Live in Chicago
If you live in or near Chicago and you're over the age of 21, you should come down to the Hideout this Friday at 6:30. I'll be participating in The Interview Show with noted American genius Mark Bazer. The Hideout's at 1354 W. Wabansia; the show costs five bucks, and it'll be worth it.
Also: Stephen Colbert likes one of my favorite bands.
Furthermore: The Buffalo News reports with great fairness and thoroughness on the "Looking for Alaska" situation in Depew. It turns out that 97% of the parents in the eleventh grade signed the permission slip saying their kids could read "Alaska." 97 percent!
And speaking of overwhelming majorities: It looks like even the Clinton campaign is acknowledging that Obama won more delegates yesterday than Clinton did, albeit by about 10. (845-835 or so.)
posted by John Green @ Wednesday, February 06, 2008
27 Comments
27 Comments:
I love your book and it seems like you had support of a lot of people! glad it worked out!
"You don't have to have cancer to treat a patient who has" - what the crap!?!? No, the doctor doesn't have to have cancer...but he DOES have to study it and *gasp* READ BOOKS about it. You cannot just jump on the bandwagon of hate, people! Here's a basic guideline for life: Educate yourself before you claim to know what you are talking about. As a THINKING, fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christ follower, I have serious issues with ignorant people who claim to be Christians and then sully the word with their idiocy and blind hatred. I'm sorry you have to deal with garbage like this. Honestly, I haven't read it yet (heading to the library to check it out ASAP), but I think "Alaska" sounds like a great book that probably will mean a lot to many teens for years to come. (I mean, they're comparing it to Sallinger - sounds like you may have a classic on your hands!) Oops - I think I just admitted I was a true Christian who reads the "evil, secular literature." I like to read about real life, so sue me. Jesus got His hands dirty with all kinds of topics and people that were considered taboo. Know why? Because the real world is not always pretty and clean like the Thomas Kinkade painting over the back of your toilet. Step down off your high horse, love EVERYONE, and stop acting like Pharisees, you book nazis! Sorry for the rant/tangent. What I mean to say is this: I apologize for the less-than-kind people who claim the name of Jesus and then treat you like dirt. You don't deserve it, and they should know better.
How did Daniel Biss do yesterday?
97% of parents signed the permission slip. That is truly amazing! I'm extremely happy to see that some parents out there have some sense.
I should probably elaborate a little more on what I really meant. 97% is more than I had expected to give permission. I do respect the 3% who did not give their consent; that is their right as the parent. And I also give them credit for not being the ones to create this situation. They understand there's no harm done just because their child will read a different book.
97 percent!
That is so awesome! Seriously.. how can five unhappy people override 97% of parents AND good arguments from the teachers. Victories like this will pave the way for others if there are any more disputes.
And I must say I agree with "miss hannah" on the subject of the pastor... It really gets me, because at the core and truth of Christianity there is such a beautiful religion, but even most of the preachers can't seem to get it right.
Also, good luck on your show! If Chicago weren't 6 hours away I'd go :) Seems like you and Hank are busy lately!
Yes - how did Daniel make out?
And I'm psyched to hear that 97% said yes on the forms. That seems like it should be enough to close the case, actually, although obviously it didn't. Hooray for those Depew parents!
Oh, I do love what Miss Hannah said. IT's a lovely comment.
Regardless, (and this comment goes on the assumption that you remain a member of the Christian faith, specifically the Episcopalian branch, as once you commented on one of the youtube videos...yeah...) Happy Ash Wednesday! Time to repent and meditate on Scripture! Hooray for Lent!
Also - hooray for 97%!!!
I can't believe that reverend's comment about cancer. You can't just take people's word for what books are about. Look at the Bermudez Triangle! People were saying that there were sexual scenes in that book which didn't even exist!
Also, the comment about language just made me laugh. I'm pretty sure that most of the books I've read in my English class this year have contained swear words, and if the students have already read Catcher in the Rye...well, you get my point.
I loved the excerpt from your letter, John. Even in a serious letter you make me smile :)
Anyways, I hate book banning. I think that parental permission is completely appropriate and the only consent that matters when it comes to what children read.
I went to the Obama rally in CT on Monday and he really spoke to the issues that are currently being ignored. It was so exciting to actually BE excited about politics again!
No!
Not "No!" to you successfully not being a pornographer, but "No!" to you being in Chicago and me having to work. Sadpants.
Congratulations though, I'm happy that more people will get a chance to read Alaska. :)
Okay, let's see if you can answer this in either your next blog or next question tuesday...
Can you escape The Labyrinth without dying?
is that even an option or is The Labyrinth an indefinite and infinite prison in the living world?
Scott Westerfeld will be there too.
Great show at the Hideout. Definitely worth the five bucks... I'd even go so far as to say that I would have paid seven. You and Mark were hilarious together.
Neutral Milk Hotel?!
...Marry me?
My new most favourite quote ever: “Would any of you read this aloud at a board meeting?” Miller asked the seven-member board. “What’s next? Free condoms and unisex showers?”
The rest of it did not make me smile.
Just found your blog. Loved the video posts. Loved them even more because I have no computer speakers-- try it.
On my husband's computer I coughed up my coffee laughing so hard at the party-throwing teen. Where can I get a pair of those beauties? The bare chest was an added bonus. Thanks for sharing.
Let the SCBWI know next time you're speaking in Chicago so we can suck some more inspiration from your speeches.
