Realistic Fiction

In every Realistic Fiction novel, there is a problem that the protagonist has to overcome in order to bring resolution to the book. In each of the books that follow, there were different situations and problems that the heroines had to deal with in order to bring peace to whatever was happening in their lives. Read on to find out more about each of their problems and see the significance these books can have in the lives of children today.


Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson

At the beginning of Speak, the reader finds new ninth grader Melinda being treated like a complete outcast by old friends and strangers alike. The book continues on for a while before we begin to see hints that something happened that causes people to treat Melinda this way. As the book progresses, we also see Melinda begin to retreat deeper and deeper into herself. Eventually, we find out that Melinda was raped by an older boy at a party during the summer. After she is raped, she calls the police who come and break up the party, resulting in the arrests of many kids who were there. Instead of telling anyone what happened, she keeps it a secret. Because of the way her former friends are treating her and the problems that her parents are having at home, she feels like she can't share her problem with anyone.

I think that this problem Melinda has- the she has been raped- is sadly a common problem in today's society. Add the rape to the fact that she is still virtually a child and doesn't feel she can tell anyone, and the problem becomes even greater. Unfortunately, this is probably something that many teens can relate to. Whether or not it's a similar situation to this one, sexual abuse is a travesty that probably touches each of us, whether we are aware of it or not. I think this book would be extremely beneficial to girls who have been abused in helping them find their voice to speak up and let someone know what has happened. It would also be good for adults who are working with teens, just to be aware of the realities of what many of them could be dealing with. A secondary problem is that she has been rejected by her peer group, something that happens to most kids at one point or another for various reasons. Just knowing that someone else has dealt with the same thing would be very helpful for teens dealing with this problem.

The way Melinda's problem worked out was mostly realistic. She internalized the problem until she just couldn't handle it anymore. She quit speaking, which should've been a huge warning sign to her parents that something was wrong, but they had their own problems to worry about and probably never thought the issue was as big of a deal as it turned out to be. Melinda found an outlet for her emotion in her art classes and also found a teacher that she respected and could relate to. One day, Melinda realized that she just didn't want to be dark and sad anymore and gradually came our of her depression. She eventually found the courage to speak up about what had happened when she realized that Rachel, her former best friend, was dating Andy, the guy who raped her. Unfortunately, her outcry fell on deaf ears...Rachel's. Eventually, it was found out that Melinda was telling the truth and Andy was caught. This novel teaches many great lessons for high school girls (and boys,) and I absolutely recommend it.


My Louisiana Sky
Kimberly Willis Holt

In My Louisiana Sky, 12 year-old Tiger Ann Parker has several problems to deal with that are all related to each other in one way or another. The first problem we find as we read the book is that Tiger's parents are mentally handicapped. Tiger, however, is very smart, which means that she realizes the mental deficiencies in her parents and feels a sense of shame. The second problem is that because of her parents (and the fact that she prefers the boys to the girls,) she is left out by most of the girls in her class at school. She decides that she wants to be accepted by the girls and therefore stops hanging around with her best friend Jesse Wade. Her newfound desire to be girly causes Jesse Wade to try to kiss her, which embarrasses her and makes her feel like she lost her one friend. To top it all off, her Granny dies of a heart attack and her Aunt Dorie Kay asks her to come live in Baton Rouge. Finally, Tiger has to make the choice of what seems to be best for her or what is best for her family.

Because there are so many different problems in this book, I think that every middle school student could relate with at least one of them. Although the problem of mentally handicapped parents probably isn't too common, shame, responsibility, death, acceptance, and the awkwardness of male/female friendships are common issues that almost everyone deals with at some point. Most of these problems worked themselves out in completely realistic ways. There really wasn't anything in this book that was too far-fetched or solved in a way that didn't make sense. And as in most good books, there were some issues that were left unresolved, letting us make the choice of whether or not we wanted to resolve them and if so, how.


Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie is a book that, while it has it's share of minor problems, teaches us how to find the best in others and the positive in every situation. The overlying problem in Because of Winn-Dixie is that India Opal Buloni and her father the preacher have been abandoned by her mother. Although the abandonment happened years before, Opal is just reaching the age where she really wants to know about her mother and why it was that her mother left. There are also quite a few minor problems in the book. Opal has recently moved to a new town and left all her friends, resulting in her having to make new ones. This in itself isn't really a problem, but as she sets about to make new ones, we get to experience the problems that each of her new friends have as well. A third problem is that of her dog, Winn-Dixie. He doesn't like to be left alone and is scared of storms.

The problems Opal encounters as she meets her friends are mostly solved as the story goes along and she gets to know them better. She realizes the reasons for why each of them are the way they are and she finds the best in them. Winn-Dixie's fear of storms results in her "running away" and Opal and her father have to go out in search of him, eventually realizing that he was right under their noses the whole time. The biggest problem, that of the abandonment, is mostly solved by her father telling her about her mother and letting her know that he loves her and that he is so glad that when her mother left, she left Opal with him. Like My Louisiana Sky, all of the problems aren't completely resolved, but at least addressed.

This book was mostly believable, at least for a small town in the past. There are a few things that happened in the book that probably wouldn't have happened in real life, but the majority of the problems were realistic. Some of the issues might've worked themselves out a little too easily, but because this book was written for elementary aged children, I think it was appropriate.



As long as the problems they are reading about are age-appropriate, students of all ages can greatly benefit from the problems they read about in books. Becoming aware of problems that others face not only prepares children for the way the world is, but it also helps them to be compassionate and understanding of others. If the children reading the books have experienced some of the same problems as the characters they are reading about, it helps them to know they are not the only ones dealing with these certain issues. Preparing our children for the world through the problems of characters in books may also keep them from experiencing some of those same problems, teaching them lessons and potentially saving them from unnecessary heartache later in life.

Text and Illustrations

In a successful picture book, the illustrations and text should reinforce each other and create a sense of unity between the visual elements in the story. Here are a few books that I believe do a beautiful job combining the two with excellent results. If you haven't read these books, rush to your nearest library and check them out!

Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School
Mark Teague

On the opening pages of Dear Mrs. LaRue, we read a newspaper article about Ike, canine companion of Mrs. LaRue, who is entering obedience school because of his bad behavior. It looks like an actual newspaper clipping has been cut out and laid on the page. On each spread that follows, there is a letter to Mrs. LaRue from Ike or another newspaper clipping that tells the story. Ike's stories are, of course, just horrible. He says they are treating him terribly and he wants to come home! Accompanying each letter from Ike on the two-page spread are two pictures. One picture is in black and white and illustrates the letter. The other picture is the reality of obedience school, painted in color and showing how plush the place really is! Although there is never a positive word uttered in Ike's letters about the situation, we learn a whole other side to the story from the pictures. Often times in books, we find that the pictures tell the story even more than the words. That is definitely the case with Dear Mrs. LaRue. Teague uses bright colors, juxtaposed against the harsh black and white to let us in on the truth. If we were just reading Ike's words, we would never know what the school was really like and not just the way Ike is perceiving it. Mark Teague is a brilliant artist and a great illustrator who makes great use of color and perspective to tell a fun story.


Julius, the Baby of the World
Kevin Henkes

Julius, the Baby of the World is a charming story that so many of us can relate to. It tells about the relationship between a big sister and little brother immediately following his birth. Lilly is, of course, jealous of Julius and does everything she can think of to get her parents attention off of Julius and back onto her. Henkes use of language in this book is brilliant. I love the dialogue between Lilly, her parents, and Julius. The pictures that Henkes drew illustrate the text well and also give us more detail into what is actually happening. On most of the pages, Henkes has drawn several pictures, each in their own box, in a cartoon-like style. Often, you will even see what Lilly is saying to Julius written above her head, similar to a speech bubble. I think this is one of the most fun details within the illustrations. Lilly's parents tell her that they want Julius to be as extraordinary as she is, so they tell him how beautiful he is and how much they love him all the time. Henkes states next that when no one is looking, Lilly has her own idea. He doesn't tell us what she says through the text, but in the illustration we can see her saying "I hate you" and "You're ugly." He also illustrates pictures that Lilly has drawn within the illustrations to show us how she feels about him. I love his combination of the cartoon style along with the naive style of children's art to tell the story. I am a huge fan of Kevin Henkes' mouse books. They are fun for both children and adults.


