face for just suggesting that the students read a copy of Kelly Link's amazing short story "Flying Lessons". He'd heard there was a scene where the main character shoplifts (there is). "The last thing we need is an epidemic of thievery around here," he said.

Another principal had an issue with my recommendation (!!!!!) of a Jeff Vandermeer story called "Dradin In Love". (He'd heard it was sacrilegious. "Do you have any idea what the god-fearing types would do to me if they heard I allowed that in the school?")

Again, these are people who hadn't read the works in question.

Which brings me to this mess in Texas. Here's the story: This amazing lady, was invited to present at the Teen Lit Fest in Humble, Texas. Why? Because her books are incredible, raw and brave. And important.  And then, when a small group of people felt that she had too many Edgy cooties and Dark cooties, raised up a Stink the size of Texas and dis-invited her. So some of the other invitees have disinvited themselves, thank you very much, and we now have ourselves a Texas-sized to-do. 

Now, a lot of people have written about it with more clarity and understanding than me. Ellen Hopkins, for starters.  It was her book that raised the ire of a small group of parents and a single librarian, who somehow had the power to overrule every other organizer who felt that Ellen's contribution to the festival would be a positive impact for books, for readers, for librarians, for teachers, but most of all, for kids. Pete Hautman, one of the writers who disinvited himself in solidarity with Ellen (and in solidarity with books), has also written on the subject, and his piece made my blood run icy and cold. (side note - Pete was a teacher of mine way back, and is a kick-ass writer, teacher and thinker and is generally a righteous guy)


Look. I'm a parent. I get it about wanting to protect a child from the world's agony and pain. And wickedness. And greed. And hatred. And everything. It don't make it right. In fairy tales, the kings who locked their daughters at the tops of tall towers were likely just trying to be good parents. They were idiots, of course, and their little schemes backfired. So, too, will the little scheme in Texas and every other bone-headed censorship attempt.

The point is this: Children do not belong to their parents (as much as we'd like to think otherwise); children belong to the world. You belong to the world. And it is up to parents and teachers and librarians and kindly neighbors and any other adult that's important in a kid's life to give that kid the tools necessary to exist and understand and thrive in the world. Their world. Your world.

Books are a tool. So is talking. So is listening.