Module 15: Censorship Issues

I've read a lot of banned books, it turns out. Although I can recognize for many books why some people would have a problem with it, I feel that people overall are too sensitive. No one forces you to read a book with sensitive issues in it (I don't count the use of magic a sensitive issue. I think it's ridiculous to challenge fantasy). Most, if not all, schools will provide an alternative for controversial books. If you don't know about an element of the book or aren't sure about it, then perhaps you should at least read the reviews on Amazon before you check it out or buy it. That's just my two cents.

I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the story of 15-year-old Charlie. The book is written in Charlie's letters to an unknown person and start with his entry into high school, not long after his best friend committed suicide. Charlie, a natural wallflower, finds friends in a group of older kids, and he is introduced to drugs, sex, and love.

The book has been challenged on the basis of drug content, sexually explicit content, homosexuality, suicide, and the inappropriateness for the age group. While it is an extremely difficult book to digest, it is extremely valuable to teens whose feelings are reflected by Charlie's. I read an article (http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=552) where Chbosky said he learned of two kids who decided not to commit suicide because of this book. It is heart-wrenching to see Charlie overcome his psychological issues and get to a place where he can be happy, and there are too many kids who can relate to that feeling and can possibly be helped by this story.

"Grounded in a specific time (the 1991/92 academic year) and place (western Pennsylvania), Charlie, his friends, and family are palpably real. His grandfather is an embarrassing bigot; his new best friend is gay; his sister must resolve her pregnancy without her boyfriends support. Charlie develops from an observant wallflower into his own man of action, and, with the help of a therapist, he begins to face the sexual abuse he had experienced as a child. This report on his life will engage teen readers for years to come." -- School Library Journal

"Aspiring filmmaker/first-novelist Chbosky adds an upbeat ending to a tale of teenaged angstthe right combination of realism and uplift to allow it on high school reading lists, though some might object to the sexuality, drinking, and dope-smoking. More sophisticated readers might object to the rip-off of Salinger, though Chbosky pays homage by having his protagonist read Catcher in the Rye. Like Holden, Charlie oozes sincerity, rails against celebrity phoniness, and feels an extraliterary bond with his favorite writers (Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ayn Rand, etc.). But Charlies no rich kid: the third child in a middle-class family, he attends public school in western Pennsylvania, has an older brother who plays football at Penn State, and an older sister who worries about boys a lot. An epistolary novel addressed to an anonymous friend, Charlies letters cover his first year in high school, a time haunted by the recent suicide of his best friend. Always quick to shed tears, Charlie also feels guilty about the death of his Aunt Helen, a troubled woman who lived with Charlies family at the time of her fatal car wreck. Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in love with the inaccessible Sam. His first relationship ends miserably because Charlie remains compulsively honest, though he proves a loyal friend (to Patrick when hes gay-bashed) and brother (when his sister needs an abortion). Depressed when all his friends prepare for college, Charlie has a catatonic breakdown, which resolves itself neatly and reveals a long-repressed truth about Aunt Helen. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety. Perhaps the folks at (co-publisher) MTV see the synergy here with Daria or any number of videos by the sensitive singer-songwriters they feature." -- Kirkus Reviews

Ideally, I would like to facilitate an open discussion between teens and parents on the subjects talked about in the book. This would require all participants to have an open mind and be honest and willing to talk. If I felt that would not be possible, a second idea would be to have both teens and parents anonymously write what they like about the book or the concerns they have with it and illustrate it in the style of Postsecret. (www.postsecret.blogspot.com). I would display their postcards during Banned Books Week.