What are you doing for Banned Books Week (9/25 – 10/2)?

It’s that time of year again.  I will definitely be speaking out (I have already) because I got some news over the weekend that really saddened me.  A teacher friend of mine is distraught because her school has banned TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.  It’s a dark day when we ban a book that goes to the heart and soul of America.  My local indie is hosting an evening of reading from your favorite banned book.  Guess which one I’m choosing?  I’ll also share some of the speech another teacher friend of mine, who’s also a writer, gives at the beginning of every school year.  Basically, it’s OK to determine what’s appropriate for your children read.  It’s not OK to determine what’s appropriate for other people’s children to read.  I read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD when I was 8 or 9 years old.  I remember being touched, indignant, outraged.  I remember laughing and crying and being confused.  These are all emotions we experience in real life, that we need to experience, that make us human.  It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.  Why?  If you can’t read the book, you’ll never understand.