There is someone in Missouri, by the name of Wesley Scroggins. Who has decided that he wants to try and get Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler off of the bookshelves and out of the curriculum at a Missouri school. I haven't read Speak or Slaughterhouse Five. But I'm going to. I'm half way through Speak and I'm going to review it within the next week. Trying to ban a book that deals with rape should be a crime.
He is also saying that Speak is soft-core pornography. What about rape is pornographic? A book about rape is not titillating.
Does Scroggins know how many people it's affected? How many rape victims it has encouraged to speak up? How many teens feel like they can tell their story, after reading it?
1 in 4 girls are sexually abused by the age of 18.
1 in 6 boys are sexually abused by the age of 18.
Only about 31% of teen sexual abuse incidents are reported.
Rape is something that isn't talked about in our society a lot. It is something that needs to be brought to attention more, and trying to get rid of a book that helps people Speak Up about rape is a horrible thing.
When I heard what this person was doing, I was furious.
The blogging, writing, and twitter community have all come together and tweeted about what's going on. People have emailed the people who have to do with it. We are trying to make sure that people Speak Up. Speak Out. and Speak Loudly.
Teens need to be educated on sex, abuse, and other things. They get educated by reading and sex ed classes. Trying to stop them from reading books dealing with sex and sexual abuse and trying to stop them from having sex ed in schools won't help anyone.
Don't let people try and stop you from Speaking Up or Speaking Out or Speaking Loudly about anything that has happened to you. Don't let anyone Speak for you.
If you are on twitter, I encourage you to tweet to the hashtag #SpeakLoudly . I encourage you to add this to your twitter icon. I encourage you to write about Speak and all the other books that have touched your life or the lives of people you know.
Read Speak. Read other books dealing with rape*. Read Twenty Boy Summer.
*Other books are Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott and The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (Coming out November 2010)
7 comments:
Also: The Dream Where Losers Go by Beth Goobie, Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney, When She Hollers by Cynthia Voigt.
Great post, Zoe :)
You know, he says that Twenty Boy Summer should be banned for the portrayal of condoms for the act of sex...ok, but teens are going to have sex whether we want them to or not. Would you rather we hype up a lack of protection?
His sheer idiocy and ignorance just infuriates me! How can he tell the victims of rape that they should shut up...because that is basically what he is doing. Great post, Zoe.
Thank you for speaking up and speaking out.
You are awesome.
Laina- Thank you! And thank you for letting me know of other books. :)
Melissa- I don't understand the Twenty Boy Summer thing. Would he rather the book had sex without condoms? I know victims of rape. It's insulting that he would tell them to shut up.
April- Thank you! You are awesome as well, for reading this post and for writing a post of your own. I loved your post about it.
Thanks for posting about this, Hair Twin! I'm so glad you're reading SPEAK. I also want to recommend Sarah Dessen's JUST LISTEN as a book that deals with rape and finding a voice again. Loved that one.
xo
Sarah Ockler
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