Banned books

Question:

I was looking through your blog (like I do every couple weeks) and I, as well as many others I assume, saw the critisism that was displayed. I do not want to harp on how wrong I think they were, since I do not know where they are coming from or their situation, but I do want to share my own oppinions with you.

I have been reading your Alice books since I was very, very young and have read each one over seven times. Each time I read them, I pick up soemthing new, and as I get older, your writing goes to a whole new level for me, and I am starting to relate more and more with Alice, since I am now a Sophmore in highschool. I feel like Alice is always there for me no matter the time. I go through soem pretty touch moments but I ALWAYS find consolation in ALice. I am currently in the application process to spend my Junior year abroad in either Italy or Brazil or Sweeden. I was interveiwed and they asked me who I admired the most out of anyone. I answeredthat you were my biggest role model, not only because I am passionate in being a writer, but because I love your openness to help young girls (and old women and boys) and I think you are very talented. I haven’t written to you in over a year, though I have read your blog a lot and continued to read Alice whenever I want some inspiration. I am struggling right now with friends, and parents, and sexuality, and these books provide thought provoking questions and help me learn a lot about sex since my mom is way too librel about such matters, and my dad won’t talk to me about them at all. Through the books I can see all sides of the spectrum. Just one question: How do you feel when your books are banned, and how do you feel when you get spiteful letters from angry parents?

Phyllis replied:

Thanks so much for your email. Since the majority of my letters from parents are favorable, I don’t get too upset over the critical letters–I do try to understand where they are coming from. I also sympathize with librarians who don’t have a school policy for dealing with requests to ban a book and sometimes, fearful of losing their jobs, decide to remove a book from the shelves. It’s unfair that one or two parents should be able to decide what the children of other parents should or should not read. Most librarians put a lot of time into deciding what books should be in their collection, and though parents’ input is important, the professional librarian should have the final.

Posted on: October 4, 2011