Bookshelves of Doom has a nice recap of all things Ellen Hopkins/Humble, Texas.
http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2010/08/there-is-big-trouble-abrewing-in-humble-texas.html
The cliffnotes version of what happened: Ellen Hopkins was invited to speak at the Teen Lit Fest in Humble, Texas. One librarian and "a few" parents got upset because Hopkins apparently writes controversial things and they got the school superintendent to uninvite her. Four other authors pulled out in solidarity: Pete Hautman, Melissa de la Cruz, Tera Lynn Childs, and Matt de la Pena. Many people are pissed and are writing about it. The bookshelves of doom link links to all sorts of posts about it, many by the authors themselves.
Now, I will admit that I have never read Ellen Hopkins, nor any of the other authors that pulled out. Apparently Hopkins has a book about a teen addicted to crystal meth and another about sex. ZOMG! No! Protect the children! Not drugs and sex! Not everyone may want to read about a crystal meth addict. Personally, gritty reality books are not my cup of tea. I enjoy crap that is fun, fluffy, and couldn't happen. However, many people enjoy her books. Many teens relate to her books. Some people are offended by her books. That's fine too. You can think that her books suck, that she is a terrible author, that she is a destroying childrens' minds. But you can't keep other people from reading her books. And you can't tell teens they cannot listen to her speak. You can tell your kid not to go, but you can't tell someone else's kid not to go.
Scanning the comments of many of the blog posts about this mostly shows support for Hopkins and the other authors who pulled out. However, some people bring up the point that the authors are hurting the teens by not attending. You know what...the authors not attending is hurting the teens who might attend, but it isn't the fault of the authors; it is the fault of the superintendent, the librarian, and the parents who made a big deal out of it. They are the ones who are hurting the teens of Humble, Texas. If I were one of the authors scheduled to attend, I would pull out. Supporting the festival, which is not supporting free speech, is bad. If the festival decided not to invite Hopkins to speak in the first place, this wouldn't be a big deal. They can choose who they want at their festival. But inviting her and then uninviting her due to her "controversial" books...that just doesn't sit right.
It is an interesting parallel to what libraries face. If you don't buy a certain book, it is no big deal. A library can not own every single book, so if you decide not to buy a book for whatever reason, that is fine (unless there is a demand for the book and you are just not buying it because you disagree with it, but that is a whole other blog post). If you get the book, three people complain, and you pull the book, that is censorship. Same thing goes for the Teen Lit Fest. There are a ton of teen authors. If you decide not to invite Hopkins, no hard feelings. If you invite her, then three people complain, and you uninvite her, that is censorship.
I will be interested to see if there is fall out from this. There are already a ton of blogs being written about this and I assume there will be more to come, especially if the superintendent replies.
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