The Higher Power of Lucky--written by a shock jock?!

Well, I realized today why I'm a public children's librarian and not a school media specialist (a.k.a. school librarian)--because I would have to deal with parents complaining about 1 word on a page, taken out of context, and also have to deal with other school media specialists who think the correct terminology for mammal anatomy is disgusting. Guess these folks did not take much biology!


In case you haven't read the current uproar about the 2007 Newbery Medal winner, The
Higher Power of Lucky, here goes:

The New York Times, Late Edition, 2/18/2007--Julie Bosman wrote:

"The word ''scrotum'' does not often appear in polite conversation. Or children's literature, for that matter.Yet there it is on the first page of 'The Higher Power of Lucky,' by Susan Patron, this year's winner of the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children's literature. The book's heroine, a scrappy 10-year-old orphan named Lucky Trimble, hears the word through a hole in a wall when another character says he saw a rattlesnake bite his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.'Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much,' the book continues. 'It sounded medical and secret, but also important.'The inclusion of the word has shocked some school librarians, who have pledged to ban the book from elementary schools, and reopened the debate over what constitutes acceptable content in children's books. The controversy was first reported by Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine."And also in this article:
'' 'This book included what I call a Howard Stern-type shock treatment just to see how far they could push the envelope, but they didn't have the children in mind,' Dana Nilsson, a teacher and librarian in Durango, Colo., wrote on LM--Net, a mailing list that reaches more than 16,000 school librarians. 'How very sad.' ''

What seems sadder to this blogger is that children will be kept from enjoying and learning from this book. If the word "scrotum" is in a book and refers to a dog, why would the conversation (if one even developed) have to focus on human genitalia? And why would it be abnormal for a 10-year-old protagonist to wonder what this word means? I am amazed that school media specialists are wasting their time with this. The Higher Power of Lucky is a beautiful book, and it should be read by children far and wide. And the only people who should have the opportunity to stop any children from reading it are those children's parents--not school library media specialists. If a parent reads this book (and front to back, not just the first page!) and still finds it objectionable, it's reasonable that the parent intervene for the child. But not for all children. The school library media specialists who are keeping this book from entering their libraries or warning parents or putting it on a restricted shelf are doing no less than blocking education instead of furthering it.

These school library media specialists should ask themselves why they're in the business of education. And what's wrong with the word "scrotum?" If this book was truly trying to be SHOCKING, it would've used the slang term "balls" or another slang term that's even more adult.

If you wonder about why children might grow up with sexual hangups, think about this story, and also ponder what happened when "The Vagina Monologues" was produced in Atlantic City, FL:
(From http://www.local6.com/spotlight/10962054/detail.html)

A modified marquee in which "Hoohaa" replaced a word in the title of a play after a driver complained about finding the previous wording offensive continues to draw attention.

The marquis for Atlantic Theaters advertises a number of plays including, the Masquerade Ball, Band Jam, and now The Hoohaa Monologues.

Some said hoohaa is a strange word and that its definition depends on its context, while others said it sounds like a country band, according to the WJXT-TV report.

However, it's not a band at all. In fact, most people know hoohah by a different name -- vagina, WJXT-TV reported.

"We got a complaint about this play The Vagina Monologues," said Bryce Pfanenstiel, of the Atlantic Theater.

The Hoohah Monologues is a replacement title for The Vagina Monologues -- a well-known play about that part of the female body.

"We decided we would just use child slang for it. That's how we decided on Hoohah Monologues," Pfanenstiel said.

They did this after a driver who saw it complained to the theater, saying she was upset that her niece saw it.

"I'm on the phone and asked 'What did you tell her?' She's like, 'I'm offended I had to answer the question."

People, here's how it works: Children are curious and will ask questions. We need to answer their questions in a mature, responsible way. Children will only NOT ask questions if they are placed in a dark hole, unable to interact with the world.

For those of you who would like to do that, maybe you should get your head out of your h...

Until next time...