Knuffle Bunny
Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny is a great book not necessarily for the story it tells, but for the way the pictures go so well with the story. Willems won a Caldecott Honor for this book, and for good reason! In Knuffle Bunny, Willems uses a graphic media style which isn't seen quite as often as the painterly style of paint, pencil, and/or ink. Part of this book is done in paint, but it's laid over photographs for a collage effect. This book takes place in New York City and the backdrop of each page is a photograph of some part of the city- the outside of their home, a school, the park, and both the outside and inside of a laundromat. The thing that is so interesting and adds so much pop is that all of the people are hand illustrated in bright colors and then put on top of the photos. While using a cartoon style where the people are fairly simple looking, they have still have great detail so that you can see exactly what emotions they are feeling at that moment. This is an excellent picture book that deserved the Caldecott Honor is received.


Officer Buckle and Gloria
Peggy Rathmann

Caldecott Award-winning book Officer Buckle and Gloria is another classic example of illustrations telling a story that the words could never adequately tell. The story is just plain fun. Officer Buckle is a policeman that goes out to schools and gives safety tips to the kids. Officer Buckle, bless his heart, is actually quite boring and the kids never seem to pay much attention until Gloria, the department's new police dog, begins to accompany him on his visits. While the story never talks much about what Gloria does on those visits, the pictures show us without even needing words. Gloria imitates Officer Buckle and acts out the safety tips as they're being presented. Gloria's actions, as well as the students reactions are evident in the illustrations. Without the pictures in this story, so much would be lost. Rathmann uses a naive/cartoon type of style and bright colors in her work, which is really appealing to children and adults alike.


So You Want to be President?
Judith St. George and David Small

Another Caldecott Award-winner, So You Want to be President? is a bit different than the previous books I talked about. This book is non-fiction, while the others have all been fiction books. It's also illustrated in a surrealistic style, which isn't something I usually gravitate towards. David Small has done an excellent job illustrating all of the interesting and fun facts Judith St. George has written about in this book. While all of his pictures look just like the president(s) being discussed on that page, he uses a caricature-like style to add some humor to them. One of my favorite involves lowering one particular president into his bathtub by a crane and another shows a particularly spry president doing a little jig. I'd never have thought of any of our former presidents in a funny way until I read this book. Seeing them illustrated the way they were helped me to realize that presidents are normal people, just like us! The illustrations work beautifully with the text to make a non-fiction children's book accessible and interesting for children and adults.


One other thing I would like to point out is that of these five books, four of them were illustrated by the same person who wrote them. The fifth is an author/illustrator team that works together quite often. I think there is much to be said for an author who can illustrate his own books. While there have been many good books written that out-source their illustrations, it seems to me that often the text and illustrations are most cohesive when done by the same person or at least by a team who often works together. When the vision an author has for his illustrations can come to life by his own hand, there is just something magical that happens.

Love You Forever

Title: Love You Forever

Author: Robert Munsch

Illustrator: Sheila McGraw

Publisher: Firefly Books

Copyright: 1986

ISBN: 0920668364

While I'm not a huge fan of the majority of Robert Munsch's work, Love You Forever is a sweet book of a parent's love for her child. Each night after her baby son is asleep, the mother rocks him, singing "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." Even as the son grows, this continues each night...into elementary school, the teen years, and even moving into his own home. Admittedly it's a bit strange that the mom sneaks into her grown son's home to rock him, but in this story, it works. Eventually, the roles are reversed as the mother grows old and her grown son comes over and sings to her. When he arrives back home, he sneaks into his young daughter's room and begins the tradition over again.

