Censoring Mark Twain and why it's complicated

As all my reviews are currently tied up in book tour/author interview limbo, I was at a loss for what to post tonight until I ran into this post on why the N-word matters by Sean Ferrell.  It comes in the midst of the controversy over censoring Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, which, to disclaim, I have never read.  I've been meaning to pick it up for ages, and have since decided to save it as a read-aloud for my younger siblings.  We've read a lot of issue books raising difficult questions - the most memorable one of late being The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich, a reconstruction of Ojibwe life at about the same time as a certain little girl was growing up on the prairie.  I have to say, though, that I approach Huckleberry Finn (as well as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) with more than a little apprehension because of their use of the N-word and "Injun."  How do you explain to a 10-year-old (and an occasionally attentive 6-year-old) exactly why those words are so bad, especially the N-word?

I'm assuming that that apprehension is exactly the reason Dr. Alan Gribben chose to replace the N-word with slave and "Injun" with Indian.  Ironically, he was Rick Riordan's professor at the University of Texas, and Riordan also took to the web to talk about the controversy.  He raises an excellent point - is it better to have the edited version of Huck Finn taught in classrooms than to have angry parents ban the book or uncomfortable professors choose not to teach it?  Is limited exposure better than no exposure at all?

I have to admit, I'm somewhere between the two points.  I think that censorship is wrong, and I think that altering an author's words is censorship, and using deductive reasoning, that would make altering an author's words wrong.  (Thank you, logic and geometry course.)  I feel that trying to keep kids in a sterile environment does a lot more to harm them than it does to help them.  Culturally, I think we have all become boys in the bubble by pretending that racism and sexism and homophobia and every other form of human nastiness don't exist, and that if we're politically correct enough, everybody will live in a world of sunshine and rainbows for the rest of their days.  That just doesn't work. 

I've stated the obvious before and I'll state it again - I'm white.  I can't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to be called the N-word.  I have been called white trash, for reasons that piss me off and will be discussed in a future blog post, and that really, really, sucked.  That times a hundred thousand gazillion billion must be excruciating.  So I kind of get why you wouldn't want to hear that word in the classroom.  Kids aren't stupid, but they do have trouble with context and subtlety.  They do have trouble with the fact that they learned it in class and yet get in trouble for using it at home.  But I also don't see how kids are supposed to learn context and subtlety without exposure.  Yes, they're going to make a few horrifying mistakes.  No, that doesn't mean they're racist.  They're testing boundaries and discovering what is and isn't okay, and open discussion of what Mark Twain was trying to say is one of the best ways to show them.

I have the utmost sympathy for teachers.  Trying to teach the classics to forty kids bored out of their mind is not my dream job.  So I do kind of get why they don't want to take the time to have that open discussion and face angry phone calls from parents, etc, etc.  They figure the parents will get around to it eventually, and in the meantime Mark Twain is on the quiz so let's read some freaking Mark Twain, edited.  I think a huge part of this problem is the way books are being taught, in that the need for an edited version would even arise.

So, my two cents in for the count, I think the best thing people upset about this could do is buy a copy of the original, take the time to read it to their kids, and have that discussion.  It isn't fair to ask teachers to do it for you.  Explain to them why "Injun" and the N-word matter, and how they reflect a cultural attitude that has no place in today's world.  Explain that Mark Twain was trying to show how terrible that attitude was.  In the end, as in all cases of censorship, the best thing we can do is read the originals and pass them on.  While it has increased the apprehension, all this controversy has actually made me even more excited to share this book with my younger siblings, and it's brought more attention to Mark Twain, who is (deservedly) one of the most celebrated and quotable authors in the English language.  I think Dr. Gribben has done us a favor.

Happy birthday to me! Plus first novel goodness.

So I've been too lazy to blog the past couple of days because...guess what, guys, it's my birthday!  No longer am I the fifteen-year-old book blogger...I am, in fact, now the sixteen-year-old book blogger.  *dons party hat*  *makes an unnecessary amount of noise* *eats carrot cake* *jumps up and down like crazy person* Yay!

Besides being in the midst of reading Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi which is AWESOME so far - definitely my favorite dystopia of 2010, maybe even (gasp!) better than Mockingjay - I don't really have any bookish news for you all.  Uncharacteristically, other than a B&N giftcard for my Nook, I didn't even end up with books as presents.  AND none of them were wrapped in Christmas paper.  I'm starting to worry that I'm lost in a parallel universe.

