by Rain Gresham

In 1637 New English Canaan by Thomas Morton was officially the first book to be banned in the USA. 

It was banned because it was seen as “a too harsh critique of puritan customs.” Of course the ban was just a sign of times. This wouldn’t happen now, would it? 

One of the most recent books to be banned in American public schools was Sold by Patricia McCormick. This book is about a young girl who was sold into prostitution but finds strength within herself to go on. 

Why would a book like this be banned? If not for control? Why would we shade things like this from a 13-year-old girl when someone the exact same age is living the story. César A. Cru once said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” 

So should we allow just any books in schools? All for the sake of reality? Should adult fiction novels like A Court Of Thorns And Roses  be allowed in school because “No book should be banned.” Where is the line drawn? 

The line is drawn for the sake of intent. A book that shows cruelty and explicitly for the sake of story telling is a lot different than one that shows it for entertainment. 

What is this “intent” ? Sure we can use the concept of the word “meaningful and telling” but what does it mean? I could say that it has intent because it makes me feel happy, right?

No, because the intent is literary intent. It’s about the purpose of the art and how effectively it is dealt with.  

In A Court Of Thorns And Roses there are countless adult topics but they are not handled with care or nuance,  the reader both gains and loses nothing from reading it. Compared to say The Handmaid’s Tale where it also shares adult topics but in a way that these topics have meaning. Meaning other than to just entertain; meaning to teach. 

This small difference in comparison makes a big difference in impact. I can’t tell you much about the last few romance novels I’ve read over the years but I can tell you how the first time I read Anne Frank’s diary in the sixth grade and how it truly made me realise injustice. How it made me want to look for voices that I might not have heard before. 

You can tell children about bad things happening, but unless you show them from their views of those people it’s nothing but a cautionary tale for them. Another reason why they should be thankful for what they have. 

But they shouldn’t just be thankful, they should be aware of what children their same age go through in the world no matter how “uncomfortable” that conversation might be.

The stories we read shape us just as much as the events we experience. In today’s world we are so capable of seeing each other so why limit that?  Why continue ignorance for the sake of comfortability? 

Hate comes from ignorance, so why not open a book?