I Am Not a Pornographer
Two teachers at Depew High School outside of Buffalo, New York would like to teach my novel "Looking for Alaska" to 11th graders. (ELEVENTH GRADERS!!!!) A letter was sent home to every parent explaining that the book contained controversial content. Parents could either give written permission for their kids to read "Alaska" or not reply, in which case the kids would read a different book.
This seems to me an extremely well-reasoned and thorough way of approaching the complexities of 'edgy' (I hate that word) books in English classes. Even so, a few members of the community of Depew have objected to the book's presence in the curriculum on the grounds that "Looking for Alaska" is "pornographic" and "disgusting." They feel that parents should not be allowed to choose for themselves whether the book is appropriate in a high school English classroom.
There are many supporters of the book among teachers, administrators, librarians, and the school board in Depew. To help them, I'm asking people to email letters of support for the book at sparksflyup--at--gmail.com.
Also, if you live in Depew, the book will be discussed at the Depew Board of Education meeting on February 5th at the Depew High School Auditorium at 7 PM.
posted by John Green @ Wednesday, January 30, 2008
48 Comments
48 Comments:
John,
I just read The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher, are you familiar? His books are frequently banned, and he wrote this one in reponse to and about book banning, and includes and letter and links for students to learn more about protecting the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.
This kind of censorship gets my Patriot panties in a bunch. I'll try to compose a sensible letter in defense of your wonderful book as soon as my temper subsides, otherwise I might say insulting things about the evil, narrow-minded control freaks who are trying to crush the freedoms I hold sacred.
Truly,
Mel
John. Congratulations. All the best authors have been challenged. You are now officially in thier ranks. Not that that lessens the stupidity that is censorship. But it is a silver lining.
I don't even have words to express the anger that increases every time I hear about something like this.
Why do people think it's okay to decide how other people should go about living their lives?
They're being so un-American that it's incredibly appalling.
John,
Efforts to ban adult video stores in my city were resolved once the court stated the definition of "pornography" is relative to the values and morality of each local community. We have several prospering adult businesses that remain open based on this decision.
If the Depew High School community is opposed to Looking for Alaska, perhaps they are unaware of their own First Amendment rights and have never seen true porn. I'd support an effort to decrease worldsuck that would provide sex education materials and adult videos for comparison.
Remain strong in your convictions and remember, banned books always become legendary teen reads. Judy Blume and J. D. Salinger are STILL among my students' favorite books after all these years.
DFTBA!
Laura
Keep fighting the good fight and making sure that people know what they are talking about and choose the proper words to express their intentions.
. . . or, as my favorite teen customers might say:
You are made of awesome, your book is made of awesome, and those who would attempt to ban or censor it are NOT made of awesome.
John, if you only ever listen to one song I recommend to you, listen to / watch this.
(I have a different David Poe song on my Looking for Alaska soundtrack.)
i was shown the movie of animal farm in GRADE FOUR.
i think 16 and 17 year olds can manage 'Looking For Alaska'.
I read it (and loved it) when i was 15. And it is probably one of the least pornographic things ever. I'd love to study it in school now.
Things seemed to get very hyped up in America.
We read things a lot heavier than 'Alaska' in Australian schools.
When I was in the tenth grade Romeo and Juliet was on the syllabus for my English class. So was James Kirkwood's Good Times/Bad Times, the previous winner of the awesomest boarding school book ever before Looking for Alaska came out. Both are far more "edgy" than Alaska, but all of them deal with issues of vital importance to teenagers, and all of them do it in literary ways. I'm writing my letter right now.
I have never read the book, but I swear every blog has talked about it and now I really want to read it. So I am going to go buy it tonight! Free publicity on the bright side, on the not so bright side your a pornographer.
No worries, nobody even slightly awesome agrees with the book-banning folk. And, hey, free publicity!
Anybody else giggle every time they say the word Depew?
Keep fighting, John! This is ridiculous!
Well, if that doesn't just suck. And not in a prurient way. Then again, the scene in your book doesn't appeal to the prurient interest either, as I tried to articulate in a blog post at Live Journal just now.
