Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Description
I couldn't believe it. For once I had actually said what I was thinking and something was happening about it. I felt a little flutter in my chest, like that split second when you're peering over the top of the hill on a roller coaster and then the weight grabs you and drags you down, and you're scared but really excited. p28.
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How do you say you like a thing? You can point to all the good parts. That you like how they ran away from home to a museum. That you like how Claudia packed her clothes in her empty violin case. That they slept in a big antique bed and took baths in the fountain. That they solve a mystery about an old statue. I like all that stuff about From the Mixes-up Files.
But none of that is really the reason I've read it thirteen times and still want to read it again. That's something ... bigger. Deeper. More than all those things added together. How do you explain to someone else why a thing matters to you if it doesn't matter to them? How can you put into words how a book slips inside of you and becomes a part of you so much that your life feels empty without it? p39-40
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How had I not seen books as treasure before? I loved books. I couldn't imagine living without them. But I had never seen each book as such a valuable thing before. Even the books I wasn't interested in reading were like gold. It didn't matter what was inside them. One man's junk was another man's treasure, as my grandmother said. The same thing was true with books. One person's Captain Underpants was another person's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. p147-148
Speeches
"It's our job as educators to expose our children to as many different kinds of books and as many different points of view as possible. That means letting them read books that are too easy for them, or too hard for them. That means letting them read books that challenge them, or do nothing but entertain them. And yes, it means letting students read books with things in them we might disagree with and letting them make up their own minds about things, which is downright scary sometimes. But that's what good education is all about." p33
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mrs. Jones said, "every parent has the right to decide what their child can and can't read. What they cannot do is make that decision for everyone else. I respectfully ask that the school board overturn the arbitrary, closed-door decision to remove these books, and to require any parent still concerned about library materials to follow the established reconsideration policy set up by this board. Thank you." p34
talking to the principal- p92
Mr. Pilkey smiled. "Well, I wish they were on the shelves, where everybody could read them," he said. "I think it's important that libraries be a place where you can find all kinds of books. Good ones, bad ones, funny ones, serious ones. Every person should be free to read whatever they want, and not have to explain to anyone else why we like it, or why we think it's valuable. I hope you all get a chance to read my books someday." p130-131
spoiler-y speeches p229, 232
LOL
"...I'm sure Mrs. Jones wouldn't call it censorship to keep adult magazines filled with S-E-X out of her library."
S-E-X? Who was she spelling that out for? Did she think the kids in the room had never heard the word sex before-- or that we couldn't spell? p35
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Love it
Good books shouldn't be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible. p62
Everybody had the right to interpret any book any way they wanted to. What they couldn't do then was tell everybody else their interpretation was the only interpretation. p195
"Silly to you, maybe. All reasons are silly to someone else, and we think the challenges to the books already removed are silly. What makes one person's reason any sillier than another person's reason?" p228
I couldn't believe it. For once I had actually said what I was thinking and something was happening about it. I felt a little flutter in my chest, like that split second when you're peering over the top of the hill on a roller coaster and then the weight grabs you and drags you down, and you're scared but really excited. p28.
________________________________
How do you say you like a thing? You can point to all the good parts. That you like how they ran away from home to a museum. That you like how Claudia packed her clothes in her empty violin case. That they slept in a big antique bed and took baths in the fountain. That they solve a mystery about an old statue. I like all that stuff about From the Mixes-up Files.
But none of that is really the reason I've read it thirteen times and still want to read it again. That's something ... bigger. Deeper. More than all those things added together. How do you explain to someone else why a thing matters to you if it doesn't matter to them? How can you put into words how a book slips inside of you and becomes a part of you so much that your life feels empty without it? p39-40
_________________________________
How had I not seen books as treasure before? I loved books. I couldn't imagine living without them. But I had never seen each book as such a valuable thing before. Even the books I wasn't interested in reading were like gold. It didn't matter what was inside them. One man's junk was another man's treasure, as my grandmother said. The same thing was true with books. One person's Captain Underpants was another person's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. p147-148
Speeches
"It's our job as educators to expose our children to as many different kinds of books and as many different points of view as possible. That means letting them read books that are too easy for them, or too hard for them. That means letting them read books that challenge them, or do nothing but entertain them. And yes, it means letting students read books with things in them we might disagree with and letting them make up their own minds about things, which is downright scary sometimes. But that's what good education is all about." p33
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mrs. Jones said, "every parent has the right to decide what their child can and can't read. What they cannot do is make that decision for everyone else. I respectfully ask that the school board overturn the arbitrary, closed-door decision to remove these books, and to require any parent still concerned about library materials to follow the established reconsideration policy set up by this board. Thank you." p34
talking to the principal- p92
Mr. Pilkey smiled. "Well, I wish they were on the shelves, where everybody could read them," he said. "I think it's important that libraries be a place where you can find all kinds of books. Good ones, bad ones, funny ones, serious ones. Every person should be free to read whatever they want, and not have to explain to anyone else why we like it, or why we think it's valuable. I hope you all get a chance to read my books someday." p130-131
spoiler-y speeches p229, 232
LOL
"...I'm sure Mrs. Jones wouldn't call it censorship to keep adult magazines filled with S-E-X out of her library."
S-E-X? Who was she spelling that out for? Did she think the kids in the room had never heard the word sex before-- or that we couldn't spell? p35
_______________________________________
Love it
Good books shouldn't be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible. p62
Everybody had the right to interpret any book any way they wanted to. What they couldn't do then was tell everybody else their interpretation was the only interpretation. p195
"Silly to you, maybe. All reasons are silly to someone else, and we think the challenges to the books already removed are silly. What makes one person's reason any sillier than another person's reason?" p228
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