The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Do your homework and discuss questionable works with your family.
I’ve always loved books. I was 7 years old when I got my first library card. Going to the library with my mother and younger sister is one of my favorite memories. Quiet and cool, the library was a lovely respite from the cacophony of big-city noises, and the sweltering heat of our Washington, D.C., tenement apartment.
Then, as well as now, a new school year means new book/reading lists. In elementary school, fairy tales were my absolute favorite. Particularly those that began with “Once upon a time.” And ended with “and they lived happily ever after.” I credit them with awakening my “romance” gene. A few also taught me important life lessons.
For example, the story of Henny Penny, also known as Chicken Little, taught me that there will always be someone who believes that the “sky is falling” or is the voice of some impending doom. For my mental health, I try hard to stay as
far away from them as I can.
Then, one day I discovered the Bobbsey Twins books. The Bobbseys were two sets of middle class twins. There were 6-year-old Freddie and Flossie, and older twin siblings Bert and Nan, who were 12 when most of their adventures began.
These included trips to the seashore, or to the country. They were accompanied by their pets, their cook and her husband, who was the family’s handyman. While their lives were so different from mine, a little inner-city, brown-skinned girl with thick braids, I adored them.
Junior high and high school introduced me to more adult
like books. “Catcher In the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger was one. Although many years have passed since I first read it, if I remember correctly, the protagonist was 16-year-old Holden Caulfield.
With bad language, sexual overtones and mental health themes peppered throughout the book, it was a bit naughty for my overly strict upbringing. In turn, I felt a little naughty reading it — a feeling I kind of liked. The book’s preoccupations with bad language and sex, I suspect, are the reasons for schools banning it.
Frankly, reading some of those so-called “banned” books was as close to “sex” education as I got. When it came to “the talk,” my uberstrict, pious mother gave me a book about the “birds and the bees.” And “pollination.”
Next, we were introduced to Shakespeare. While some of his infamous stories were sexually suggestive, the way they were written made sexual overtones hard to distinguish. My “life” lesson from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet?” It was that sometimes a serious “love jones” can be the death of you.
Through a few books I gained enlightenment. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird,” a quote from Atticus Finch, which resonated with me as a teenager, continues to do so. “You will never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Reading a good book is much like opening a present that you give yourself. Reading all types, I’ve gained general knowledge about a lot of things. Likewise, I came to realize that even life’s scariest moments can transform us.
Over the years my relationship with books has matured. As a former member of the AAWBC (African American Women’s Book Club), made up of women on Emory University’s staff, our selections included books with strong African American themes.
Among them was “The
Help,” a novel by Kathryn Stockett. Another, “Push,” later become the acclaimed movie “Precious.” So imagine how honored I was when they selected my debut book, “The Venus Chronicles,” my spoof on the book, “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.”
Alas, many of those books I read growing up have been banned. Query: Is banning books ever the answer? In my opinion, the answer is, “No!” I do agree that parents, teachers and other stakeholders should work together to select books that are age-appropriate for their children. Much like I was as a preteen and teenager, there are students who are more sheltered than many of their peers.
Maybe, allow your child to read some of these questionable books. Read, or re-read, them yourself. A recent news story reported that a Florida mother who advocated banning poet Amanda Gorman’s book to elementary school children hadn’t even read the book.
Lastly, discuss these books as a family. You may learn who your children really are. What they think. What they value.
Carol Gee, M.A., of Stone Mountain, is a retired university administrator, military veteran and author. Learn more about her work at venuschronicles.net.