Monday, February 16, 2009

A Dirty Little Secret: Self-Censorship

Link to 2/1/2009 School Library Journal article.

Excerpt: When Barry Lyga finished writing his second young adult novel, he knew there’d be trouble. After all, Boy Toy was about a 12-year-old who has sex with a beautiful teacher twice his age, and Lyga expected it to spark letters to local papers, trigger complaints to the school board, and incite some parents to yank it off library shelves.

But none of those things ever happened.

There are 12 copies of B0y Toy listed in LINKcat. 8 are checked out. All are classified young adult.

Some other books mentioned in the article.
The Higher Power of Lucky. For use of the word "scrotum". 53 copies in children's collections.

Jibberwillies at Night. Overprotective librarian. 19 copies in children's collections.

Tyrell. Restricted access. 21 copies in young adult collections.

Box Out. Lesbian character. 9 copies in young adult collections.

And Tango Makes Three. Prominent gay characters, 2 Central Park Zoo male penguins. 30 copies in children's collections.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Offensive language and sexual content. 28 copies, all but 1 in young adult collections. The other is in a juvey collection.

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