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If you aren't a children's book afficionado, you may not know this, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Sometimes authors write childrens books for adults instead of children. Shocking, isn't it? This is one of those books. I don't really think children would be interested in it at all. Their parents, however, will be touched. I see Love You Forever as a book that was written perhaps to evoke emotion in parents, possibly to help parents realize how short the time is, or to even teach young adults to appreciate their parents more. I don't know for sure, because I haven't researched Munsch's purpose for writing this book. It seems to me, though, that the purpose really isn't all that important. It will touch different people in different ways and each will find their own purpose in the book. I've read or heard this book at least fifty times, and I never fail to let a few tears fall. From it I learned that life is short, parents are irreplaceable, and that bond is not one to be taken lightly. While a child could enjoy the repetitiveness of the song sung throughout the book and might even like the story, I would not recommend this book to read to young children in a classroom setting. I do, however, highly recommend it for adults or even for a parent/child storytime. I dare you not to cry!

Gender Preferences and Book Selection

It has often been said that gender makes a huge difference in book preference. This week, I read "Books & Boys: Gender Preferences and Book Selection" by Deborah Langerman to see just how true the statement is.

Langerman's article in the March 1990 edition of School Library Journal is in response to an article that had been in SLJ the previous year. In the prior article, "Boys and the Five Year Void," Ray Nicolle makes many statements about boys and reading that Langerman finds to be completely unfounded and unsubstantiated. Some of the claims Nicolle makes are that boys aren't reading because there are no books for boys ages 7-12, mothers pick out books for their sons, librarians are either women or gay and control funding for libraries, and insinuates that the books girls read are sickeningly sweet and stupid. Seeing as how the article was written in 1989, I don't have too much memory of that era in the history of children's literature, but Langerman has plenty to say. While she says that much of Nicolle's article was pure opinion, she uses the results of many different studies to make her points.

The only statement Nicolle makes in his article that Langerman finds to be true is that boys and girls have different preferences when it comes to books. According to several studies, girls prefer books where the main character is a girl and vice-versa. Girls also prefer family stories, romance, storybooks, and historical fiction while boys read more books about animals, science, comics, science fiction, etc. Langerman also noted how their reading preferences changed over time. While the boys interests remained about the same, the girls interests changed a bit as they got older.

Another interesting topic Langerman brings up is the gender gap. Around age eight, boys and girls begin to quit associating with each other to associate and identify with others of their own gender. She says that in accordance with this theory, around this time boys begin choosing informational books while girls choose fictional, relational books. However, many feminists and behaviorists feel that this rather the work of society's expectations and found that boys were more flexible in their book selection than girls. While many girls would not read non-fiction or other "boys books," many boys were happy to select fiction in addition to their informational, non-fiction books. While it is obvious that boys and girls have different preferences, no one is sure exactly why and if these preferences change as they age.

One of the statements Nicolle makes in his article is that there are no books for boys ages 7-12. Langerman disagrees with this idea by saying that most books feature males as the main character. In fact, between 1950 and 1990, 65% of Caldecott Medal and Honor books had male main characters while only 35% had female main characters. She did say that according to one study, perhaps the reason it was hard to find books for boys this age is because many of the coming-of-age stories about boys were put on adult lists while these same stories about girls were put on juvenile lists. Langerman also points out that much non-fiction is geared towards boys. She says that science books written in the 1960s were very much aimed at boys to prepare them for science careers. (I wonder if this is why girls now are still less interested in science than boys?)

Citing an article by Frances E. Kazemek, Langerman says that perhaps Nicolle was too worried about adding more books with a "male morality" that include moral imperatives, judgements, rules, rights, and hierarchies of values rather than blending these thoughts with a "female morality" of moral concern for others as well as responsibility to form a "new morality." Because of the "new morality," it may have seemed to Nicolle that there weren't enough "boys books" out there. Langerman does note that around this same time, Booklist printed a list called "Popular Reading: Mostly Male" that listed 54 books for boys in the very age range Nicolle claimed that there were no books for. She concludes by saying that we must be very careful when selecting materials, to make sure that there are books to read each and every audience.


