As you (better) know, this week was Banned Books Week. Although it isn’t something I really celebrated with my 2nd and 3rd graders who are pretty young to get the concept, I celebrated this week personally and professionally. My interview with the AMAZING Story Snoops made this my favorite BBW eva! If for some absurd reason you did not read the interview, STOP reading this post and get over there to read it!!! While you’re over there, make sure to read their other interviews with Judy Blume, Abby the Librarian, Meg Cabot, Carol Rasco, Ellen Hopkins, and Karen Yingling. I also got a shout-out from my community’s local paper Central Speaks. And to top it all off I was psyched to see that article made the print version of the paper, which arrived in my mailbox yesterday afternoon! So as you can tell, this has been a week filled with excitement, pride, and joy for me! I love my job and being involved in events like this week completely affirm that I am doing EXACTLY what I am supposed to do. To say this was the highlight of my week is a major understatement!

A couple of weeks ago, I committed to reading three challenged/banned books for the “Ban This!” challenge. I finished my third book this morning so here are my thoughts on those three books:

The first book I read was My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr. From the minute I picked this book up, I could not put it down. My husband says that I crave drama in what I read and watch because my life is so tame. This book proved that point! Ellen, who is extremely close to her brother and his best friend, James, whom she’s always had a crush on. When she starts high school, she begins to wonder if they are best friends or if there’s more to their relationship. Her brother refuses to consider the fact that he may be gay, and a rift forms between the trio, pushing Ellen and James closer together. This story does an incredible job of showing the turbulent emotions of teens as they explore their feelings and sexuality. The family dynamics in this book is also very real. This novel deals with many tough, controversial issues that many teens aren’t comfortable discussing in a way that they may be able to relate to. There is mature content in this book that would not be appropriate for most middle schoolers.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher is absolutely, positively amazing. This book has been challenged because of the issue of racism, but that is one of the issues addressed in this novel that makes it so moving. This is an incredible story of underdogs pushing forward, coming together, and finding victory in an unexpected way. It’s about overcoming hate and finding a way to live your life in a positive way despite tragedies. I don’t want to give too away much of this story, I just want you to read it. One of the best books I’ve read lately!

So Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan is definitely out of my reading comfort zone. This story pushes the feminism to a whole new level. The Daughters of Eve is a club that finds itself moving more in the direction of a man-hating cult. I found this hard to follow because there are so many characters involved. Although this isn’t a book I’d rave about, I know there’s an audience out there for it since it’s been republished since it’s original publication in 1979.

So I’m counting all of these toward my self created challenge to read more YA…I need to go back through and see what number this makes. (Edit: These three additions make 14 out of 20)

It’s election day in my town, so I’m off to vote. Just like I make use of my freedom to read, I always exercise my freedom to vote. It’s a great country we live in, and I hope you do the same!