Kudos to the folks in the Depew School District for their handling of the situation thus far. I hope and expect that all will be well.
Hugs,
Kelly
Oh for pete's sake. When I was in high school they showed us Macbeth on VHS -- the one with all the naked scenes in an intact. In a Christian school. IN 1988. What is happening to my country???
Best of luck Mr. Green -- I have not read your book, but I sure as hell will now.
I read Looking for Alaska as a galley when I was 15, and I certainly was not offended. There's no way it qualifies as pornography.
Take this as a compliment. If you aren't offending someone, you haven't done your job. Honestly.
Hi John.My dad gave me Looking for Alaska and I loved it and didn't find it offensive at all.The book is awesome!Some ppl are just ridiculous.
I understand why some parents are afraid of their children reading this book. It is very realistic and profound, and the kids who read it are deeply affected by it. Many parents do not want to discuss controversial things with their children--it is uncomfortable and it requires you to admit your child is exposed to scary and dangerous things. As a school librarian who has read this with a teen book club, I recommend that teen parents read this with their teens and then have your own book discussion with your child. I think you'll find out a lot about what your kid is thinking and how they are dealing with the pressures teens face today. And because you were cool enough to read to book with an open mind, they may listen to and even respect your opinions too.
Why are all my favorite authors banned? Because if you have real anything to say, to show, to be, you will be challenged by those who don't agree and those who are scared. They are scared by your freedom, so scared that they want to take it away, like it's a weapon to destroy, not a tool to employ. Keep fighting the good fight; keep writing.
I decided, for some insane reason, to teach high school English this year. To my amazement I found I loved the kids and hated the School Board, the Administrators, and all the other Nazis running the school system. No Free Thinking allowed in public school systems and for heaven's sake don't teach any books which 1) high school kids might like 2) that might make kids think for themselves and 3) that haven't been around for 100 years.
I love the classics as much as anyone else, but it would be so wonderful to teach something by John Green or Chris Crutcher. But NO because at the school I like to call "The Sausage Grinder School" where we shove kids of every type through the front doors when they are freshman and when they emerge as graduating seniors they are all identical. How could this be accomplished if we let them we read books by Green, Crutcher and etc..
If the parents who called for the ban succeed in their efforts, the only thing they will have accomplished is not allowing the book to be read and discussed in an educational setting with a teacher as a guide who would facilitate good productive involvement with the title BECAUSE the kids are going to read the book on their own now for sure to see what all the fuss is about...and probably more kids than originally would have been assigned it!
...and with many of these things I have encountered all these years...I STILL wonder how many of these unhappy parents have actually read the book themselves before jumping on the protest wagon.
Maribelle
Just watched your vlog. Thank you for standing up for your book and what the district is doing. I know an author who revised his book because of pressure of cenesorship.
I have not read your books but will have them read before you arrive in Oregn for the joine WLMA/OASL conference in the fall. I am an elementary librarian who has had a mom pestering me about Harry Potter leading kids to satan all year.
looking for alaska is the best book ive ever read i just read it this weekend man this book is so good and i can't wait until the movie comes out by the way im only 14 and didnt find anything wrong with it
Sorry I'm a little late in the game, but I just sent an email of support to your gmail account. Hope it helps!
I work as a school library media specialist and have had to deal with some attempts to ban books in the school where I work, the most recent being Judy Blume's book, Blubber. The kids are fine with it but the parents are a little crazy. I don't give into them. It's one thing to say "I don't want my child reading that book" and quite another to demand that nobody be allowed to read it simply because of personal taste.
There are organizations that will offer teachers and librarians assistance - the A.L.A has an office for intellectual freedom and I believe People For the American Way will also help.
Anyhow, I'll write an email but remember, the best way to make sure kids read somebody's book is to tell them they can't.
On the bright side having a school board trying to ban your book for being "pornography" can't help but increase sales, right?
there was an article about helicopter parents on CNN.com yesterday. i think these are the same people who want to keep their kids from reading certain books. what kind of adults are they going to be? not the kind i would want to hire for a job.
as a teen librarian who often has to deal with challenges to books (oh my goodness! my child can't read a book with the F-word in it!), i find myself reading reviews to the overprotective parents to make sure their child is not going to read anything offensive. you can see how sad the kids are that they can't just choose their own books at age 16.
