Oh, Missouri. When will you stop banning books? Today I found out that the novel Hold Still by Nina LaCour is being challenged by parents in Blue Springs Missouri . The book has been removed from the school, despite only having a verbal complaint, and is being challenged for language and eight other books on the list are being challenged for "vulgarity and acts of sex, incest and homosexuality." This banning hurts for several reasons-I hate when books are challenged and banned and this is happening in the state I live in. But this banning is very personal to me because Hold Still is on the Gateway Reader's Award List for 2011-2012 and I was part of the committee that voted on that list. The Gateway booklist is compiled by Missouri Librarians for high school students to read. If students read four or more titles in the year, they can vote on the list and choose which book they think is the best book that year. The goals of the Gateway Award are simple: To encourage M...
A Children's, Tween and Teen Librarian's thoughts on books, reading and adventures in the library.