I'm the author of the book that the American Library Association named as the most banned and challenged book from 2010 to 2019, and those attempts to ban my book have only increased in the last few years. So I'm struck hard by Zohar Atkins' notion about Midrash, and the lack thereof, being a cause for book banning, maybe even being the primary cause. So now I'm pondering Midrash as I think about a theme in my book that conservative readers can't see and that the left might ignore because it too complicates both sides' narratives. That theme: My novel stars a liberal, sometimes profane, hilarious, artistic, rebelious Native American kid who finds love, friendship, acceptance, and success in a small white conservative Christian town—the kind of town in real life where the book often gets banned and the kind of town that often gets vilified by the left. Does my book get banned because its text is presented, studied, taught, and vilified in simplistic and unexamined ways?
Sorry to hear you weren’t raised on Roald Dahl, Pistelli. I can’t think of other works that so encourage a child’s spirit of irreverence. Our cassette of Revolting Rhymes made me giddily happy.
I'm the author of the book that the American Library Association named as the most banned and challenged book from 2010 to 2019, and those attempts to ban my book have only increased in the last few years. So I'm struck hard by Zohar Atkins' notion about Midrash, and the lack thereof, being a cause for book banning, maybe even being the primary cause. So now I'm pondering Midrash as I think about a theme in my book that conservative readers can't see and that the left might ignore because it too complicates both sides' narratives. That theme: My novel stars a liberal, sometimes profane, hilarious, artistic, rebelious Native American kid who finds love, friendship, acceptance, and success in a small white conservative Christian town—the kind of town in real life where the book often gets banned and the kind of town that often gets vilified by the left. Does my book get banned because its text is presented, studied, taught, and vilified in simplistic and unexamined ways?
So much to admire here, John--with special love of footnote #1. Hear! Hear!
Sorry to hear you weren’t raised on Roald Dahl, Pistelli. I can’t think of other works that so encourage a child’s spirit of irreverence. Our cassette of Revolting Rhymes made me giddily happy.