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Tag Archives: censorship
The Power Of Speaking Loudly
When I sat down on Sunday morning to write my blog post about the book banning in Republic, MO, I had no idea what I started. You – my readers – changed the world this week. It started when Paul Hankins, an English teacher in Indiana, started a dedicated Twitter feed, #speakloudly, to spread the [...]
This guy thinks SPEAK is pornography
Remember last September, when the book banners crawled out of their pits of nastiness to try to remove YA literature from classrooms and libraries? It is September again, my friends. Wesley Scroggins is an associate professor of management at Missouri State University. He was also a speaker at Reclaiming Missouri for Christ, a recent seminar [...]
WFMAD Day 23 – right to speak, right to read, right to write
Saturday’s post on the censorship issues surrounding the Teen Lit Fest In Humble, TX led to a wonderful series of comments and ongoing discussion. Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in. One reader wrote in with a link to a censorship lesson plan for 3rd – 5th graders. Janni Lee Simner wrote about the [...]
WFMAD Day 21 – banning censorship
Censorship is in the news again. Start out your Saturday by reading Pat Scales’ great article about Common Sense Media, Three Bombs, Two Lips, and a Martini Glass. Then bring yourself up to speed on the censorship battle surrounding the Teen Lit Fest in Humble, TX. My friend, Ellen Hopkins, was disinvited to speak after [...]
Monday Madness & Revision Tip #14
My local paper ran an article yesterday about my reaction to the recent book challenges. The photographer who came up here to the Forest got a great shot of the magic window. (For the record, I just turned 48 years old, not 49. Geesh.) It is rare that the part of my brain that writes [...]
Posted in LHA Also tagged magic window, primary source fun, revision, twisted, writing process Comments closed
Skype visits & Revision Tip #8 & Washington Post column
Sorry for posting so late today. I just finished a fun Skype visit with 5th graders from Upton Elementary School in Upton, Wyoming. The kids had all read CHAINS and had oodles of questions about the book and about FORGE (which comes out in September, 2010, BTW.) This is what the kids looked like to [...]
Revision Tip #5 & love from Missouri
This one might seem obvious on the surface, but writers are very good at rationalizing and can come up with all kinds of logical-sounding reasons why they should ignore it. Three words. What. Happens. Next. Stories are supposed to flow like a river, not remain still while your character treads water neck-deep in a pool [...]
KY controversy update & Revision Tip #1
Welcome to December! We woke up to a snow-covered forest and it is still coming down! The Lexington Herald-Leader wrote an article about the book banning in Montgomery County High School in Mount Sterling, KY, where the superintendent appears to be breaking district policy by refusing to return the books (Twisted, Deadline by Chris Crutcher, [...]
NCTE & ALAN recap – plus bookstore events
Whew! I spent yesterday snoring on the couch, recovering from the wonderful, high-energy weekend at the National Council of English Teachers Annual Conference. Thank you, thank you to everyone who stood in the long lines and who shared their stories of the impact my books have had on their students. You guys made me cry [...]
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