Putting your career on the line for YA lit

Whenever I testify about the power of YA lit to groups of beginning teachers, the question of book challenges almost always comes up.  People want to know if I ever had the YA books in my classroom library challenged.  The short answer is yes, a handful of times, but the longer answer is that the challenges never went beyond a parent raising questions to my boss, and that boss, Assistant Principal for English Language Arts Sharon Strean, always stood beside me.

Sharon believed in the power of reading choice and YA lit to change the reading lives of high school students.  She did not falter when, in the fall of my eighth year of teaching, she received phone calls from several parents about my use of "Parents' Night," a short story by Nancy Garden from Am I Blue?, a gay and lesbian anthology for teens, in an introductory unit for American Literature class.

Together Sharon and I met with one of those concerned parents one morning before school.  Sharon listened calmly as I explained my goals for the unit and my reasons for choosing this particular story as part of a text set featuring the experiences of diverse Americans.  She then spoke forcefully on my behalf.  The parent, whose name I can no longer remember, chose not to pursue further action.  It's hard to imagine what might have happened if that parent had remained dissatisfied after our meeting, or if Sharon had chosen not to support me.

Last year during Banned Books Week, the lead story was the censorship attack faced by Kentucky teacher Risha Mullins.  In her high school English class, Risha ran literature circle discussion groups around YA novels such as Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, and What My Mother Doesn't Know and What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones. Though each of these books had been approved by an official district committee, the superintendent removed the titles from Risha's classroom anyway.

Risha received support from the leaders of ALAN (the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE), NCAC (the National Coalition Against Censorship), and several authors of the challenged books themselves.  Chris Crutcher even flew to Risha's town in order to raise awareness of her case and support a community discussion on censorship.  Despite these gestures, the fight dragged on through the fall, and the books were never returned to Risha's classroom. 

 

Risha and Laurie Halse Anderson at the Penguin Publisher Dinner last year

at the NCTE annual convention in Philadelphia

One year later, Risha has written the story of her experiences with censorship on a post for http://speakloudly.org.  You can read her story here.  It's chilling.  There is no happy ending.

I share Risha's story because it's important for all of us who teach and advocate for YA lit remain mindful of the real risks of censorship attacks.  This incident was not Risha's first encounter with censorship in the Kentucky district she ultimately left.  It was, however, the incident that pushed her past her personal breaking point.

A few weeks ago, Patty Campbell told us that high-profile attacks on The Chocolate War have overshadowed the stories of countless teachers who've taught the book without experiencing any backlash.  It's true that many teachers use YA lit successfully.  Still, it's important to know that attacks do occur.  We can resolve to be ready for them, and we can join in professional networks like Speak Loudly that will help us sustain our commitment to teens and the books that are written for them.

Jennifer Buehler