Anyway..."no bookish news" is actually a lie.  I do have bookish news for you...but, appropriately to the day, it's self-centered bookish news.  Because I am a self-flagellant feeling nostalgic, I decided to transcribe my seven years of on-and-off journaling into a file I can burn to disc.  Of course, I'd forgotten that I'd tucked the composition book draft of the very first novel I've finished writing into that box, and for kicks, I decided to transcribe that to disc, which means I'm forced to confront my astonishingly profound 10-year-old prose:

"How many times must I tell you to engage yourself in activities suitable for the Prince's betrothed?  And take off that unfeminine training outfit."

Turning back to the monotony of her work, Salinda could only wait for the day, the day she hoped for, the day she would be free.

But in the early morn light, Peter saw that the wooden cart was filled with food!  Apples and pears, onions and hams, but best of all, thick, rich loaves of bread!

That was too much.  The pavement grew closer...and closer...

And those are just the highlights from the first six pages.  I have literally facepalmed so many times today that I'm pretty sure I've left a bruise.  Jeez.  Whatever brilliant gems I write from here on out...just know I had to write those to get there.

Review: Of All the Stupid Things

Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz

• Why I read it: Blogger buzz, LGBT romance, real teenagers doing real stuff
• Disclosure: Got it from the library.

It really was a stupid thing that Brent Staple did – doing it (so the rumour goes) with Chris Sanchez, one of the guy cheerleaders. Who’d have thought that Brent, the school’s hottest jock, could be gay? But the doubt about Brent doesn’t just hurt Tara – it’s the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends. Tara’s training for the marathon, but also running from her father and her fear of ever being abandoned again. Beautiful Whitney Blaire’s got everything and nothing, because her parents have never had time for her. And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mom she never stops missing. The girls couldn’t be more different, but doesn’t that just prove the strength of their friendship?
Then new-girl Riley arrives in school, wafting her long black hair and a scent of lilacs. Suddenly, Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before for a girl - and to reassess her feelings about Brent and what he may/may not have done. Is Tara gay – or does she just love Riley? And can the map of her deepest friendships ever be redrawn in a post-Riley world?

I have been trying to get my hands on this book for, no joke, a year.  Something about the concept, the cover, and the buzz around the author just stuck with me, and three library holds later (two very frustratingly came through when I couldn't pick them up) I finally got to read it.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

Diaz has a sweet style that, while it feels a little young for some of the subjects she discusses, is a delight to read.  The book flew by, and even the triple perspective worked most of the time.  My biggest problem was the plotting.  The promise of the beginning - self discovery, first love, getting hurt, moving on; all the things that make YA books so tear-jerking and yummy and fun to read - had totally fizzled by the end, and as I turned the last page my reaction was along the lines of...this is it?  Really? 

Maybe this could have been avoided if the author had chosen to stick with the Tara-Riley plot as it was by far the strongest and most moving, but I'd hate to lose the characters of Pinkie and Whitney Blaire.  In a way, I suppose it's the teen version of Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos.  It may not have as strong of a multicultural focus or deal with the same issues, but the three-girl friendship/imminent breakup of said friendship theme was very similar in both.

While it didn't quite make up for the letdown of an ending, I did enjoy the way Diaz handled teen relationships.  My personal favorite was the one between Pinkie and Nash, her forbidden sort-of teacher honors adviser, as (unfortunately) I could completely relate.  While it's hard to capture in quotes, as it's more like a pervasive feeling, I loved stuff like this from page 48:

"Nash, hi.  It's Pinkie D. Ricci again and I'm sorry, I don't know if I gave you the right number.  It's..." I say it slowly to make sure I don't mess it up.  And then for good measure, I leave it one more time.

 It completely captures the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling you get.  And even though Pinkie was technically older than me, I still wanted to mother her and let her know that having romantical goings-on with older guys in high school is bad news.  Baaaaaaad news.  Our three other relationships, Tara-Brent, Tara-Riley, and Whitney Blaire-David, were also engaging, though the aforementioned sweet style of writing did not lend itself well to sex scenes.  I'll admit I just...sort of skimmed the two major ones.  One of the biggest talking points of the book, the *gay thing,* actually was not that big of a deal for me.  Maybe it's because I've read Ash, Scars, and Weetzie Bat so recently, but it feels pretty much like any other teen romance.  The way she handled family reactions was sensitive and interesting, but like I said, not a focal point of the book.

