Sarah Ockler's Blog, page 6

Banned Books Week Roundup: Group Hug!

As Banned Books Week draws to a close this weekend, I'm taking a step back. I'm taking a deep breath. I'm looking back on everything that's happened since the Wesley Scroggins book challenge news broke, conveniently right before the start of BBW, and I'm saying two little words to everyone involved: thank you. If you're reading banned books, tweeting about SpeakLoudly, making sure your schools and libraries support free choice, talking to your friends about the books you love, visiting this blog — even if it's your first time here — you're involved in the conversation, and YES, I'm talking to you. So I'll say it again, just so we're clear: thank you.

What a week. What an incredible, enlightening, exhausting, crazy, emotional, tough, amazing week — a week for which I'm more grateful than any words in the English dictionary can convey. Still, I'm a writer — I have to at least try to find the right ones, no? Here goes.

I don't know what will happen in Republic — whether the books in question will remain on the shelves of the school library, in the curriculum, or on the recommended reading lists, or whether they'll be yanked. But thanks to you, I do know that regardless of the outcome of this particular challenge, people came together, and wonderful things happened. News of the Republic challenge reached outlets all over the world, including news and print media across Missouri, the Guardian UK, the New York Times book blog, Huffington Post, Slate, Jezebel, and tons of other places online and in print. Hundreds of bloggers helped spread the word about banned books, participating in and hosting giveaways of Speak, Slaughterhouse Five, Twenty Boy Summer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and other recently challenged books. People wrote editorials and emails and letters to the school board. College students staged protests and public readings. And the most heartbreakingly wonderful thing of all — people shared their personal stories about how Speak and books like it touched their lives, even decades after their own horrifying experiences with rape and abuse left them silenced.

The universe works in mysterious ways. By trying to hide our books, Wesley Scroggins pushed them right out into the light and brought authors, bloggers, librarians, teachers, readers, parents, publishers, and everyone who loves literature together in support of free choice. (And check this out… just a few nights after the news broke and the SpeakLoudly campaign took off, I was waiting to board a red eye from Denver. Just as we approached the gate, the door next to us opened to deplane an arriving flight. I watched the passengers march by as I told my husband about Speak, and the universe suddenly smiled down on us… Laurie Halse Anderson passed by me in the crowd. I couldn't be certain it was her, because come ON! So I boarded my flight without saying hello. The next morning, however, I confirmed with Laurie via Twitter that it was in fact her — she'd been en route to Denver for a conference, and her plane was three hours delayed, causing us for a brief moment to be in the same place at the same time.

Laurie and I live like 2000 miles apart. What are the chances, right?!

Then again, what are the chances that because someone despised my work, I made tons of new Twitter and blogger friends, all of us standing up to support challenged books and continuing to bond over favorite reads and other literary hot topics? Yes — hate, hypocrisy, and censorship can be extremely divisive, but they can also be great unifiers, bringing people together who may not have otherwise met. Good chances or not, that's exactly what happened last week.

You were all a part of it, and now I'm sending a special shout-out to you and everyone who made such an incredible difference in my life this week.

To my friends and fellow authors of the 2009 Debutantes who took a unified stand against censorship mere moments after the Twenty Boy Summer challenge news broke with the Debs Speak Loudly contest, thanks for having my back. If we lived in the wild West, you'd totally be my posse. Only instead of gunfights, we'd organize literary slams and reading duels. And rather than those uncomfortable old corsets and chaps, we'd rock our work PJs and yoga pants (I'm sorry I just outed everyone, but that's the truth of the life as a glamorous author)! By the way, the winners of Debs Speak Loudly have been announced, so if you entered the contest, be sure to check your email or LJ messages to see if you've won!

To my friends at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers who jumped in to support Debs Speak Loudly by donating even more copies of Twenty Boy Summer, thank you for your ongoing support, encouragement, and virtual hugs. Jen and Victoria, Anna and Frankie would definitely call you the cool Moms.

To Paul Hankins, who supported Twenty Boy Summer from the first whispers of a challenge and started the #SpeakLoudly campaign that quickly became an international movement, you are a rock star of a teacher. Together with David Macinnis Gill, Paul ensures that the hard work of supporting intellectual freedom and the right to speak loudly will continue long after the Republic challenge is resolved via SpeakLoudly.org. Go check it out!