Langerman, Deborah. "Books & Boys: Gender Preferences and Book Selection." School Library Journal Mar. 1990: 132-36.

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Children and Poetry

When it comes to poetry, there are certain types that children like and dislike. Narrative poems, limericks, poems that rhyme, funny poems, and poems with animals are just a few types of poems that children most often like. Haiku, poems with imagery, figurative language, and poems about nature are types of poetry that students generally don’t care for as much.

I have to say that for the most part, I can understand and agree with these preferences. The types of poems that children prefer are ones they can understand and are easy for them to relate to. They also don’t require interpretation or the need for much thought. They can enjoy reading and reciting them and aren’t expected to share their thoughts or opinions on what the poems mean. These types of poems usually don’t mean anything more than just exactly what they say.

Another type of poetry that most students like, regardless of their age, is music. I definitely agree with this. Not only is it enjoyable because of the rhyme and rhythm, it is also fairly easy to memorize because of the instrumentation behind the words. I don’t have the songwriting (or perhaps poetry writing) talent myself, but I have great respect for those who do. Music is one of the biggest parts of my life and I have always loved poetry through song in many different genres.

Poetry that children do not like, such as haiku, and poetry with imagery or figurative language are generally much harder for them to understand. When a poem uses imagery or figurative language, children can’t relate to it and most likely cannot understand it. As we’ve been discussing age appropriateness in different genres of literature throughout the semester, it is important to remember age appropriateness in poetry as well. These particular types of poetry that children usually don’t like aren’t appropriate for young children because they cannot understand or enjoy them. It seems that even as children get older, though, they still don’t like these types of poetry for the most part. When poetry has meaning, teachers often make students analyze the poetry which can build resentment in students. If students do not enjoy the poetry, they do not want to spend their time studying or memorizing it.

One exception in my own life is that of children disliking haiku. It is quite possible that most children dislike haiku, but I always enjoyed reading and writing haiku. The guidelines set forth when writing haiku are very specific and I felt it was easier for me to write than the typical rhyming poems children are asked to write. In this week’s course readings, though, we learned that haiku is actually much deeper and less simplistic than many people think. While the subject matter may actually be less simple than I thought, the nature of haiku is still quite simple, with it’s 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Even to this day, there is something about haiku that I find calming.

This week I read a particularly good poetry book for young children called Dog Days: Rhymes Around the Year by Jack Prelutsky. This book is written from the point of view of a dog and has a poem for each month of the year. The January poem is about snow, the April poem is about blooming flowers, the October poem is about Halloween, and so forth. The poems are quick and easy four liners, mostly written in an AABB rhyming pattern. Because of their simplicity, they would be easy for kids to pick up fairly quickly. The pictures are very colorful, and each spread illustrates dogs as well as a few people doing whatever that poem was about. I know that kids would really like this book to read in one sitting or to even spread out over the year. One of my favorite aspects of this book is that the poems could be read from the book like a story or they could be pulled out and used on their own. I think I may use these poems this year in my early childhood school library. Because the poems are written thematically by month, they would be perfect for my students to learn. Because of it’s simplicity, it’s pictures, and the fun way this book was written, I would definitely recommend it to students grades PK-2, their teachers, parents, and even their dogs.

Personal Bias and Book Selection Criteria

In Chapter 1 of Darigan, "Why We Read," the authors discuss personal bias in making book selection decisions on page 16. In the Jacobs and Tunnell, Chapter 2, page 10 is the same list of 9 reasons often given for selection criteria. What is your personal reaction to the criteria? How important do you consider these issues when you evaluate literature?

