This puts Crutcher in a good position to talk about his work and experiences during Banned Book Week, which begins today. The craziest came from an administrator who walked into the high school library in Meridian, Idaho, where I had been asked to speak. She demanded that the Sarah Byrnes poster come down. The cover is a picture of the torso of a competitive male swimmer leaning against the underwater edge of the pool.
Do you ever think it might be easier to sugarcoat some of the story points and language in order to reach the broadest possible audience? Plus, it is very seldom that a teenager complains about my writing. It seems in the past 20 years the popular culture has become so much more permissive, more violent, more sexual. Does it surprise you that smart works still come under fire in a world with bikini baristas and sexting and outrageous videos on YouTube? Pretty much nothing surprises me.
Videos and sexting and bikini baristas whatever that is seem to be less controllable than literature, plus literature usually comes to kids through schools and libraries. Censors often feel they have a right to attack there because those institutions are funded with public money. What do you tell parents who are genuinely interested in shielding their kids from things in the world they deem unhealthy or inappropriate?
I tell them that if their student is upset or insulted or offended by the content in a book the parent should take action. This is America. We can all use a little hope and redemption. Sponsored Content.
