Speak Loudly, before others decide to speak for you

I begin this post with a confession and disclosure: I have never read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This is partly because it seems to always be out of the library when I'm in, sold out or not carried by bookstores, and unavailable on Paperback Swap, my three main sources of books (believe it or not, ARCs are not my main source, but that's a post for another day.)  It's also partly because I'm a little afraid to read it.  In the book blogging/writing community, it has become a touchstone of why censorship is bad, and in a way, I don't want the way I feel about the cause confused with my feelings about the book.  That's going to end with this paragraph.  Based on the frankly ridiculous events unfolding right now, and the overwhelming support found on Twitter (hashtag #SpeakLoudly), I'm vowing to you, my readers, and to myself that I am going to get a copy of this book and read it as soon as I possibly can!

Now, for a little background.  Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak and active spokesperson against book banning, posted this earlier today.  Long story short?  Wesley Scroggins, a passionate Christian, condemned Speak as soft pornography for its two rape scenes and strongly suggested that the book be banned, or at least kept out of the reach of the thousands of middle schoolers and teens whom the book has touched and helped over the years.  He also angrily spoke out against Slaughterhouse-Five and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler (who has an active Twitter presence and chimed in about the banning).  I haven't read Twenty Boy Summer (though I'd like to), but Slaughterhouse-Five remains one of my favorite books of all time for its dry humor and honest look at what morality truly is.

The backlash against his piece has been enormous, with author heavyweights such as Judy Blume backing Laurie Halse Anderson up and bringing the case to the attention of the National Council Against Censorship.  Perhaps most heartening has been the response from much of the Christian book loving community, which is furious at its association with Wesley Scroggins and is strongly condemning book banning by schools.  A special favorite post of mine, by a public school teacher, can be found here.  While obviously on a smaller scale than something like the Middle Eastern conflicts, it is an excellent example of the fact that a religion is not defined by its extremists.

The irony of the whole thing is that this is happening only days before Banned Books Week.  Speak has been challenged before, but not in a way as flagrantly offensive as being called "pornography" - aka sexually exciting.  What about a rape should be sexually exciting?  I think the reason Speak has been seized upon so completely by the Twitter and blogging communities as an example is the fact that it has spoken so deeply to so many rape victims.  In the end, this is a double issue - censorship and rape, speaking out for what's right and the consequences of not doing so.

If book banning makes you furious, as you all know it does me, Laurie Halse Anderson offers suggestions for how to help in her blog post I linked to in the second paragraph.  There have been dozens, even hundreds of posts on the subject from across the blogosphere (I'm sure you'll find some in my blogroll!), and Bookalicious Spam offers a Mr. Linky to all your Speak Loudly posts as well as even more ways to help.  (Please share your links in the comments of this post, too!)

And if this doesn't make you furious, read the full school board presentation this guy came up with.  As long as you remain silent, this is the voice non-blog-savvy America will be hearing.  Is that really what you want?  There really are too many fantastic posts on this for me to link to.  Read as many as you can, and then share with non-connected folks!  I cannot stress how important this issue is.