I feel like the list of criteria presented on page 16 for selecting books seems overly simplified. When I skim through the list, I think they make a lot of sense. When I start to think deeper, though, I can come up with an argument for a reason why that criteria isn't necessary for at least eight of the nine "rules." Choosing a book to read to a class is so much more than just going through a list of criteria. When selecting a book, I need to keep in mind the purpose I hope to accomplish or lesson I hope to teach and my audience.

While books that teach lessons are wonderful, I think sometimes it's okay for a book to be in existence just because it's a fun story. I'd say that in most of the novels I read, there are small lessons interspersed throughout, but rarely is there an overlying lesson throughout each book. When choosing books to read with your class, I think that most of the time the lesson should either teach a lesson or a concept. And truly, most children's lit does. Every once in awhile, though, I think it's okay to read a book that doesn't have a specific lesson in mind. If a book can teach a good lesson, be well written, and engage the reader, I think it's definitely a winner.

Large, colorful illustrations can often enhance a story so that it is even better than it would've been on it's own. I do not, however, think that books always have to have illustrations that are both large and colorful. Sometimes black and white illustrations can make an even greater impact than color illustrations, depending on the style. For example, I love the use of black, white, and red shades Ian Falconer uses in his book Olivia. I wouldn't call those illustrations colorful at all, yet they are some of my most favorite in children's literature. I think the most important part of the illustrations is that they make an impact, be it through color, size, or style.

The harshness of life is something that many children have to deal with each day and of course we want to protect our children as much as possible. Harshness, however, is a part of life. I think that often when we see harsh sides of life in books, these are the most teachable moments we will experience through literature. I think of books like A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams, where the mom, grandmother, and daughter all live together and experience their home burning in a fire. Another good example of the harshness of life is The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, where a little girl has to leave her family and go live with her uncle in the city. While these stories all have hard parts to deal with, in the end, everything turns out beautifully. When we skip over harshness in stories, we teach our children that life is easy and there are no problems. This isn't something I want my children to grow up thinking. I believe it is important, though, that if a story has harsh aspects, it should at least have a positive outcome.

I completely agree that an absence of swearing in literature is desirable. I don't even like to read profane words in the adult fiction that I read. This is an absolutely necessary piece of criteria in my selection of children's books. As a former kindergarten teacher, even words like, "stupid," "dumb," and "shut up" make me cringe because I don't want my students repeating them!

Length of a book isn't something that I am too picky about. If I want to read the book in one sitting, then it should be short enough to hold the kids attention for that long. If it's a book I really want to read them that is too long, I simply split it up. As far as chapter books go, I don't think the length is important at all. Whether or not the story is engaging is so much more important than how long it takes me to read it!

As far as vocabulary goes, I think it's important that students be able to understand what they're reading. If they can't understand, they will get bored or frustrated and quit. That said, it's also important to use words here and there that students can guess through the use of context clues. When we "dumb down" language too much, we are hurting the students just as much as we are by using language that is way above their heads.

Familiar content is huge when selecting a book. We want our students to be able to make connections to the text and if they aren't familiar with what they're reading about, it's hard to make connections. I think there are times, however, when it's okay for a book to be unfamiliar if we are introducing a new concept through that book. In those situations, it's especially good to look for different areas in which the students can make connections, even in small ways.

I think that political correctness is important in books that we are going to be reading to students at school. We want them to be accepting of others and show no hostility towards people who are different. I believe books can be such a great way of teaching these lessons to kids. However, there are some things that probably aren't politically correct- Bible stories, etc- that I would read to my own children at home but not to students at school.

I believe that when selecting books for children, we should keep in mind the greater purpose rather than just checking off the criteria on the list. Just because a book doesn't meet one of the aforementioned "rules" doesn't mean we should write it off altogether. In general, this list is good so long as we don't let it completely take over the way we make our selections.

Gender Roles in Literature

Using either or both mystery and series books, look at the roles of the characters. Were these roles stereotypical? Why or why not? What problems--if any--do you see with today's children being exposed to stereotypical gender roles?

