Blaine County Library Book Club Will Meet on January 14
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Free People Reading Freely, the Blaine County Library Book Club, will hold its fourth meeting on Monday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m.
The book club is reading 2017’s Top Ten Most Challenged Books, so any interested readers—whether they have attended previously or not—are invited to attend the book club’s next meeting. Books are not only on display and available for check-out at the library, but a book list is also available online at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10#2017.
During its last meeting the club discussed the issue of raw exposure that readers confront in some books. Stories about teens who are dealing with depression, anger, or the wish to die can be difficult, so the initial response for many adults is to protect young readers from such content, especially those with a history of trauma.
The group debated whether books with such triggers should carry a rating system, like movies. Although some considered the proposition a warning system, a way to communicate caution to the consumer and a way to ensure the mental, physical, and emotional safety of our youth, others called such a rating system a veiled form of censorship. One book club member stated, “After all, calendar age isn’t the same as emotional, mental, and experiential readiness.”
That side of the debate also cited how reading a book that might mirror personal experience related to sexuality, drug abuse, violence, racism, or some other trigger can reveal coping strategies or share transformative moments.
According to discussion leader Dr. Donna L. Miller, “Such stories are also important since they give a voice to a particular kind of suffering while also helping readers to develop a deeper understanding of emotional pain or mental illness and the toll it takes. They show how people survive that pain and begin the process of healing.” That discussion thread concluded with the idea of whether society wishes to foster a culture where human fragility is promoted over the development of resilience.
One of the books discussed was number one on the list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books in 2017, Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why. Several parents, teachers, and teens consider this novel a valuable tool for igniting conversations about suicide, bullying, and consent.
Through thirteen cassette tapes shared in Asher’s novel, the reader dives into the psyche of Hannah Baker, a young woman who makes the unfortunate choice to commit suicide. Some Blaine County readers thought that Hannah’s holding others accountable for or blameworthy in her decision made the book problematic, since it bumps up against the idea that suicide solves problems or that Asher glorifies suicide. Nonetheless, the book asks important questions about whether the truth really does set a person free or whether there
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is power in knowing. It also forces readers to consider that the truth doesn’t always make things right, that truth is subjective, and that there are thirteen sides or perspectives to every story.
Free People Reading Freely also deliberated about rumor versus truth and how regardless of truth, we sometimes choose to accept a trusted person’s version rather than doing our own thinking and fact-finding. The group cited multiple transformative messages inspired by the text:
• We have to see others with more than our eyes.
• Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
• When we bear witness to sexual assault, we need to speak out.
• Shame and guilt are monsters that will consume us even we allow them to gnaw incessantly at our conscience.
• Although cataclysmic events have the power to change the course of life and although we all endure horrors and moments of darkness, those realities don’t mean we can’t claw our way to the light.
• No one knows for certain how much impact we have on the lives of other people.
About the book club, librarian Valerie Frank commented, “Anyone interested in discussing the notion of challenging a book is welcome to attend. We’ve had some stimulating conversations so far.”
Seven book club members were winners in a drawing for free books at their December meeting. The books were compliments of Phoenix Book Company and Thinking Zone, two businesses with a commitment to literacy.