To the teachers of Republic and other school districts who tirelessly work for intellectual freedom in and out of the classroom, you're an inspiration to students and readers everywhere, and I thank you for your passion and dedication. You may not be able to speak loudly about what's going on behind closed doors, but we know you're fighting for us, and we are grateful.

To the parents and readers of Republic who emailed their support and formed banned book clubs and discussion groups, who are creating blogs and films and editorials about speaking loudly, who encourage reading and free choice in their homes, thank you for showing us that Wesley Scroggins doesn't speak for you.

To the bloggers, readers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, authors, friends, and book lovers everywhere who support authors and books through your blogs, your jobs, your hobbies, your recommendations, your words, thank you. As long as you're here taking a stand, reading books, sharing them with the world, censorship will never get a firm hold in our communities.

To Ellen Hopkins, Sherman Alexie, Lauren Myracle, Chris Crutcher, and contemporary young adult authors everywhere who continue to write the important, hard stories even in the face of bigotry, hypocrisy, name-calling, and censorship, thank you for refusing to be silenced.

To Wesley Scroggins, who brought us all together despite his best efforts to divide. Thanks for reminding us how important it is to take a stand for intellectual freedom.

And finally, a special message for Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak is and will always be an inspiration, a voice, a truth, a lifesaver. Thank you for Melinda's story. Thank you for speaking loudly.

Group hug, everyone. Group hug.

*awwwww*

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

Now, how about those Wesley Scroggins Filthy Books Prize Packs? Stay tuned for my next post to see who won!

Filed under: books, reading, writing Tagged: book banning, censorship, SpeakLoudly

Think Authors Profit From Book Banning?

Lots of people think that authors want to have our books challenged. We've all joked about the merits of stirring up a little controversy to boost sales, right? I know I have, because on the surface, yeah, it's pretty cool to write a book that pisses someone off so badly he wants to hide it from everyone else. And that's often the fastest way to ensure it will never be hidden. Banned books are discussed in the media, through social networks, in bookstores and libraries, in schools, at home, and soon people are flocking to stores and libraries to see what all the fuss is about. Sounds great for authors, right?

Hmmm.

When Ellen Hopkins recently blogged about the experience of being booted (i.e., censored) from the Humble Teen Book Festival, some people accused her of intentionally trying to profit from the situation. I was shocked. I mean, Ellen obviously cares about teens. She cares about sharing powerful stories in ways that save lives. Why would she try to profit from a situation that was preventing her from interacting with the very teens who so desperately need her work? Why did these people find it appropriate to personally attack an author who's trying to do some good for teens in this world? Baffling.

Ellen, of course, handled (and continues to handle, each time her books are challenged) the whole thing with class and determination, an example to us all. But it really got me thinking about how I might react if my book was ever challenged.

I never expected I'd get to test that theory so soon.

In reading about Ellen's struggles against censorship, I came across a story about a conference in which Judy Blume spoke about book banning. An author in the audience asked her for tips on how to get his own book challenged, and Judy replied something like:

"Your book will be challenged. And you won't like it."

People laughed. But you know what? Aunt Judy was absolutely right.

Book Challenges Actually, Um, Suck

When I heard about Wesley Scroggins challenging Twenty Boy Summer as part of his 29-page manifesto against sex education, separation of church and state, evolution, and groundbreaking books like Speak and Slaughterhouse Five, I wasn't excited at the prospect of increased sales. I didn't do my happy dance at the thought of increased media exposure. Instead, my heart sank in a way I didn't think possible over one man's personal agenda. He said my work — something I'd put my heart and soul and years of my life into creating — was immoral, filthy, and un-Christian (the implication being that I personally am immoral, filthy, etc.). Ouch.

I don't deny him the right to his opinion, and if he would've shared it in an email to me or a public book review on Goodreads, I would've shrugged it off, like I must with any negative review. But Scroggins didn't post a review or give me dreaded one-star rating on Amazon. He didn't even read the book. He's simply attempting to remove it — along with the other books — from the public school library. He's attempting to infringe on the intellectual freedoms of the student body, parent children who are not his own, and disempower teens by sweeping the discussion and validation of their very real issues under the rug.