This week, I read books from the American Girls and Junie B. Jones series. Each of these books definitely showed gender roles- some stereotypical and some not so stereotypical. The two American Girls books I read were set in the 1930s and 1940s. It probably goes without saying that these books portrayed gender roles more stereotypically than the Junie B. Jones books, set in modern day.

The first American Girls book I read was about Kit, living in the Great Depression era. Her father goes to work while her mother stays home and does fun things like throw garden parties. Not long into the book, though, her father loses his job. Even after he loses the job, the gender roles still remain for the most part. Father goes out during the day to search for a job while mother thinks of things she can do at home to earn some money. She ultimately decides to rent rooms in their house to boarders. Although this would require her to work, it is the traditional female role- cooking, cleaning, etc. While the traditional gender roles are definitely there as far as the parents go, Kit isn’t interested in the stereotypical girly pastimes. She and her friend create a newspaper which they write stories for each day. As far as I know, there weren’t many women reporters during this time period.

The second American Girls book I read was about Molly, living in the World War II era. Although these gender roles vary a bit from the gender roles in Kit’s era, I still think they are very stereotypical. Father goes off to war while mother works at the Red Cross. Because mother is working all day, there is a housekeeper that lives with them to do the cooking, cleaning, and take care of the children when mother isn’t home. Of course the housekeeper is female, because that vocation is fairly stereotypical. It certainly would’ve been during that time period, anyway. Although mother is the head of the house while father is away, the gender roles are still much the same as they would’ve been before the war. During this time period, they just shifted from fathers working and mothers taking care of the home to fathers at war and mothers taking care of the home front. Molly and her siblings are just typical children.

In the Junie B. Jones series, the gender roles are still fairly stereotypical, but they have evolved from 1940s gender roles into a more modern version of gender roles. Both father and mother work outside of the home. They both play a fairly equal role in taking care of the children when they aren’t at work. It seems that mom is still a bit more involved with the children than dad, but not extremely. While mom and dad are working, a retired grandpa comes and takes care of the kids. On occasion grandma helps out, but it is usually grandpa who watches them. This is definitely not the stereotypical role. Generally, it is a female who takes care of the children. It is especially strange to me to see an older man watching them, but I love the relationship that Junie B. has with Grandpa Frank Miller. As far as the children go in these books, they are fairly typical. Junie B. loves to do pretty much anything, whether it be considered more of a “girl thing” or a “boy thing.”

I really don’t have a problem with children being exposed to stereotypical gender roles. Gender roles are a part of society, whether we like them or not. Honestly, I think it’s good for children to see a balance of stereotypical roles and non-stereotypical roles. In historical fiction especially, children need to see an accurate depiction of family life. If authors of historical fiction pretended that men and women were equal and shared all responsibility, it would be an inaccurate representation. In modern fiction, I think authors should be accurate as well and show how these roles have changed in some ways, yet in some ways remain the same. While it is common for women to work outside of the home and for parents to share many responsibilities, we still more often see stay at home moms than stay at home dads. It is important for girls to have hopes, dreams, and goals, realizing they can be anything they want to be. In the same way, it’s important for boys to respect girls and not expect a wife to be a housekeeper. I don’t think that learning about traditional gender roles is going to keep either of these things from happening, especially since traditional gender roles have evolved so much.

Library Censorship

West Bend, Wisconsin has been undergoing a major book challenge over the past several months. In February, a couple from the town petitioned that certain books dealing with G.LBT issues as well as other s.exually explicit issues be labeled as such and moved from the Young Adult to the Adult section. This couple formed a group called West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries with other members of the community to support their cause. To further the controversy, the Christian Civil Liberties Union demanded that one book in particular, Baby Be-bop by Francesca Lia Block, be publicly burned. They also requested monetary damages as members of this group had been “injured” by it. In response, another group called West Bend Parents for Free Speech was formed to counter these petitions and requests. Ultimately, the library board voted to make no changes in the location or labeling of these books.