John Green is NOT a pornographer. His book, "Looking For Alaska," is NOT pornography. It does contain a brief moment or two of x-rated material, and it contains pervasive vulgarity, but that does not make it pornography. On the other hand, the book is extremely well written, unlike pornography.
True, parents should be given notice as to the x-rated nature of some material and the pervasive vulgarity. If they are merely informed that the book needs parental approval, that might not be enough notice and the parents would not truly be giving informed consent. Uninformed consent perhaps, but not informed consent.
As anyone knows from hospitals, informed consent forms require the patient to be informed. Fully informed. The same should apply with the consent obtained from parents reading books where consent is obtained in the first place. The consent obtained ought to be informed consent.
By the way, keeping inappropriate material from children is not censorship.
Board meeting did NOT go well last night John. It was very one-sided. The district instructed faculty not to address the board or the media so only the parents complaining were allowed to speak. Very sad.
We'll see what the ruling is at the next meeting in March. Lots of teachers wearing their Union shirts were present to show support, as were many students, but none spoke.
The kids thought you were coming last night to the meeting (big rumor swirling around the school)-- at least it got the media and more students out there!
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/269801.html
Depew School Board Committee Will Review ‘Coming-of-Age’ Novel
There was a permission slip sent to all parents of 11th graders explaining that there may be objectionable material contained in Looking for Alaska. If a parent wants their child to opt-out of reading the book, they have an alternate (A Separate Peace) to read. So far, the majority of parents signed the permission allowing their children to read the book. The real issue that has been lost in this media frenzy is that a small group of parents are trying to take away the right of choice by other parents to allow their children to read this book. It's such a clear-cut issue for me that I can't believe it has gotten this far.
The book and it's content are not the issue. Freedom of choice, and the right for me to parent my own child is the issue.
Here are more stories on this topic: http://del.icio.us/plan2succeed/DepewNY.
John, I saw your YouTube video. Well done, as usual. You even agree parents could be asked for permission given the content of the book, just as I say. And since one of those articles I linked above cites to my "conservative" web site, I guess that make you a "conservative" too! But the issues of allowing parents the choice of presenting their children with what they may view as sexually inappropriate material has nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism. It's just common sense, and that's what your YouTube video contains.
john,
i live here in depew and i was at the meeting last night. i just want you to know that the majority of the parents and students are with you, along with the teachers.
its a great book. and we are gonna fight for the right to read it.
We've got six copies in our library district and we're creating a book discussion kit for it. Keep on keepin' on.
Wow. I read Looking For Alaska when I had just turned twelve. I think seventeen year olds can handle it. People that try to ban things irk me.
I have mixed feelings about this issue, but in the end I think I concur with you, John, as to the solution of letting the individual families decide for themselves being good enough.
I do agree with some books being banned from schools based on content, but feel that this notion often gets exaggerated and mistreated by enthusiasts who spend too much time raising other people's children and not their own.
That being said, I also feel that there are better ways of implying explicit material without being... well... explicit. I know this may sound silly, and I know that you put a lot of thought and care into your book (and especially that scene), but even though some people are stupid, there is some validity behind the concern that explicit material could trigger negative thoughts/actions -- in ANY age group. I'm all about being a responsible reader and handling information maturely, but in the end I am more conservative than I am liberal and feel that the principle of "emotional > physical" can be taught more subtly.
John, I wish we read books in our school. Last year we did Romeo & Juliet but instead of reading the play... we watched the film. Both versions. And they were more pornographic than Looking for Alaska - we saw posteriors and breasts and then had to write a film review. Anyway keep at it and whatnot.
Over the summer I met someone who was absolutely obsessed with this book, but I just wrote the book off. Then, earlier this month, an entirely different someone brought it up again, and this time mentioned that there was some controversy about it. Of course my first thought was "Controversy! Now I must read it!" So of course I wind up reading the article, reading the book, and enjoying it enough to visit your website. Well done!