I'm really struggling on the star rating with this one, because I loved the writing and I loved the characters, but I can't quite excuse the ending.  Also, despite my love of the cover and this is not the author's fault, but please please please please please do not put the words "forbidden love affair" on the cover of a book.  Because it's awkward when my dad has to pick it up from the library for me.  Anyway, if I'm honest I'd have to give it three and a half out of five stars, though kudos to Diaz for writing so honestly and refreshingly.  I'll be reading more of her work in the future, but I can't say I'd recommend this one too highly.

Read in 2011

A list of all the books I've read this year in the order in which I've read them, plus what challenges they qualify for.  All of them will of course go towards my goal of 100 books or more read this year, as part of the 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge by Book Chick City.
12 of those should be MG/YA debuts for The Story Siren's 2011 Debut Author Challenge, as well as 10 MG/YA historical fiction novels (not necessarily published in 2011) for the YA Historical Fiction Challenge 2011 from YA Bliss.

I'm also game for 15 PoC novels as part of the PoC Reading Challenge 2011!  So, yeah, I've bitten off way more than I can chew...but I'm looking forward to my own little reading log on the blog.  I'll be updating it throughout the year till 2012!  Just like in elementary school, right? ;D

1. Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz
2. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi 
3. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth (PoC Reading Challenge)
4. The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
5. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger (PoC Reading Challenge)
6. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
7. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
8. Across the Universe by Beth Revis (2011 Debut Author Challenge)
9. Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler (PoC Reading Challenge)
10. Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future by Matt Hern
11. The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau (PoC Reading Challenge)
12. Malinche by Laura Esquivel (PoC Reading Challenge)
13. The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie
14. Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde
15. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
16. The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg
17. Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan
18. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King 
19. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (PoC Reading Challenge)
20. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker
21. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (re-read) 
22. The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan
23. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Ann Fadiman
24. Right Side Talking by Bonnie Rozanski 
25. Outspoken by James Vachowski 
26. Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban 
27. Bluefish by Pat Schmatz 
28. This Girl Is Different by J.J. Johnson (Debut Author Challenge)
29. The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter (Debut Author Challenge)
30. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson 
31. Getting Played by Celeste O. Norfleet (PoC Reading Challenge)
32. Lysistrata by Aristophanes
33. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
34. Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell
35. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
36. England, England by Julian Barnes
37. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (PoC Reading Challenge)
38. What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez (PoC Reading Challenge, Debut Author Challenge)
39. Red Glass by Laura Resau (PoC Reading Challenge)
40. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (Debut Author Challenge)
41. Six Moon Summer by S.M. Reine
42. Enclave by Ann Aguirre 
43. Ttyl by Lauren Myracle
44. Shine by Lauren Myracle
45. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (PoC Reading Challenge)
46. Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe (Debut Author Challenge)
47. Facing Demons by Ashley Sanders
48. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
49. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (PoC Reading Challenge)
50. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
51. Huntress by Malinda Lo
52. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
53. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (re-read)
54. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter (PoC Reading Challenge)
55. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
56. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (PoC Reading Challenge)
57. Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart
58. Dragon Chica by May-Lee Chai (PoC Reading Challenge)
59. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
60. Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
61. The Women (Time-Life Old West Series)
62. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (Debut Author Challenge)
63. The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston 
64. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta 
65. Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
66. Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
    
67. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson 
68. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Debut Author Challenge)
69. Runaway: Stories by Alice Munro
70. Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton (Debut Author Challenge)
71. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
72. The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
73. Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly 
74. Please Don't Kill the Freshman by Zoe Trope (re-read) 
75. The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
76. Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock  by Amy Raphael 
77. Dreamwalk by Sarah MacManus
78. The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend
79. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
80. Red Glove by Holly Black
81. When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer (PoC Reading Challenge)
82. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater 
83. Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater 
84. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
85. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
86. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (PoC Reading Challenge)
87. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
88. Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books by Francesca Lia Block (re-read)
89. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
90. The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith
91. Amplified by Tara Kelly
92. Fledgling by Octavia Butler (PoC Reading Challenge) (re-read)
93. The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen (Debut Author Challenge)
94. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey (Debut Author Challenge)
95. Stick by Andrew Smith
96. Star Island by Carl Hiaasen
97. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (YA Historical Fiction Challenge)
98. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness 
99. Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook 
100. Corsets and Clockwork (anthology)
101. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (PoC Reading Challenge) (re-read)
102. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 
103. I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
104. The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson (re-read)
105. Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
106. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
107. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (re-read)
108. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
109. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
110. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
111. And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky (Debut Author Challenge)
112. Divergent by Veronica Roth (Debut Author Challenge)
113. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
114. Chime by Franny Billingsley
115. The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor (PoC Challenge)
116. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
117. Blue Windows: A Christian Science Childhood by Barbara Wilson
118. Sins of the House of Borgia by Sarah Bower
119. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
120. Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer
121. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (PoC Challenge)
122. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
123. Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

YA Historical Fiction Challenge 2011!