It seems that the main allegation coming from the WBSCL is that the West Bend Library is no longer safe for their children because of the types of books they are making available to children. Because of this, they requested the books to be labeled and moved. The WBPFS argues that it is up to the parent to do the parenting and that by moving these books, they are taking away their right to parent as well as restricting access to books that could be beneficial to other children.

To be honest, I don’t know exactly what I would do if this were happening in my community or library. I’ve never given much thought to the banning or censoring of books before this class. It is a particularly tough subject for me, because I am coming at it from the viewpoint of a school librarian with responsibilities to fulfill. At the same time, I am a conservative to moderate thinker who would (in a perfect world) not want my children exposed to s.exually explicit material before the appropriate time- regardless of the orientation. How can one be true to their profession and their beliefs at the same time? I think if I were in this situation, I would try to meet both parties somewhere in the middle.

As far as the WBSCL goes, I completely understand where they are coming from. It seems to make sense that books they consider to be age inappropriate should be on the adult shelves rather than the young adult shelves. One might consider these YA books to be appropriate for that age level, but who is the YA category really aimed at? I searched for Baby Be-bop on amazon.com to find out more about it and found that Publishers Weekly deemed it appropriate for ages 12 and up, while School Library Journal felt it would be appropriate for grade 10 and up, which is 15-16 year old students. So who decides what is the appropriate age to be perusing the YA section? I certainly wouldn’t want my 12 year-old reading about a g.ay teen being violently beaten nearly to the point of death. I simply don’t believe it’s appropriate. However, if my 18 year-old child (legally an adult) wanted to read this, I think they would be able to handle it just fine.

As librarians know, children like to read about people their same age or older than them. Because of this, younger students- say middle school age- often check out books from the Young Adult section while true young adults are already reading books from the Adult section. Therein lies my problem and where I agree with the WBSCL. I believe that s.exually explicit YA books will probably be read by students for whom they are not age appropriate. For this reason, I can see them being moved to the Adult section. I do not, however, think they should be labeled as s.exually explicit.

At the same time, I agree with the WBPFS that it is up to the individual parent to parent their own children. Parents should be guiding their children through life, offering love, help, encouragement, and support as well as monitoring. The hole in the WBPFS’s argument is that there are MANY parents who aren’t monitoring their children. As a teen, my mother always checked my stack of books before we left the library to make sure my choices at least appeared to be appropriate. This was her right as a parent. She was parenting me. The problem is that today many parents either aren’t around to monitor their children, think they are too busy to monitor their children, or they don’t even stop to think about what their children might be getting into when they open a book. I agree it’s the parents’ job to parent, but the reality is that there are many parents who don’t. Should we let their children be exposed to inappropriate topics simply because they aren’t doing their parental duty? For someone who is not around these non-parented children, it would be easy to negate this idea. As a public school educator, though, I work with these children every day.

There is a fine line between censoring and advocating. I won’t go into the details of the demands from the Christian Civil Liberties Union, because I feel they are going over the top by demanding that the book Baby Be-bop be removed from the library. This is certainly censorship. However, by moving age inappropriate books to a more age appropriate setting, we may actually be advocating for children whose parents aren’t parenting them by monitoring their choices. Books are strong tools and when children read inappropriate material, it is forever ingrained in their minds. Children are impressionable and I’d hate to think that a child is scarred by something I could have prevented. While I understand that I can’t protect every child, I can at least try to protect the ones in my immediate community. I don’t think I would be falling down on my duty as a librarian to move these titles to the Adult section. If a student wants a particular title or subject matter, he or she can locate it by finding it on the OPAC or by asking a librarian for help.

I’m not sure how much the West Bend Library Board really entertained the petitions given by the WBSCL, but from the footage we watched and the ultimate decision that was made- that nothing would be labeled or moved- I kind of doubt they gave much thought to the request. I think the SBSCL was fighting a losing battle from the beginning, but I do admire them for having the courage to speak up about something they felt was inappropriate for their children.