Childhood

Censorship

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Sep 8, 2022 in Childhood, Children's Literature, Educators & Librarians, Nonfiction, Politics | 0 comments

Thank you, Bonny Eagle School Board, for taking a stand against censorship and making sure kids will still be able to check out It’s Perfectly Normal!

A few takeaways in case you do not get a chance to read the whole article:

It’s Perfectly Normal is one of the most straightforward, nonjudgmental, accessible books about puberty and sexuality out there. It’s constantly praised and recommended for this age group.

It’s Perfectly Normal was not required reading or assigned in any class. It was just there, on the library shelf.

There was already a mechanism in place where parents could request that their kids be prevented from checking this book out. (I don’t like that, but it was there.) That didn’t satisfy this particular group of parents. They wanted to be sure that no kid could read this book. And while we’re on this topic,  why does parental control only ever go one way? As a parent as well as an author, what if I want this kind of book available to my child? Do I not have any rights in that regard?

And finally, It’s Perfectly Normal for kids who are going through adolescence to want to read about adolescence, and it’s admirable for them to reach out and learn more about what’s happening to them. We should support that, not try to shut it down!

(And one extra point–I now really want to read Genderqueer, also under threat of censorship. Censors, take note–we most want to read what you try to take away.)

Things Not To Do

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Apr 8, 2021 in Childhood, Children's Literature, Educators & Librarians | 0 comments

Let them read!

A middler schooler I happen to know was picking out a book from her school library the other day. The staff member frowned at it, announced to the room that it had rather mature themes, and then handed it to her after all.

Just…don’t.

If a book isn’t right for middle schoolers, don’t have it in the library. If a book is in the library and a student chooses it, don’t criticize it and embarrass her in front of all her classmates.

(The book was, by the way, entirely appropriate.)

I hear from educators all the time how important it is for kids to develop a love of reading. And then I hear about things like this.

Here are a few thoughts, from someone who may not be an educator or a librarian or a literacy specialist, but from someone who does care about books and kids.

Don’t tell kids they are reading the wrong books. Don’t criticize their taste, even if their taste runs to series fiction or fantasy or graphic novels or any of the other books we adults like to sneer at. Reading is reading. Reading books that you adore is the absolutely best way (perhaps the only way?) to develop a true love for the printed word.

Don’t shut up the library or severely limit its hours and then complain that kids aren’t reading.

Don’t refuse to allow them any class time to read and then complain that they don’t prioritize reading.

Don’t give them tedious reading logs to fill out, making reading a painful chore.

Don’t act embarrassed or uncomfortable when kids in the throes of adolescence want to read about (gasp!) sexuality.

Don’t tell them when and what and how to read.

Just don’t.

New Chapter Book

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Mar 12, 2021 in Childhood, Children's Literature, Educators & Librarians | 0 comments

I’ve just finished draft five of a new chapter book that might be ready to send to my agent soon….I hope so, anyway.

This is one of my favorite scenes:

“What did Mr. Cleary say to you in the office after lunch recess?” Emily asked anxiously as they walked down the hallway.

“A lot about rules. Don’t all these rules get in the way of the education?” Rani asked.

Maybe a little bit, Emily thought. But she didn’t think she should say so.

“I could probably manage either the rules or the education,” Rani went on thoughtfully. “But not both.”

You Can Never Go Back

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 21, 2019 in Childhood, Children's Literature, Uncategorized | 0 comments

So many wonderful lines in this amazing essay by Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, I can’t keep myself from quoting:

I’d trade sex and booze and wisdom—all the best parts about being Grown—if I could have back [childhood]. Colors brighter, smells stronger, days bleeding on forever, and oh . . . reading. In childhood, there’s almost nothing to keep you from reading.

Kid’s books are where I personally learned most everything important about the world: About rape and sinister men from Beatrix Potter’s Jemima Puddle-Duck; about eroticism from Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen; about feminism from P.L Travers’ maverick goddess Mary Poppins; about loss and the unceasing progress of time from E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web.

And lots more. Go read it!

You Can Never Go Back: On Loving Children’s Books as an Adult