-Trina
Wow, just read this blog post. But that is awesome that both you and Stephen Colbert like Neutral Milk Hotel. That might have made my day.
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I was going to write a letter as you suggested in your video blog but had not yet read the book so i felt uninformed. Now i have read it i will ask... WHAT IS WRONG? ok so i am older than a 11th grader, but still. The content of the book is no news to kids who are 11 years old (forget 11th grade) and to slightly echo Miss Hannah, I am one of these Christians who read "evil" literature. I LOVED the book, and I think it holds so many good things for all of us the think about, and before this turns into a long rant I just want to say I hope this still goes through and that the teachers are allowed to use it in their curriculum.
I am sorry for the death of grammar in this comment. A writer I am not.
yay! 97%!
I loved Looking for Alaska and definitely agree that you are not a pornographer!
In fact, me and my friend wrote a review for it @
plentyofpaper-reviews.blogspot.com
and it would be awesome if you could check it out. :D
Looking for Alaska is now my favorite book. It's fantastic and a great book for anyone!
just one question. is searching for the Great Perhaps part of escaping the labyrinth of suffering?
and, oh yeah, just one more. And I'm sure people have asked this a billion times but I really, really, really am dying to know(not in the literal sense of course).
darn it! I can't ask it! that would be really mean to the people who read this and haven't read the book!
Man! I'll figure out some other way to ask.
I am from a parent from Depew and have read the book Looking for Alaska. I am unsure of WHAT IS SO INAPPROPRIATE in it? The issues that the characters in this book go through are issues that teenagers are faced with everyday. People who are against this book need to ask themselves...
1. Did I read the book? Or just look at the one awkward sex scene in the book out of context?
2. What are kids hearing/seeing on and in the media, on the bus, and at school in general? (Let’s be serious kids are doing BAD things in school right under administrations eyes. That is just the way it is and the way it will always be!)
3. If I read this book in its entirety would my position on this book change?
4. If you were offered a CHOICE to read the book or not, you really don't have an opinion!!! Sorry!!! I know that is not a question!
This book is a great book to help young people connect with what is really going on in the world around them.
I would be awesome if you could come to the board meeting at Depew High School on March 4. I know that is probably impossible to do, but the students and the teacher would love the support of "THE AUTHOR"!!! If you do decide to come you need to be put on the agenda to speak. That means you have to contact Depew Board of Education by 1pm March 3. Please Please Please think about coming!
Kind of not relating to the topic of your entry, but I just blogged about you two times within two weeks time. And I would admit to being a fanatic of your books, but I am too classy to deem myself a groupie (ugh, how tacky and hackneyed).
Kind of on the topic, though, I may be living in Chicago next year. I hope you and Sufjan Stevens are leaping for joy.
Keep writing amazing books!
John - When you said that Stephen Colbert liked one of your favorite bands, did you mean Neutral Milk Hotel?!?!?!?! They're the most fantastic band!!!
I have just finished reading the book Looking For Alaska and I thought it was amazing, I loved it. I think you are a complete genius. Genius. Genius. Genius. I picked the book because I heard of all the controversy about it, but once I started, I couldn't put it down. It made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me think about the bigger things in life. I don't know what else to say, and if I did it would just get really boring, but I keep thinking you are a complete genius.
Editorial
A few words about 'Looking for Alaska'
Students in the Depew School District are reading the "young adult" novel Looking for Alaska after the book was challenged by a handful of parents who objected to its content. A district-organized committee determined earlier this month that the book is appropriate for eleventh grade classroom instruction. While the book was deemed "appropriate," there was little discussion about its educational value. This is an oversight and maybe a disservice that goes far beyond the objections concerning its themes and language.
Looking for Alaska is not a bad novel, nor is it a great novel. It is, indeed, an entertaining "read" and offers some interesting observations about religion and life. However, its word selection fails to match the well-developed characters and story. Its inclusion in English classes makes one wonder if schools are focusing more on social issues rather than on a well-rounded education.
American author Richard Lederer, who is known for his books on word play and the English Language, once noted that there are 616,500 entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, yet the average English speaker has a vocabulary between 10,000 and 20,000 words. Looking for Alaska, with its propensity for unseemly and uninspired language that reflects the MTV generation, illustrates Lederer's observation.
Proponents of the book point to how today's high school students identify with the characters and the life choices they make to justify Alaska's inclusion in the curriculum. One Depew parent even said that the language "is no different than what you would hear" at a high school football game. What a standard by which to live. There's no wonder students say they enjoy the book.
School districts across the United States in recent years have become more active in developing a child's social habits, reaching into homes, if necessary, to advance their tenets. Schools are also taking a more active role in shaping other habits. For example, some school districts have stepped beyond what is taught in health class by trying to alter the dietary habits of their students, removing unhealthy snacks from vending machines.
Yet, English classes are offering literature containing a vocabulary that equates to junk food- brain "candy" with no nutritional value.
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English explores the average American's vocabulary and suggests there are three vocabularies for each person: the daily lexicon, the vocabulary the person knows but doesn't use, and words that a person may identify after given clues. "In the end, experience- with life and with dealing with it in words- is the best vocabulary builder," the guide reports.
Apparently, students aren't receiving that experience in the classroom. Fifty years from now, Looking for Alaska will likely be a footnote in literary history, known more for the controversy it caused than for capturing a reader's imagination or challenging one's vernacular. We believe it will also cause future generations to wonder why it had the support of those trusted with providing children with an education.
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