Of course, I'd wanted to sign up for all of my challenges back in 2010...but then I'd remembered that I'd totally forgotten about this, the last challenge I'd decided on: YA Bliss's YA Historical Fiction Challenge!

As I'm sure you've noticed, I have a soft spot for any sort of historical setting.  It would be an understatement to say I'm pretty jazzed to start figuring out which titles I'm going to read!  While perusing YA Bliss's extensive Amazon list, it would have been nice to hold off on my whole hog Gemma Doyle readathon till 2011 when it would have counted, but...sigh.  What's a bibliophiliac to do.  Anyway, the two qualifiers for the challenge are that it has to be YA or MG, and that it fits into the spirit of the Wikipedia definition:

Historical fiction: tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time(s) presented in the story, with due attention paid to period detail and fidelity.

The books do not have to be 2011 releases, meaning that my Level 2 goal of 10 books might actually be attainable.  Might being the key word in that sentence.  Anyway, as with all my challenges, I really think y'all should join in - just follow the button!  A very happy bibliophiliac 2011 to you all.

In My Mailbox #11/Read This Week #8

She's still on hiatus, but In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren about books we received this week.  In lieu of a Mr. Linky, please feel free to leave your links and titles below (as part of a thoughtful comment though, please!).  This week I received...

Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz

It really was a stupid thing that Brent Staple did – doing it (so the rumour goes) with Chris Sanchez, one of the guy cheerleaders. Who’d have thought that Brent, the school’s hottest jock, could be gay? But the doubt about Brent doesn’t just hurt Tara – it’s the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends. Tara’s training for the marathon, but also running from her father and her fear of ever being abandoned again. Beautiful Whitney Blaire’s got everything and nothing, because her parents have never had time for her. And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mom she never stops missing. The girls couldn’t be more different, but doesn’t that just prove the strength of their friendship?
Then new-girl Riley arrives in school, wafting her long black hair and a scent of lilacs. Suddenly, Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before for a girl - and to reassess her feelings about Brent and what he may/may not have done. Is Tara gay – or does she just love Riley? And can the map of her deepest friendships ever be redrawn in a post-Riley world?

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Set initially in a future shanty town in America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being dissembled for parts by a rag tag group of workers, we meet Nailer, a teenage boy working the light crew, searching for copper wiring to make quota and live another day. The harsh realities of this life, from his abusive father, to his hand to mouth existence, echo the worst poverty in the present day third world. When an accident leads Nailer to discover an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, and the lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl, Nailer finds himself at a crossroads. Should he strip the ship and live a life of relative wealth, or rescue the girl, Nita, at great risk to himself and hope she'll lead him to a better life. This is a novel that illuminates a world where oil has been replaced by necessity, and where the gap between the haves and have-nots is now an abyss. Yet amidst the shadows of degradation, hope lies ahead.

I got both of these from the Hennepin County Library system, thanks for being so awesome!  I've been trying to get my hands on both for ages.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

Anna Brandt is eighteen years old in 1939. In her hometown of Weimar, Germany, where relationships between Germans and Jews are outlawed, Anna and the man she loves are committing the crime of race defilement." "When Anna is forced to flee the home of her father, a Nazi sympathizer, she takes refuge in a bakery owned by a Resistance member. Soon Anna is making pastries for the officers of nearby Buchenwald while also making "special deliveries," risking death to bring bread to the camp's inmates." "Then she is noticed by one of Buchenwald's highest-ranking officers. And everything changes." Five decades later, long after Anna has emigrated to Minnesota, she still refuses to speak of her wartime experiences. Anna's daughter Trudy has only one clue as to what they might have been: a family photograph featuring Anna, Trudy, and the Obersturmfuhrer. Haunted by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins a deeper investigation of the past and not only finds a chance for redemption but unearths the heartbreaking secret her mother has kept for fifty years.

This was a late Christmas present.  Looks great!  What did you guys get in your mailboxes?

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Read This Week

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray