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On this episode, we celebrate the freedom to read with the ninth prompt in the Books and Bites 2022 Reading Challenge, read a banned or challenged book. We chose this prompt because Banned Books Week is September 18-24. Dr. Ron Critchfield, JCPL's Executive Director, joins us to discuss the importance of intellectual freedom, the role of parents in helping their children choose books, the problems with censorship, and more.
Books and Bites
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
9_22 Books and Bites
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[00:00:00] Carrie: Welcome to the Books and Bites podcast. Each month we bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them. I'm Carrie Green and I'm here with my co-hosts, Jacqueline Cooper and Michael Cunningham.
Today, we're talking about the ninth prompt in the 2022 Books and Bites Reading Challenge,
read a banned or challenged book. We chose this prompt for September because Banned Books Week is September 18th through the 24th. And it's a time when libraries across the country celebrate the freedom to read. That freedom is under increasing attack. According to a recent article from NBC news, in 2021 attempts to censor books and library materials more than doubled compared to previous years, we asked JCPL's library director, Dr. Ron Critchfield to join us today to discuss the freedom to read. Welcome, Ron.
[00:01:00] Ron: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:01] Carrie: So why do libraries value the freedom to read?
[00:01:06] Ron: First of all freedom to read the content of one's own choosing is fundamental to the First Amendment. Just as we have the freedom of speech without content restriction,
we also have the freedom to read without content restriction. So that's largely what public libraries do when we say that we value freedom to read. It's extremely important that public libraries continue upholding the First Amendment rights in our country where people can choose for themselves and their children information they need without content based restriction.
[00:01:48] Carrie: Well, you mentioned parents' freedom to choose for their children, what they want their children to, to read. What role do parents have in deciding what their children can borrow from the library?
[00:02:01] Ron: Carrie, parents make borrowing decisions for their children. Most certainly for the younger children. Children here at JCPL, we define as 17 and younger. We call them juvenile.
And then for older children, parents may assist with their selection of materials. And, and if that isn't possible parents certainly can monitor all of their borrowing online through access to their children's accounts. There are also many permissions that parents can set on the juvenile card.
There are permissions such as only being able to check out books or only being able to check out books and movies. And they can add to that computer and internet access as well. But ultimately parents are in control of what their children check out. How their children use the library and what their children can and cannot read.
That's the parent's job. The public library provides material from a multiplicity of viewpoints and the library will have what the children need, what the parents want. And the parents simply select what's right for their children. And then another parent will select what's right for their children.
And I think that's how we have freedom to read for children and how parents play a role in that.
[00:03:46] Carrie: Mm-hmm
[00:03:49] Jacqueline: What if a parent asks you, asks a librarian or you as a director why you let them check out a certain book? How do you respond to that?
[00:03:58] Ron: You know, that's interesting. We have in the challenges to material and in the banned book discussions that Carrie referred to early on that are happening today.
And we hear about them in the news. We have these refrains, like, why does the library let people check this out? Why does the library have items for children just lying around? And those are some of these loaded questions that we hear. The library is not letting anyone check this out. We're letting everyone choose to check the material that they want out.
That's what we do. So if, if someone were to say, why do you let them check this out? So we let everyone check out from amongst the materials we have. That's the purpose. We provide access from a multiplicity of viewpoints for all persons, regardless of socioeconomic levels or, or, any barrier we remove those barriers.
I'll probably talk about some of the other refrains or slogans we hear from persons who challenge books.
[00:05:19] Carrie: Do you wanna go ahead and talk about the other things?
[00:05:22] Ron: I wanted to go back, Carrie, and finish up on the first question. Freedom to read. JCPL. has trusted the citizens of this county to discern for themselves what they wanted to read and believe for over 122 years and public libraries in this country have been doing the same for over 200 years.
It's something we pride ourselves in, and we should remember that in the United States, the government gives people the right to think for themselves in a democratic Republic. And in the context of these challenges we're hearing coming out of state governments, state, legislature, groups that are being influenced from legislative endeavors.
We just need to remember that our government gives us all freedoms and we should not impose our preferences upon the right of others to choose for themselves.
[00:06:31] Carrie: What
are some of the things that you've heard? What kind of challenges have you heard about?
[00:06:37] Ron: So the challenges we've received at JCPL over the years have largely been well intentioned inquiries.
We call challenges "requests for reconsideration of library materials." Those are where people disagree with items. Or maybe they want to suggest that we change the locations of items from say the children's library to the teen collection, or perhaps from the teen collection to the adult library area or the adult collection.
And sometimes in the nonfiction material, we'll have a book that may have non-factual information according to the customer. And they asked us to reconsider and make sure that it's current factual information. So those are the types of things we've received. We've only had one challenge that has come from a misinformation or disinformation campaign
that's somewhat similar to some of the things we're seeing in the news today. It built on some of the, the slogans that we hear or the refrains we hear. Won't someone save the children? The library just leaves these items around on such and such topic or let's keep our children safe.
Let's keep our children safe in the library or these topics just aren't what our community wants. Those types of things. And to speak to some of the complaints that we hear today, I've heard in some of these news stories that libraries are indoctrinating or grooming children with the books.
And that is far from true. We're a viewpoint neutral institution. We don't champion any idea over another. And we have a collection development policy. That makes certain that all books are selected in a fair and equitable manner. We're all professionals who do that. And we are trained at the master's level.
So people who make these claims are obviously not library users and they need to better understand public libraries before they make such statements based on disinformation and misinformation.
[00:09:22] Carrie: So you mentioned that libraries have a neutral point of view. Do you wanna explain that a little more?
[00:09:29] Ron: Certainly the Jessamine County Public Library is an SPGE. We are a special purpose government entity as a government entity we must follow, just like any other government agency, must follow what is also an aspect of the First Amendment that we need to maintain viewpoint neutrality and not advocate one individual or one group's message
over another. So stated another way, government cannot advocate one group or one individual's point of view over another's without discriminating. So for example, a city cannot say that our city public square can only have presentations by Republicans and cannot have presentations by Democrats because they are favoring the message of the Republicans over the Democrats in that instance.
So government should not use its powers to advance one group over another.
[00:10:54] Carrie: And that's something that applies not just to our collection, but also things like our meeting rooms. Correct?
[00:11:02] Ron: Yes. So whenever we have programs, we make sure as a government entity to be viewpoint neutral in everything that we provide the public.
So we're not going to have one program that champions or advocates, a specific religion over another, a specific political party over another. Any particular representation of a group or groups, ideology over another is not to be found within government. And then also we don't restrict any information based on content.
So. Library collection has to be viewpoint neutral. In other words, content based restrictions cannot be because we will be discriminating against an individual or group by excluding that information in the collection.
[00:12:12] Carrie: And the collection development criteria are available on our website if anyone is interested in learning more about it.
And I believe in that policy, there's also a description of what happens when someone challenges or makes a request for.
[00:12:31] Ron: Reconsideration
[00:12:32] Carrie: reconsideration.
[00:12:33] Ron: Yes, there is actually an outline of the process, how to go about making a request for reconsideration and the form where one can submit a request for reconsideration.
And I guess I can add to this here, when one makes the request they're asked to complete that form. They're also asked to have read or viewed or listened to the material in its entirety and describe their objection to the work and also asked to provide a suggested action for the library to take such as, keep it, remove it or move to a different location in the library.
And then once that's submitted, the collection development committee will meet and all persons on the committee will read or view or listen to the item in its entirety and then make a decision and respond back to the person who made the request.
[00:13:46] Carrie: Well, thank you
for clarifying that. Do you have anything else you'd like to add for our listeners?
[00:13:54] Ron: Yes. Yes, I would. So there are a number of problems with banned or removed books since we're on that topic. They serve to widen societal divides or remove some of the unifying aspects that books provide our society. Let me just list a few of those if, if you don't mind. So one of the examples of widening the divide is,
if you ban books, you remove those books, the issues and the concerns don't go away. When the books do they still remain, it's like, we're just brushing them under the rug here and putting that off for another day or we're waiting for the explosion when, when the pressure has built up it's it's not conducive to societal discourse. Another,
something that removes the uniting aspect of, of literature. We're taking away multiple viewpoints from which readers learn about diversity of thought, multiple world views, those types of things. And then also understanding alternative viewpoints allow people to understand what they truly believe. If you're just told what you believe, you're not discerning your own beliefs, you're not challenging your own presuppositions, and you're not thinking for yourself.
And if we don't have a public library that is providing the information to all persons without barriers, then we're going to have the party in power, the people in power, no matter who it is that will then be telling us what to think. And then finally, I just want to end with, well intentioned censorship is still censorship.
It's an action to control the choices of others through restriction, through prohibition of rights. We're denying the freedom of citizens of the United States to access information from all points of view, it's contradicting our Constitution. And if one believes in America and the freedom's outlined in the Bill of Rights,
one should reflect on the conflicts that arise when one starts to think about challenging and banning books in the library. Thank you.
[00:16:37] Carrie: I feel like we should give you some applause or something there.
Well, thank you for, for joining us and for sharing your thoughts on an issue that is really on a lot of our minds. So one thing we might need to clarify if you are reading for the Books and Bites Challenge is the difference between a banned or challenged
book.
[00:17:04] Jacqueline: Well, I think a challenged book is someone has asked for a book to be taken off of a, out of a library or removed from a school class
that's gonna read a certain book. And a band book is when that's actually been removed. Most of the libraries don't actually remove a book as far as I'm I'm aware.
[00:17:25] Carrie: Well,
I don't know. I think that's, that may be changing now. Especially when governments are taking control of libraries. What do you think Ron?
[00:17:35] Ron: We are seeing in the news, many libraries who are pulling books, perhaps out of fear of being arrested fear of breaking the new laws that are passed by state legislators. So I, I would, I would agree in the past that may have been the case, often they would not remove a book from the collection if it still met the collection policy.
But there are, there is more of a factor of fear that's pulling books off the shelf or off the shelves now than ever before.
[00:18:20] Carrie: I think I even saw recently that a library in Michigan was defunded for refusing to pull some books from the collection.
[00:18:30] Michael: Is this one of the biggest issues facing public libraries and libraries in general?
[00:18:35] Ron: At the moment?
Yes.
[00:18:37] Carrie: So. I feel like this is a real downer of an episode, isn't it?
[00:18:43] Ron: it is.
[00:18:45] Carrie: If you're, if you're looking for a book for this challenge, and for some reason don't wanna read the books that Michael, Jacqueline, and I have picked you can find lists of banned or challenged books from the American Library Association.
They keep track of as many challenges to materials as possible. And we'll link to those on our blog. We'll also have a display out in the adult section. So you can find a book there. And of course you can always stop by and ask your friendly librarian for help in finding one. But so many books have been challenged that it won't be hard to find one.
[00:19:30] Jacqueline: It, it's very interesting. A lot of books that we consider classics now have been challenged mm-hmm
[00:19:37] Ron: and banned, but just because they were banned at one library doesn't mean every library has banned them forever. I mean, I, that may have been obvious, but I just wanted to put that out there for the
listeners.
[00:19:48] Michael: With my book, there was a ban, but, you know, the parents got angry at a school and reversed the ban.
But
so
[00:19:55] Carrie: mm-hmm well that. That's a positive, right?
[00:19:58] Michael: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:59] Jacqueline: That's great. That's great.
[00:20:01] Michael: Ray of hope.
[00:20:13] Jacqueline: My choice for this month's podcast has been reviewed before on a previous episode by a former co-host Melissa Coulston, but it's been several years and I felt that this book, it's The hate U Give by Angie Thomas, is an award-winning book. It won the William C. Morris award. So I thought it was worth mentioning again and talking about again.
And additionally it is on the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Associations list of top 10 most challenged books for 2022, which Carrie had mentioned that. This young young adult book addresses a number of issues that affect the African American community on a daily basis.
I believe Angie Thomas's writing gives a realistic portrayal of the life of an African American teenager. The main character ,Starr, a young African American girl, is depicted in an authentic first person voice. Starr's family lives in an African African American community called Garden Heights. But she goes to a nearly all white prep school,
Williamson Prep. Starr has always felt that she must act one way at her school and another way, when she's in the Garden Heights area, where her parents live and work. To quote, "I've taught myself to speak in two different voices and only say certain, certain things around certain people I've mastered it." Starr feels
she won't be accepted by her white peers if she acts too Black. And if she acts too white, her Black peers will say that she thinks she's better than them. Star's identity conflict comes to the forefront when Star's neighborhood friend Kahlil is fatally shot by a police officer, right in front of her. This event threatens the precarious balance of Starr's, vastly different worlds.
The community learns that Kahlil was Kahlil was unarmed and that the shooting might not have been justified. They find out that she witnessed the incident and want her to testify so the world will know what really happened. But when the police discover that she might testify, they try to intimidate her. They harass her family and threaten her with violence
if she speaks out about the shooting. And Starr becomes very afraid of the repercussions that her family may face, if she speaks out and on the other hand, the community is threatening to riot and burn down the neighborhood if the officer is not brought to what they think is justice. They want to the world to know what happened
so efforts can be made to stop the police violence and intimidation against Black folks, but Starr's conflicted. Something will happen to her family or neighborhood if she testifies. And she also questions, is she the right person to testify. She also fears that if she does not testify, the world will only hear the police officer account of the event.
Starr's testimony can endanger her and her family if she speaks up, but if she doesn't speak up who will speak up? Will Starr speak up or will she be quiet? I think this book did a remarkable job of addressing racism and police violence against African American youths. And it's a heartbreaking and brutally honest depiction of the Black Lives movement.
Also the author gives us believable depictions of her characters. The author's story deals with some tough topics and does use strong language and sexual content to tell the story. But I believe these tropes helped to give her a, a truer depiction of the struggles that African Americans youths face in the country.
And I felt like I really got a glimpse of what their lives are really like sometimes. I would recommend this book to any young adult wanting to understand the issues of the Black Lives movement and the way of life for many young African Americans. And if you like this book, you might want to consider reading some of Jason Reynolds' books, or you might enjoy the writings of Tupac Shakur, who's mentioned and quoted throughout the novel.
And I would pair this book with a red velvet cake because red velvet cake is widely considered a Southern recipe because its popularity grew in the South during the depression. And throughout the book, one of Starr's neighbors, Mrs. Rooks red velvet cake is mentioned as one of the best ever. And to quote, "she makes the best red velvet cake you've ever eaten in your life."
I was wondering why Mrs. Rooks' cakes were so good. So as I was looking for recipes, I discovered that originally red velvet cake was made with an ermine frosting, which is like a buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese. And I decided to try to find a recipe that has the ermine frosting.
And I found one from the pastry chef online and it's, you can find this at basically it's www. Pastrychefonline,/original-red-velvet-cake.
[00:25:11] Carrie: Had
you read this book too? Michael?
[00:25:13] Michael: I have
read it. Mm-hmm yeah, I, I love this book. I'm not a huge YA reader as y'all probably know . But yeah, I really, I really enjoyed
the way it addresses white privilege you know, with Starr dating her boyfriend who comes from this wealthy back, you know, wealthy background and, you know, she goes, stays at his house and sees that kind of life. Then he sees when she goes on the, the March at night. Oh the yeah. And he kind of sees her world.
So I thought that was really great. Mm-hmm .
[00:25:49] Jacqueline: There was a lot of issues. A lot of stuff
packed in that book.
[00:25:51] Michael: There was racism, black lives matter. I mean, it was, yeah, it was
[00:25:57] Jacqueline: pregnancy. It dealt a lot with sex and sexual content, which I could see why
[00:26:03] Michael: generational
poverty mm-hmm yeah.
[00:26:06] Jacqueline: Yeah.
White flight and things like that too. Like. so it, it was packed. It was really hard for me to write this review because there was so much that you could talk about. So but I think a, a big part of it was her struggle to, to find her place in the world and, and who she wanted to be as well.
[00:26:24] Ron: Yeah. Is there an anti-racism message in this book?
[00:26:29] Michael: Well, yeah. Her, her boyfriend was killed by the police officer at thebeginning of the book. Is that this, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm and that's what kind of jump starts, everything. Her trying to cope with that, dealing with that and decides to, because all he had on him was a hairbrush. So, you know, this came out.
When did this book come out? 2017, I believe 2017.
[00:26:58] Ron: Well, I've not read it, but I remember reading about why it was being challenged and I believe it was on the critical race theory column. The column I was reading an article that said most of the challenges were critical race theory and LGBTQ and that may be an over simplification, not of this book, but of all the challenges yes, of all the challenges in the past year.
So it was largely that I'm sure there are more, but I remember this book being on the critical race theory and I was just wondering if it had the theme of antiracism to, to make that
[00:27:44] Jacqueline: oh,
it's clearly runs throughout
[00:27:46] Michael: book.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
[00:27:48] Ron: and, and that's good. I was just was wondering
[00:27:50] Michael: yeah, yeah.
Mostly, you know, I think the main is police violence and privilege and yeah. But there's definitely racism. Very good book. It won like every award, I feel like.
[00:28:02] Jacqueline: It has won a lot of awards. And it has a lot of just has a lot of content. It hits on so many different issues that, but it was really authentic the way.
And I think that it's like, some people say, well, there's too much strong language in it, but there's a lot of strong language. It's real. It's very realistic portrayal.
[00:28:19] Carrie: I think mm-hmm . That was one, and I'll talk about it when I get to my book, but that was one of the criticisms of the book that I read, was the language, but again, like you, I felt like that made it just sound more natural and that's how people really talk
[00:28:35] Michael: Yeah,
[00:28:36] Jacqueline: this is true. They often do
[00:28:40] Carrie: Yeah, not all people, but , but certainly, some. Well, I, I think a red velvet cake, we could all use a red velvet cake after this episode.
[00:28:52] Jacqueline: yeah,
[00:28:53] Michael: man. We've had some depressing episodes this year.
I chose George Orwell's Animal Farm, a classic that has seen its share of bans and challenges over the years and has been assigned in school and yet is still as relevant as ever. According to the ALA website, this short yet poignant novel has been challenged in Wisconsin in 1963, by the conservative John Birch society because of containing the words "masses will revolt," was listed in 1968 by the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship as a quote unquote problem book.
Orwell was a communist suppressed from being displayed during the 1977 Moscow, Russia International Book Fair, banned in Florida's Bay County from being used in its four middle schools and three high schools in 1987, but was then overturned, and banned the United Arab Emirates in 2002 on the grounds
that it contained material that contradicts Islamic and Arab values in this case, pictures of alcoholic drinks, pigs, and "indecent images." If you've made it through school without reading Animal Farm, it's basically Orwell's satirical allegory of the Russian revolution and the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.
The animals of Manor farm have had to end endure the drunk Mr. Jones, who has mismanaged the farm and mistreated them over the years. When the wise old boar O Major pronounces his vision of a world free from human subjugation and prophesizes, he's not long for this world, he plants the seeds for a rebellion
that's taken up by the two pigs, Napolean and Snowball, who lead the way. But these two visionaries have two very different visions for the farm. After a quick and successful rebellion, renaming the farm Animal Farm, Snowball wants to build a windmill to power and reduce the workload of the animals. Napoleon doesn't care much for Snowball's idea.
He's got plans of his own. Napoleon bides his time until the two dogs of the farm have their puppies, which he takes and raises himself, creating his own personal army. Now Napoleon, having consolidated his power, only one has one thing standing in his way from installing his own regime. Snowball. This is one of my favorite classics and has stuck with me over the years, partly because it's able to explain the evils of fascism in such a way
even a child could probably understand it. But that's not to say this book is for small children since the subject matter is dark and at times quite violent. And even with all, all the talking animals, it does not have a fairytale ending. I think Benjamin the donkey sums it up with his quote, "life will go on as it has always gone on, that is,
badly." Well, on that depressing note, I paired this with Yorkshire Wensleydale and Cranberries, one of my favorite British cheeses that's perfect for snacking on while reading Animal Farm. It's a creamy yet crumbly white cheese with cranberries, giving it some fruity sweetness. When I used to work at a cheese counter, I would eat way too much of the stuff on any given day.
You can likely find it at Whole Foods in Lexington. But I wanna say, I also saw it at the specialty cheese area in the Kroger in Danville recently.
[00:32:18] Carrie: So I did make it through school without reading Animal Farm.
[00:32:22] Michael: Really?
[00:32:22] Carrie: Yeah. I haven't ever read that
[00:32:23] Jacqueline: there was a
list of books that we could choose from, from when I was taking some master's class in English and that was on the list, but I think I chose something else, but now I wish I'd read that.
[00:32:33] Michael: It's short.
[00:32:34] Carrie: So it would also qualify for the novella challenge. Oh yeah. If you wanna, yeah. Use a one for one, for a double challenge.
[00:32:44] Jacqueline: darn it.
[00:32:46] Michael: I think I read it in middle school. Maybe a high
school.
[00:32:49] Ron: I have read it multiple times. It's a cautionary tale. Yes. And 1984, I've read that. Did you mention that at the beginning of your
[00:32:59] Michael: no, not 1984.
[00:33:00] Ron: No, you didn't.
Maybe when you said George Orwell, I just thought of that as well.
[00:33:05] Carrie: And that one has also faced a lot of challenges I believe.
[00:33:09] Ron: Well, you know, the whole concept of double think in that one is probably happening where some of those messages about which I spoke earlier when people try to ban books or, or have campaigns of disinformation and misinformation.
So in 1984, the, the message of the state was one of the messages that was in double think one of two messages, both one of two messages that were opposite yet, both true. Like you have the state's message and you have your message. I think I'm trying to remember anybody remember double think but
[00:33:50] Michael: it was freshman year.
[00:33:51] Ron: Yeah. Freshman year, but in my mind, so they're getting the one line that libraries do this or that with the book. And then another line is their logic saying, America has freedoms. People should be free to choose, but then they're getting the, the misinformation that libraries do this or that or the other, you know?
So anyway, I'm not talking about Animal Farm, I'm talking about 19 four. So, sorry.
[00:34:15] Michael: Well, at animal pharmacists, like animals are all equal, but then it goes animals. Some, some animals are more equal than others. When they paint this though, I think the seven tenets of Animal Farm on the barn. Mm-hmm but you know, only Benjamin the donkey can read 'em so, but then the pigs, you know, they change 'em over time.
Yes.
[00:34:36] Ron: So,
[00:34:37] Jacqueline: well, I think in the sixties and seventies communism, you know, a lot of books were, that was why they were challenged was because of, of communism.
[00:34:47] Michael: Oh yeah. The red scare. Yeah. In the fifties, I 55 when McCarthy. start
[00:34:53] Carrie: all that. Mm-hmm . Well, you mentioned that in your introduction to the book, wasn't there.
What? Weren't there some challenges because he was a communist.
[00:35:03] Michael: Yeah,
that was in 63. When the, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship
[00:35:15] Carrie: sounds like they were doing some censoring there. Huh?
[00:35:18] Michael: Yeah.
[00:35:20] Ron: Well, Yes, I'm jumping back to what my,
[00:35:23] Michael: Is that double think?
[00:35:24] Ron: No, no, no. not the double think, but you know, everyone's equal some more equal than others. That's possibly, you know, a little bit behind some of the challenges, you know, we're all equal. We all have the choice of freedom to read, but I know better than you, what we all should read.
So that, that was a very good point.
[00:35:59] Carrie: Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison is number two on the American Library Association's top 10 most challenged books of 2021. It has received good reviews, including a starred review and an editor's choice award from Book List. This coming of age novel is intended for an adult audience and it's shelved in JCPL's adult fiction collection.
However, it could have some crossover appeal for young adults. The Young Adult Library Association gave it an Alex award for "books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18 quote." Mike Munoz is a 22 year old who lives with his mom, his developmentally disabled brother, and his mom's friend, Freddy in Suquamish, Washington.
Mike's Mexican American father left the family when Mike was still a child. Since then, they've struggled to stay afloat, living in their car and with a relative before finding a place on an Indian reservation where the rents are cheaper, even for non-Indians like them. Lawn Boy is a sharp, honest, and often funny portrayal of what it's like to be working class in America, especially when you also face racism .Early on in the novel,
Mike is fired from his job on a lawn crew for refusing to pick up a homeowner's dog poop. Mike loves landscaping work and creating imaginative topiaries, but he hates having to work for people who view him and his fellow crew members as less than human. After he's fired. Mike bounces from job to unemployment to job
again. He faces numerous obstacles to finding fulfilling work that pays a livable wage. Those obstacles seem realistic and could certainly affect how a person responds to the world around them. But at times I felt really frustrated by some of the bad decisions that Mike makes. And I found myself wanting to give him a good talking to. I think if you get mad at a character in a book, that's usually a sign that it's a good book.
[00:38:09] Michael: Yeah. .
[00:38:10] Carrie: When he's not trying to find his life's purpose or dealing with microaggressions, Mike dreams about writing what he calls the Great American Landscaping Novel. He also takes care of his brother; hangs out with Nick, an old friend who Mike loves in spite of Nick's homophobia; considers dating, Remy a waitress at a local diner; and makes friends with Andrew, a library assistant who recommends books and invites him to political protests.
Most challenges to this book seem to focus on one brief scene where Mike describes a sexual experience he had in the fourth grade with another boy his age. People also object to the book's use of curse words, language that, as I mentioned earlier, sounds very believable to me, especially considering his age. Mike's sardonic and straight talking voice is one of my favorite aspects of the novel.
Maybe Lawn Boy isn't the right book for you or your child, but this novel could be a lifeline for readers who don't always see themselves represented in literature. Class is so much a part of this book it's even embedded in the details about food. As when Mike goes to the store with Andrew and mentally adds up the cost of ingredients for their meal of salmon, organic greens and craft beer, or when Andrew takes him out for a congratulatory meal and Mike orders the cheapest thing on the menu.
It's only after Andrew encourages him to order something else that he decides, "on the fish and chips at $13.95, still the cheapest thing not on the children's menu." Mike would definitely not approve of Martha Stewart, and who can blame him, but I have to give Martha credit where it's due. Her book,
Martha's American Food: A Celebration of Our Nation's Most Treasured Dishes from Coast to Coast, includes recipes for both Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon and Pike Place Fish and Chips. Celebrate Mike's eventual success with whichever sounds best to you.
[00:40:23] Michael: I
love fish
and chips.
[00:40:27] Carrie: yeah. Yeah. That is a crowd pleaser.
[00:40:31] Ron: I'm hungry.
[00:40:35] Carrie: that's what, that's what we do here on Books and Bites.
[00:40:37] Ron: Does the, does the reader or the reader, does the listener know? We don't actually have the food in
the room?
Did I ruin the
[00:40:46] Carrie: yeah, I don't, I don't think so.
[00:40:48] Ron: Oh.
[00:40:48] Carrie: There would be a lot less talking and a lot more munching sounds if the food was in the room.
[00:40:54] Ron: Yeah, I think we should do that from now on, and I'll become a fourth to your trio.
[00:41:01] Jacqueline: If we have food?
[00:41:14] Ron: Yes.
[00:41:14] Carrie: Thanks for listening to the Books and Bites podcast. For more information about the Books and Bites reading challenge, visit our website at jesspublib.org/books.-bites. Our theme music is "The Breakers" by Scott wooden from his album In Close Quarters with the Enemy. Find out more about Scott and his music on his website, adoorforadesk.com.