Born and Raised Here

Question:

FYI, I was born and raised here. Do not start to insinuate things about anyone without knowing anything. Also, do not bring race into this either. Your books have been banned in lots of school so please do not glorify your “united states” statement. There are so many reviews about your books now that I do a search so please again do not glorify how parents connect w their kids. I’m pretty sure those reviews were from “united states” citizen too. 

Phyllis replied:

I did indeed jump to conclusions based on your name and on the grammar of your emails.  I did not mean to either glorify the United States or denigrate another country–only to stress that people have differences regarding sexual matters, and you’re correct, many in the United States hold views similar to yours.  What concerns me, apart from your reaction to my own books, is that there are many well-reviewed books out there by other authors, written for children and praised by librarians, that deal with, for example, child molestation, alcoholic parents, divorce, animal cruelty, that have good messages for children but that you might not feel are right for your daughter, as well as books on families with gay parents,on religious rebellion, scientific theories that may hold views very different from your own.  Since these are sometimes only subplots to the bigger story, as are the sexual scenes in the Alice books, the reviewers may not even mention them and obviously, not everything that happens in a book can be listed on the fly-leaf.  So I do repeat my suggestion that you have a personal talk with your child’s librarian about what you feel is appropriate for your daughter, so that she can help her select books that are in keeping with your own views and philosophies.  I appreciate your writing to me.