Essentially, the message he's sending to kids in Republic, Missouri — including his own kids, who don't even attend the public school — is this:

We don't care about you. We don't want to discuss your problems because they don't exist. If you're the victim or rape or assault, it's your fault. Shut up. Do not SPEAK of it. And if you're a "good, clean, moral, Christian kid," you obviously aren't capable of reasoned thought, because reading these books will brainwash you into experimenting with alcohol and sex when you otherwise wouldn't have known these vices existed.

When the dust settles and this issue is resolved, whether the books are burned in the Republic school parking lot by Scorggins and his cronies, or put front and center on every bookshelf in the state by champions of literary choice, Scroggins' attitude still disgusts me. It outrages me. Hate me and my work all you want, but in this country, you don't get to do it for other people. Calling for institutionalized censorship of any kind is an outrage, and Judy was right. I don't like it one bit.

Now on to this so-called financial profiteering. I was inspired to blog about this today after reading Book Banning for Profit. Take a look so you have the whole picture, then come back. I'll wait.

I agree with the author's point that the teachers standing up for our books in Republic should absolutely be involved in the conversation and in sharing their important perspectives on what's going on inside the school walls. What incenses me about the article, however, is the assertion that Wesley Scroggins "might as well have written a check to those authors." That the controversy has resulted in "money for a beautiful webpage called 'Speak Loudly.' Moving up 2,000 spots on the Amazon seller list." The author goes on to say:

"Frankly, shouldn't some of those who have co-opted this issue for their own profit write a thank you note to Mr. Scroggins and to the teachers of Republic. I think they can do better than send 20 books. These authors and supporters of YA lit do believe in protecting our right to read, but let's not overlook the profit to be made from being a part of this conversation."

Profit being made? I know that the Speak Loudly web site is a labor of love for David Macinnis Gill, who hosts and maintains the site out of his own pocket. Same goes for Paul Hankins and the #speakloudly campaign he so bravely spearheaded.

And as for my personal profits from this, well…

*scratches head*

*looks in wallet*

*looks under couch cushions*

*scratches head again*

Fuzzy Math

Donating copies of challenged books is not something authors do for profit or fame. We do it to ensure that readers still have access to books that are being challenged or banned and to meet a library's newly increased demand for books that are suddenly being debated and discussed in the local media.

Consider the numbers here. I can't speak for Laurie, but for me, to donate 20 paperback copies of Twenty Boy Summer out of my own pocket, I'd have to sell more than 200 paperback copies at full price at my current royalty rate to cover my purchase and shipping costs. To donate hardcovers, I'd have to sell almost 400 of those copies. And since Twenty Boy Summer is my first book and I haven't yet earned out my initial advance, I won't see any royalties for quite a while, despite the momentary jump in sales this controversy may have sparked. So while I'm grateful that Wesley Scroggins has brought my book and the others into the spotlight despite his attempts to bury them, thereby earning me some new readers who might never have otherwise heard about Twenty Boy Summer, that spotlight won't last forever, and it won't pay my bills. If it did, I certainly wouldn't be celebrating the long-term notoriety and increased cash flow. I'd be stocking up on duct tape and canned goods because folks, if a quiet little book like mine can be challenged or banned on that level, free society as we know it is over.

Time is Money

I'm self-employed. Writing, whether its fiction or corporate freelance, is my sole source of income. My corporate rates are upwards of $100 an hour. Since Scroggins publicly voiced his opinion, I've spent entire work days — going into week two, actually — not working on my usual income-generating projects, but responding to emails, phone and print interview requests, Tweets, blog posts, news article commentary, and other information requests sparked by the news in Missouri. I'm happy to be involved in defending intellectual freedom and proud to be in such good company as Laurie Halse Anderson and Kurt Vonnegut, and I won't deny that all this effort has increased visibility for my book. But to earn back the full investment of my time in managing this issue, I'd have to sell over 5,000 full price copies of Twenty Boy Summer (and counting). When you're not Stephenie Meyer or J.K. Rowling, that's a lot of books, my friends.