Discalimer: Lest anyone should get the wrong idea, I said I read the book, not that I bought it.
As for the issue that started things, what can I say? Some in the area do like to point out that for a city in the northeast, we can be very socially conservative. I also think that with the whole McKinley thing, maybe Depew felt some pressure to get in the news as well. In the end though, it comes down to some people being stupid.
I do wish I had followed up on this in time to look into the meeting and am sorry that I did not.
Well, I am a seventeen year old and I have just read Looking for Alaska. And I was very, very dissapointed. I read a book that tended to use "the shock factor" to get the point across. I assumed it was written by someone who had never experienced a true "baptisim" into adult life (Which is what the book seemed to me to be). I thought the amount of sex was in very poor taste and detracted from the book.
I am tired of sex. I am tired of reading about it and I am tired of hearing about. I have never even done it and I am sick of it! How pathetic is that? As a voricious reader I have come to realize that popular books often include more sex then I want to think about. Now that I am sure everyone thinks I am an unhealthy prude, I certainly dont think so. As a freshman in high school I was amazed at the books I could read. I had no problem with sex in books because I was incredibly curious about everything, including sex. But now, no, I am sick of it. It rules our society, it rules the books, please, sex is part of life but it is NOT life! Please, be an author and use something besides sex to make a point. If you want to impress YOung Adults dont try to write contriversial crap. Write the truth but write it in such away that it doesnt provide cheap shock or thrills. Sex, profanity and vulgarity do not have to belong in books to make the book valid, life includes these things, but life does not revolve around these things. Books ought to be the same way. Looking for Alaska had the potential to be a great book, sadly, it was ruined for me by a few poorly written scenes.
(On another note I thought the scene where the Eagle tells everyone about Alaska was incredible.)
Overall, this book and the author dissapointed me. I dont think that this book should be taught to anyone, unless it is given an example of how not to write.
Fascinating comment. Such honesty. Such bravery as well. Bravo, foxyluver!
I don't really know on who's side am I on. Well, I thought the book was good, but foxyluver is right at some of the points he said. I don't think that this book should be discussed in a class room with students and a teacher, but anybody is welcomed to read it at home. I'm really sorry...I feel bad about saying this, because i DID like the book, but it is my opion.
there's nothing wrong with students reading a little erotica, it's healthy, and teenagers already have these ideas in their head without reading Looking for Alaska! And there's only like two scenes. and the first one with lara wasn't really "turning me on", and when alaska and pudge watch the video, i agreed with alaska, and i am not very fond of porn, but this is NOTHING! I didn't bring any ideas into my head, because I know it is wrong to do such things, so i avoid them, but a that book is totally harmless, and don't worry your children's brains won't think of those things if you raised them to be good people! that's all i have to say. oh, and GO JOHN!!!!
Good posts here. I just finished the book, and you definitely deserve the censorship stamp of honest, authentic writing.
Here’s some quotes you might appreciate.
Had I been treated differently by the newspapers in England and in this country, had I been commended and endorsed, for the first time in my life I should have doubted myself and my mission.
- Oscar Wilde
If you’re not really digging into something, getting to the bottom of it, people probably aren’t going to be angry about it.
- Bob Woodward
I loathe the atmosphere of “school” and have loathed it all my life, but I love the idea of rescuing students from the atmosphere and telling them where, in Thoreau’s words, the arsenal is, instead of the damned theory they seem to be filled with. I want people to know that there are books and there are voices and they can find them.
- Mary Lee Settle
The wizards represent all that the true "muggle" most fears: they are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit.
- JK Rowling
Oh my... that ONE part in the story with the not so kid stuff, I was a sophomore I believe when I read the book. Amazing book by the way, must have read it more than 15 times. I have been trying all of my high school years since I read the book to get others to read it. But when I'm around a particular friend in which I got to read it... she ALWAYS points out that particular part so people won't want to read it, in which I have to convince them that it is NOT a harlequin romance or anything of that sort so yeah so its an amazing book just wanted to let you know that I'm so glad you wrote that book, it changed my outlook on life.
