Pandora Kat's comments (member since Sep 26, 2008)

Pandora Kat's comments from the Banned Books group.

It's a great book. This is second read through of the book. The first time I read it to see if we could keep it in the children section. We ended up sending it to the young adult section of the library.

This time I could read the book for pure enjoyment. I forgot how funny, sad, and truthful the book was. It is great book. It has a lot to offer. It is one of those great YA books that also has a lot to say to adults.

Unfortunately because the book is so honest it is also going to get in trouble. In the end though it could be a plus. More people will probably end up reading it.

Finished the book. Not to sure what to think about it. I know it is suppose to be a counter culture book but, still I found the view of pychology a bit troubling. I'm not sure how to put it into words. I'm just giving my frist impression of the book and looking to figure thing out.

The suggestion of the Lubar series looks promising. I got one book on interlibrary loan. I will probably be ordering it for the library.

I suppose you can never find the totally safe book. Though I was thinking of his less explosive books like Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid and Won't Know Till I Get There. I work in the Children's department so I don't know a lot of his YA material.

I agreed that the book would be a great one to use in a class. It has been awhile since I read this book. I'm going to reread it for the book disscussion.

What I was trying to say is that I don't agree with the objections I could see one coming with this book at least for the age group I deal with which is under twelve.

Thanks Lindori I will look into your suggestions. At my library though we perfer novels to short stories. They seemed to work best. As for the teen book I have brought a few down such as Shusterman and Sleator. The trick is too find ones which don't have too much dating in them.

Cool I can hardly wait.

Intresting site. I love the warning at the begining. I guess these guys never heard of William Castle - film producer who knew the best way to get people to see a dud of a movie was to put a warning label on it.

I'm a children librarian. My sub specialty is finding and reading the horror books for children so we have something else to offer horror fans besides Goosebumps. Goosebumps is okey especially for younger readers but I like having other options especially for older readers.

I joined the banned books because as a librarian I don't like to see books banned. There have been books that I love and others that I hate. However books are a personal thing and you need different books for different people. I don't believe anyone has the right prevent people from reading a book if they want to. It also burns how stupid some reasons can be for banning a book.

I'm also a member of the Dumas group and the Steinbeck group.

I do have a tendency to see things black and white but, I do try to temper it. My main point though was providing a way for children books not to have go against adult books. For professional reasons I have a keen interest in talking about children literature.

Sorry I wasn't able to take part in the current selection but, I was away when the choices were made and didn't have an opportunity to read the books. This is another reason why I think have the books broken down by children and adult would be a good idea. If one can't finish the adult book the person will probably be able to finish the children/YA book.

How about Baby Be-Bop as a YA book. It is about a gay boy coming to terms with being gay and try to find a way to tell his grandmother.

Of course Lolita is an adult book. You are going have to use some common sense with this. My point though is most books that take place in school settings with teenage or younger characters are children/YA books. You focal point is who it telling the story and who is the main audience.

Hope this does sound to harsh but, I think for the most part the idea of focusing on the main character (narrator) will work.

I so love Baby Be-Bop. It was my favorite of the Weetzie Bat series. It just make me so angry that people could be so hurtful and hateful. I wonder if the human race will ever wake up to the fact that hate is wrong and not what Jesus wanted.

You basically reposted what you had posted in your first post. I'm glad that the book is staying on the list. To me even more important then the message was the fact the book give insight on a culturally group that people don't think about a lot - at least on the East Coast. It has been awhile since I read and i'm not up on the details. Still I do remember that the book did have material that an overly consertative parnet wouldn't like. That being said were you suprised that parents objected to it?

What really saddens me is that some parnets will rant and rave over sex and then have no problems with their kids watching a super violent movie.

What about The Absoltely True Story of a Part Time Indian?

Actually I'm not suprised that this one is up for banning. I read it myself when it come into the children's department. We ended up sending it to the YA department. It is an important book and says a lot. It made me think a lot about the Inidans and how little I truly know about them.

That said the book does have a lot of things that would raise eyebrowns especially with consertative parnets. That is why we decieded we couldn't keep it in the children's section. I'm not saying I agree that the book should be banned. Just saying some banning catches you by surprise (The Outsiders, Harry Potter) and other books you just know they are going to banned. (And Tango Makes Three, The Chocolate War) This book it was only a matter of time. I'm suprised the English department didn't see this one coming.

As for finding a book boys would read there are a lot of choices. Walter Dean Myers also writes for boys, The Outiders is a fairly safe choice nowadays, and there is always White Fang or Call of the Wild to fall back on. Being Jack London you can always defend it by being a classic.

As for the labeling idea that is completely nuts and unworkable. As it is now we still have it is hard enough rating movies. A independent horror movie will have a much harder time than say a Spielberg movie which is why we are stuck now with PG-13. Rating books could be a nightmare. Besides hasn't they ever heard of the sugar and ants idea. Slap a R on a book and you will make it a bestseller.

Forgot about where the classics end up. The division line should be main character. If the main character is eighteen or under then the book is a children/YA book. If older then eighteen it is adult book even if it gets on a reading list. The problem with focusing on school list is in high school (9th - 12th grades they uses titles that are also read by adults.) I think you would find this a simple way to divide the books and also allow for two very different choices.


PS Thanks for the work you put in to get this done.

I would be intrested in such a group. Looking over the ALA list I could suggest: John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Man and Grapes of Wrath, Jack London's Call of the Wild (read White Fang be thinking of Call of the Wild), Stephen King's Carrie, S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders (Did my term paper on why it shouldn't be banned), Robert Cromier's Fade and Judy Blume's Blubber.

Kelly

Thanks for the support. It is what I was trying to say. The oppression of the GLBT community is different and I wasn't trying to say who gets it worse. The point is any kind of oppression is wrong. It is true none of us is truly free unless all of are. What people should focus on is not who gets it worse but, more hey I can understand your pain of being discriminated aganist because I was too.

As for Amazon you probably have a point that they probably didn't think this through. I am glad though people reacted. Will probably make the next company think things through.

The marriage ban is a very effective form of oppersion when you consider the effects. Example if a gay person wants to say goodbye to their dying partner in a hospital they are dependent on the mood of that parnter's family. Since they are not married they are not family and the gay person can be denied vistation rights. The GLBT community also faces discrimination in inhertiance rights since no marriage no inhertiance. Insurance can be a nightmare to obtain. Not to mention that with no marriage there is no way to seek the protection of divorce when the realtionship ends.

I'm not an expert in these matters but, I do know the oppersion of the GLBT community sickens me. There are people who think it is good idea to beat up or kill people in the GLBT community. What especially sickens me is the hatred is supported by "religion". I'm not an atheist but, there are times I can understand their point of view. I don't mean to be down on religion but, after seeing the video For the Bible Tells Me So it is hard to be calm about this matter.

As for Amazon I have to agree with Monique. I do find it believeable that they thought they could make the "Christians" happy and not have to worry about the other side.

Hey look at the Democratic party. Both Gore and Kerry sold the GLBT community out because they were too afraid of the right. So, yeah the GLBT community may have great jobs but, that is not the same as being equal or being treated right.

I wasn't trying to compare the oppressions. Methods of oppression vary but, the hurt and pain is the same. There are not different water fountains but, if you were of the GLBT community which church would you go to? Many churches say GLBT will burn in hell unless they deny who they are. There are even groups that promise they can fix homosexuality despite the fact the medical community says they can't. Parents of GLBT children have been know to cut them off. GLBT teens have a higher sucide rate then they peers. So, there is pain and hurt different but, also the same.

What I meant though by comment of the fifties is that we are now facing the time when people are not asking should rights be given to the GLBT community but, are instead asking when. This is akin to what was happening during the Civil Rights movement. Slowly more and more people became convinced of the justice of the cause. That is also when the fighting become more violent.

Yes, the GLBT community is gaining ground but, it is going to be a a tough fight. In some way even tougher because it is not just social norms that has to be changed. But, I'm trying not to get into that argument.

If the the glitch was just adult material than how American Pyscho is okey and not Unfriendly Fire. Reading the article I don't see any evidence that this was a simple computer mistake.