I read a story recently about a girl in a small Idaho town who got in trouble for handing out copies of Sherman Alexie’s semi-autobiographical novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Well, technically, it was a story about a girl who was supposed to get in trouble, but didn’t, because when the police showed up they pointed out that there aren’t any laws against handing out books, especially on World Book Day, which is when (and why) she was handing out the books in the first place.
The people who called the cops probably thought they had some pull in regards to this book because they were also the same people who had managed to get it banned from the the local school. Apparently they called the cops in the misguided belief that the law is as susceptible to bullying as school boards. Or maybe they just weren’t very smart. Either way, the cops did their job (which was probably pretty easy, seeing as their “job” in this case was to do nothing), the girl handed out the rest of the books, and everyone was happy. Except, of course, for the people who called for the book ban and then called the cops, but, to be honest, they sound like the type of people who are at their most happy when they have something to be unhappy about, so in the end they were probably happy as well.
Which is certainly something the protagonist of Part-Time Indian, Arnold Spirit, could appreciate, seeing as how his sense of humor and love for the ironic are two of the things that likely led to the book getting banned in a small Idaho town in the first place. That, of course, and the fact that at one point in the book he mentions masturbation.
And not in the approved way, either: not in the “I masturbated, and now I must eternally suffer the tormenting flames of hell, oh woe is me, what have I done,” way, but rather in the “Yeah, I masturbate, what about it?”way. The way that (obviously) certain people in a small Idaho town don’t like.
It’s funny, really, because you would think that if you were the type of person who is uncomfortable talking to your kids about masturbation, or even sex in general, then you, of all people, would be the most appreciative of a book that did all of the heavy lifting for you. Because the hardest part of having that conversation is definitely getting it started. There aren’t a lot of comfortable ways to segue into that discussion with anyone, let alone your kids. And then this handy book comes along and does it for you.
But apparently not so much for everyone. Apparently they’re afraid that the book itself will set their kids down the “wrong” path. Funny thing about that, though: if simply reading about something was enough to give you an itch to try those things then I can think of a few other choice books I would keep away from my children first. Books where things like all the first born sons are murdered in a night and when men want to make their surprise guests feel really welcome they let them sleep with their daughters. But maybe that’s just me.
And maybe it’s also just me that thinks that a well-written, critically claimed young adult novel would only contain themes and situations that are already familiar to its readers. Themes and situations they had probably already been eager to discuss.
But what do I know? I don’t even know how to go about trying to get a book banned in the first place. Of course, now that I’ve read about it once, for some reason I am desperate to try and do just that.