War is Good for the Economy

Yes, book challenges are controversial and controversy increases publicity, which often increases sales. But saying that authors are eager to profit from challenges or bans is a bit like saying war is good for the economy. Whenever a book is challenged, someone — either in an official capacity or not — is advocating the challenge of basic intellectual freedoms and free choice. Someone is advocating his or her personal right to make reading decisions for other people. Someone is advocating censorship. It doesn't matter if challenged books see a bump in sales when the sole reason for that bump is a potential loss of freedom, realized or not.

As an author of a recently challenged book, I will not trade freedom for profit, even if the math was on my side.



Filed under: books, writing Tagged: book banning, censorship, Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, SpeakLoudly, Twenty Boy Summer, Wesley Scroggins

I Speak Loudly for SPEAK: Video

After sharing many thoughts on the Wesley Scroggins wingnuttery here and here, I have a few more things to say today as part of Hot Topic Tuesday with The Contemps, specifically in defense of Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK.

(Cheers to fellow writer, friend, and Lighthouse faculty member Jennifer Itell, who introduced me to SPEAK several years ago as part of our young adult novel workshop curriculum. Jenny knows a kick ass book when she sees it, and thanks to her, so do I.)

Here's what the...

Win a Wesley Scroggins Filthy Books Prize Pack!

The outpouring of support from the book loving community over the Wesley Scroggins Crazytrain Manifesto has been amazing, especially through the #SpeakLoudly Twitter campaign. As a gesture of thanks to Dr. Scroggins for reminding me and thousands of others about the awesomeness of challenged books, I'm giving away two Filthy Books Prize Packs, containing one copy of each of his challenged "filthy, immoral" books, including:

SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by the masterful Kurt Vonnegut,
SPEAK by...

On Book Banning Zealots & Ostriches

Most of you know I'm getting pretty riled up about this whole censorship thing. There was the Ellen Hopkins un-invite from the Humble Texas book event. The Stockton, MO banning of Sherman Alexie's THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN. Then the news that TWENTY BOY SUMMER was being challenged in a Missouri school library because one parent thought the title was "promiscuous."

One parent's challenge of TBS isn't a big deal, really. But it speaks to the larger issues of censorship...

What Censorship Teaches Kids

There are lots of ways censorship sinks its teeth into the YA community. My favorite tell-it-like-it-is author and poet Ellen Hopkins was recently uninvited from a teen book festival in Humble, TX because a parent objected to the content of her books (and apparently to Ellen as a person). Conversely, TWENTY BOY SUMMER was just challenged (and possibly pulled — still waiting for more details) in a high school library not because someone objected to the content, but because "the title sounds ...

Friday Fun: Why I Left Corporate

Just another reason I thank my lucky stars every day that I get to spend my time writing for teens instead of working in an office.

Happy Friday, all!

Filed under: grab bag

How to Kill Your Muse: Too Much Truth in Fiction

A recent tweet by author and D4EO Literary agent Mandy Hubbard (aka @mandyhubbard) inspired this post. She asked fellow agents if they saw red flags when a query for a novel mentioned "based on a true story" or "sprinkled with true life experiences." She went on to say that lots of first-time writers start out trying to write novels from real life, but quickly learn that fiction makes for a much better story.

As someone who jumped into the world of fiction after decades of journaling and...

Mockingjay Hangover: My Review (Spoiler Alert)

**SPOILER ALERT! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!**

Good morning (er… make that afternoon), readers! Like many of you who stayed up all night to finish one of the most anticipated YA trilogy conclusions in history, I am just waking up to face a new day. A day where the Hunger Games no longer exist, and where the bright Colorado sun seems completely unreal after so many hours in the dark dystopia of Panem. Coffee? Yeah. Today's gonna be a 3-cup kinda day!

Here's what I have to say about...

For Ellen Hopkins

Dear Ellen:

I love your books. I need your books. Teens need your books. And the kinds of teens who most desperately need your books are the kind that don't have the "luxury" of "concerned parents" deciding what they should and shouldn't read.

And here's what I think of the situation in Humble, Texas:

Filed under: teens Tagged: censorship, Ellen Hopkins