All over the country (and the world), banning books is a controversial issue. So I read a banned book to see what I thought, and I think that Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson should not be banned from middle school libraries because it discusses a real issue and teaches an important lesson to teenagers.
Speak is a book about rape- a real issue for teenage girls (and boys too). The main character, Melinda, is a high school freshman. When you think about it, that's barely any older than us. And another thing- Melinda doesn't just let her assault overtake her. Take this quote, from the very end of the book: "He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And I'm not going to let it kill me. I can grow." This shows that Melinda isn't just rolling over, letting this horrible thing that happened trick her into thinking she is nothing. Melinda is strong, and she shows readers that they can be too.
Some parents believe that Speak is too explicit for middle schoolers to read. They think that the rape and depression of a young teenager is something that other teens shouldn't read about. According to the article 'Darkness too Visible" by Sharon Gurdon, Speak is some of the "awful stuff" being directed at teens. Also according to Gurdon, almost all young adult books today are "images not of joy or beauty but of damage, brutality, and losses of the most horrendous kinds." This is only part of the story.
People who want to ban Speak are only seeing some of the picture. The rest of it? Well, for one thing, Speak isn't actually all that explicit. There is one (sort of) sex scene and it's Melinda freaking out - "NO!-- I'm not really here, I'm definitely back at Rachel's, crimping hair and gluing on fake nails, and he smells like beer and mean..." - and nothing actually explicit. For another thing, the "joy and beauty" Gurdon was wondering about? It's not all that common in real life either. Years twelve to eighteen are not all sunshine and roses, much to some adults' surprise. This brings me directly to my next point. Speak teaches readers a lesson- that bad things do happen, yes, but they don't have to consume you. You can be strong. I think this is an incredibly important lesson, not just for teenagers, but for people in general.
Banning Speak, and any book really, from school libraries, is just a bad idea. It's controlling and a bit nosy- if you don't want your kid to read it, that's your opinion, but that doesn't mean nobody's kid should read it! The whole idea of book banning is against my religion - or would be, if I had one.
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