Thanks John Green. I am an English teacher and I showed this video in my class. I am writing a research paper about motivating kids to read and this is an excerpt:
Green then goes on to explain how viewers can help to keep his book in the public schools. As my students watched this video I saw them grow more and more excited. They laughed and nodded and smiled. The second it was over the room burst out in excited chatter. The girls were dying to read Looking for Alaska. Their enthusiasm was partly because they wanted to see what all the fuss was about and partly because a smart and funny man who spoke up for the intellectual rights of teenagers had written it. One girl demanded to be allowed to go to the library so she could get the book before someone else did. I lent out my copy of the book and it was passed around over a few weeks. Four more girls convinced their parents to purchase the book and those copies are being devoured by girls who MOMENTS before that video had declared that they hated reading.
Love your honest comments, Foxyluver! There are so many good books out there that do not have to resort to titillation to attract and keep readers---plenty enough to keep high school english classes busy forever. Let's lift kids up and point them to what is good, honorable and beautiful in this world,not flop around in the mire with them. And all of this First Amendment/censorship babble. Teachers, librarians and parents 'censor' things everyday---get over it!! Not every written word is for everybody---and some written words are for absolutely nobody.
Re: beththelibrarian.
It's true, not every written word is for everybody. In fact, it's very likely that no words have ever been strung together that everybody agrees with or condones. I, for example, disagree with your final comment that "some written words are for absolutely nobody." That, however, is beside the point. It is apparent from your comments that you have not read Looking For Alaska. Foxyluver may have read the book, and he/she is certainly free to dislike it, but his/her description of it is honestly rather bizarre. The book is, by and large, not about sex. There is actually very little sex in the book, and what is present does not serve to 'titillate' readers. The descriptions of the pornographic movie two of the characters watch are frank but not explicit, and the description of the single actual sex act experienced by a character during the course of the book is barely graphic and, honestly, ends up being more of a poetic description than anything. The book struck me as very honest, very realistic, and quite moving. I was almost reluctant to like any of the characters at first, but nearly all of them were so easy to relate to that after twenty or thirty pages I found myself engrossed in their story (which, by the way, is not a teenage sex romp).
The themes that dominate the book from beginning to end are those of life, death, the meaning of existence, the difficulties of relating to other human beings, and the list could go on. All of this is addressed in a very accessible, well written novel.
Here I am extolling the virtues of Looking For Alaska, when the real issue here is one of responsibilty. The only people who have the right to decide what a minor may or may not read are that minor's parents. From what I understand, not only were permission slips sent home to parents with a warning that some may find certain content objectionable, an alternative book was offered. No minor has been forced to read this book (please correct me if this is wrong). Nobody, nobody has the right to prevent a minor child other than their own from reading anything legally obtainable by a minor. Parents or legal guardians are the only ones who have the right to veto the book for their children, and their children only. If you are raising your children to be vegetarians, it would be wholly inappropriate to ask a grocery store to stop selling meat simply because you and your family do not wish to eat it. Many schools offer vegetarian options. It would be unfair to the students who ate meat, however, to ask the school to stop serving meat altogether. In principle, the issue with the book is very much the same.
Seriously?! "Pornographic" is hardly the word I would use to describe Looking for Alaska. I read it when I was 14. I was not offended or scarred in any way. The alcohol and smoking and sex are hardly the sole elements of the plot. These people are so caught up with all that that they miss all the really touching, complex things in the novel. It's their right to choose whether or not to read the book; but I feel sorry for those who choose not to, they're really missing out on a spectacular novel.
i have to say that looking for alaska is the best book i've ever read and i've read PLENTY
Yes there is alot of cussing and alcohol and evn a sex scene but thats teenagers!...parents who think there teens aren't exposed to sex and all of these other things are living in lala land. John i'm a really big fan and i thnk u should continue to write whatever u want.
I first read Looking for Alaska when I was 15. It's still one of my favorites and should never be banned. How else are teenagers going to learn how to deal with the crap that is life? Anyway: Most amazing book ever!
Love for you and your book
LeAnne
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