Panelist Jerry Craft is the author-illustrator of the bestselling graphic novels New Kid and its companion book, Class Act. New Kid was the winner of the 2020 John Newbery Medal, among other honors.
Gayle Forman, renowned YA/MG author, tells us about her breakout book from 16-17 years ago, IF STAY being challenged: 'That was an innocent time when books were just challenged for sex, the book bans we have seen in the last 6 to 7 years are an entirely different matter. . . When you look behind the book banning movement, a lot of what is/was fueling this is an effort to privatize public education, something that used to be a common good that both sides of the political spectrum, all sides, supported . . . The majority of Americans support the freedom to read and we are in a situation, both here and in so many other places, where a small minority get to ram things down the throat of this country that are universally unpopular."
The panel discusses the use of the term 'book ban' as a catchall for censorship, but go on to explain the differences between challenges, bans, and censorship by exclusion. Betsy also shares, "Several states have passed laws requiring age limitations, targeting specific types of content, and a lot of these laws are intentionally vague to facilitate what we often refer to as soft censorship, or self censorship. When library workers and educators don't understand the parameters of the law, they tend to react out of fear and and understandably so, and remove materials preemptively, or decide not to order materials because they might be controversial."
Jerry starts off the panel talking about his first experiences with his books being banned: "My books look at the innocence of middle school—no sex, drugs, profanity, or anything like that . . . So when I first heard that my books were being banned, I was as surprised as anyone, because I had always tried to do family comic strips, family comic books . . . I have received more invites and interviews for being banned than for some of the awards that I have won, which is definitely bittersweet." While Jerry feels obligated to talk about the bans, he wishes he didn't have to to the degree that he has done and is thankful to be a part of the discussion today on how we begin to go about the process of unbanning.
Betsy Gomez is the Assistant Director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. The office has been working in this space and tracking book bans in libraries (school and public) since 1967. ALA has had a Banned Books Week since 1982. UNITE AGAINST BOOK BANS, is an ALA initiative for public action on behalf of libraries that we can all join today.
Betsy brings up her work experience with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: "Comics, historically, are particularly vulnerable to censorship and bans. 2021 saw a sharp spike in censorship around the country. It is organized and insidious and we need to band together to get through this." Betsy points out that the censors' language today is from the same 'playbook' censorship groups used in the 1950s when censoring comics.
To learn more about book bans and how you can help fight censorship, check out the summaries of the other panelists' on the Official Conference blog and be sure to check back on the SCBWI Youtube channel for the free replay of the entire session.
Ending on words of hope, from Jerry: "Even having one of your own kids write to an author reminding them why they are doing this. That one letter will counteract three dozen hate emails threatening to ban their book." Jerry centers the child reader again in this fight over censorship, "Kids are begging to be seen, especially in books where they are not the victims." And in better news, Jerry's NEW KID was recently picked for a Virginia school's One Book, One School reading program in which every 6th grader got their own copy.
Gayle Forman urges attendees to "Write the story that needs to be written, unpack your own self censorship.
Publishers continue to support books that do not bend the knee. Penguin Random House has taken a leadership role." And other publishers are encouraged to fight! Authors and illustrators can join Authors Against Book Bans as Gayle reminds us, "It's critical we work collectively and it is so important to work with local boards and entities as well as larger regional or national groups."
What gives Betsy Gomez hope: "All the advocates out there. Find the people in your community. No, you are not alone, this is happening everywhere. Reach out to ALA, reach out to your peers. We've been here before, the censors' language is the same playbook they used in the 1950s when censoring comics. We can get through this if we stick together."
Final words from Gayle Forman: Online activism is not enough. The majority of Americans support the freedom to read but do not know what is happening or what to do about it.
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