https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1222539335/banned-books-high-school
'In the far, far suburbs of Houston, Texas, three teenagers are talking at a
coffee shop about a clandestine bookshelf in their public school classroom.
It's filled with books that have been challenged or banned.
"Some of the books that I've read are books like
Hood Feminism,
The Poet X,
Gabi,
A Girl in Pieces," says one of the girls. She's a 17-year-old senior
with round glasses and long braids. The books, she says, sparked her feminist
consciousness. "I just see, especially in my community, a lot of women being
talked down upon and those books [were] really nice to read."
These students live in a state that has banned more books than nearly any
other, according to PEN America. The Texas State Board of Education passed a
policy in late 2023 prohibiting what it calls "sexually explicit, pervasively
vulgar or educationally unsuitable books in public schools." Over the past two
years, Texas teachers have lost jobs or been pressured to resign after making
challenged books available to students.
The teacher who created this bookshelf could become a target for far right-wing
groups. That's why NPR is not naming her, nor her students.
"We don't want to jeopardize our teacher in any way, or the bookshelf," another
teenager explains. Until recently, he says, he was not naturally inclined
toward reading. But the secret bookshelf opened a world of characters and
situations he immediately related to. "Just to see Latinos, like LGBTQ," he
says. "That's not something you really see in our community, or it's not very
well represented at all."'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
