Dear District Personnel and Community Members,
Recently, parents and other community members of Lebanon, Kentucky took action to ban the book "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. This letter is to defend John Green’s book as well as the teacher who assigned it.
For those who are unaware of the situation, "Looking for Alaska" was assigned to a senior English class. The teacher was aware of the content of the book, and sent a permission slip home to students' parents. One student's parents opted their child out of reading it, and that student was assigned another book.
Now, the book is being challenged altogether and the parents who opted their child out of reading it have been persuading community and school board members to ban the book. The parents read passages of the book out of context and called them “pornographic” and “erotic.” Not only are they working to have the book banned, but they are also trying to have the teacher who assigned the book fired, calling her “garbage,” “godless,” and “shameful.” A letter appeared in the local newspaper to describe how and why she should be fired.
As a reader and an advocate for diverse YA literature, I vehemently oppose these actions. Any passage from any book can sound inappropriate if taken out of context. If this is the only evidence against the book, then it is weak and unjust. Furthermore, the teacher should not lose her job for trying to expose her class to a wider and more diverse world.
"Looking for Alaska" is a book about a boy who starts to question nearly everything around him when one of his friends dies. It’s a book about love, death, and finding who you are among the chaos of the world. It’s a book that has universal themes that all people should be aware of, not just students.
These students are seniors; they’re almost adults. They’re about to graduate and go to college. These students can’t be protected and kept in the dark forever. At some point, they have to enter the real world and make choices on their own. There is no magical way to prepare students for the real world, but adults and mentors can try by giving them fiction that will, at least, let them glimpse what to expect.
I didn't have a moment of awakening until I got to college. I didn't have any teachers in high school that tried to open my eyes to a world outside my whitewashed city. When I did get to college, I had an excellent 101 teacher who asked us to question the world around us. It felt like a ton of bricks landed on my chest. I was appalled at myself for never having questioned anything before.
I think this feeling is unavoidable. I think that all children at one point or another will feel this way. However, because of the efforts of brave teachers who assign “inappropriate” reading, some students might think that the mental bricks aren't that heavy.
You may ask, “why not choose a different book?” And that’s a relevant question. There are more than enough books that will teach students relatively the same themes. However, John Green writes to teenagers. His language and writing is on their level, so not only can they understand the message clearly, but they have fun reading it as well. It is better to assign a book that students will enjoy and want to read, rather than give them a complicated piece of literature that they will Sparknote to understand.
I know that the actions of these parents and community members might make some people seethe with anger. I expected to feel anger myself, but I was shocked to find out that I don’t. Instead, I only feel abundant sadness to know that adults can’t see the importance of teaching their children about life.
Best,
T. Oakley
Student and lover of diverse and relevant Young Adult fiction
P.S. If you would like to write a letter to the school board about this subject, you can send it to emilyveatch01@gmail.com. Click here and read John Green’s post about the subject for more details.
