Saturday, October 6, 2012

Banned Books Week: The Perks of Being a Wallflower


This one's going to be short because I'm short on time and I'm announcing a winner at the end of this post. It's the last day of Banned Books Week! Reading about these books has been a real eye-opener for me and I've found three books that I'm going to buy in print. Today's feature is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. It was published in 1999 and I must say, the cover is perfect for the title/subject. 

Blurb:

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

This book has been on ALA's top ten most frequently reported books of 2001-2011 five times. What's special about this book is that it was made into a film, roles going to Emma Watson, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman. There's really nothing on Wikipedia about the controversy surrounding this book, but when I Google it I get tons. However - and sorry about this - I don't have time to cover it.

You can buy The Perks of Being a Wallflower from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other retailers.

Thanks for being with me this week and I hope some of you have learned something new and will take action if there's a book banning going on in your near surroundings. I don't believe in hiding information from kids and teens. Sure, blatant erotica, but kissing and the mentioning of sex (and even behind-the-scenes sex for the younger teens - more for older teens) should be acceptable. The better hidden it is, the more curious they will become and will be likely to experiment with it themselves. If they can read about it in books, they'll partly quench that curiosity.

The same goes with LGBT matters, don't hide the information. Make it available in school libraries. By hiding it they're saying that the only form of family/person is heterosexual and a modern person should know by now that heterosexual is in no way the only way to be and that there's nothing wrong with being LGBTQ.

So, I'm leaving you with great list of YA/MG QUILTBAG books and a winner of Geography Club. I'll contact the winner tonight.

The winner is: Penumbra!


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