Whatever is Mentionable is Manageable
YA sexual violence, a local author book fair, and library/book challenge news
Fun at local author book fair
Hello friends! I had fun yesterday visiting a local authors book fair at the Carlsbad City Library. I met some interesting people and bought seven books (pictured above). In chatting with one author, I found out one of her books was a cozy mystery that takes place in Idyllwild, CA. I love Idyllwild, had to have it. Since she knows that inland area, we also chatted about what a great place Claremont is. Another author wrote about a college girl caught up in a cult. So I had to buy that. And we chatted about all the cable series on cults. And on it went. I even met the teen librarian, who was so nice and helpful. A great day to lift my spirits!
Sexual violence in teen books
If you’ve been here with me, you know I’m worried about book censorship in general. And that a good percentage of book challenges these days are of work by and about LGBTQIA and Black Americans. But another type of teen book that’s being challenged is one that includes sexual violence. I think about this a lot because my upcoming YA novel takes place in a polygamist colony controlled by a sexual predator ‘prophet.’
I’m not one who enjoys gratuitous violence in any medium, but I want to discuss patriarchy and the things that happen to girls. I workshopped my novel repeatedly with a group that included an editor and a probation officer because I didn’t want it to be too much, too triggering. That workshopping helped a lot.
Why not just skip over the topic of sexual violence? I think the Ms Magazine article linked below is a good guide:
Don’t Say Rape: How the Book Banning Movement Is Censoring Sexual Violence
Allowing students to read and learn about sexual violence doesn’t cause more violence. In fact, the opposite is true: Allowing students to learn about rape can help prevent it, and it can help those who have experienced it learn how to talk about it. …
Rape cannot be censored away in the real world. It shouldn’t be censored in our libraries either.
This week, I’d like to highlight a few Substack posts I found useful. I’ll begin with one I find directly related to my theme here—allowing exploration of difficult topics.
I found
through a recommendation. It—or at least the following post—is about Religious Authoritarian Parenting (RAP) methods and the damage they cause. The post refers to examples of younger children (i.e., not teens) and contrasts RAP with parenting that allows kids to talk about their feelings. Fred Rogers is an important educator in that area, so he’s quoted a lot, but I was interested most in something Margaret MacFarland said.
In 1965 Fred Rogers, who worked closely with Margaret MacFarland as a theological student, started broadcasting this new way of interacting with children—as if they were individuals full of feelings and goodness and inherent worth and dignity. MacFarland remained a consultant on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood for 20 years until her death, often talking with him daily about his show and how to tailor it to sensitive children. Her saying, “Whatever is mentionable is manageable,” became a guiding maxim for Fred Rogers2 and is one that still holds true today. Fred Rogers believed that if children could talk about the fears, worries, and joys they held inside of them, then those feelings could be processed. And it was the job of the adults in their lives to help children identify, name, and process their emotions, which would create a safe and flourishing neighborhood for everyone.
Whatever is mentionable is manageable.
When we make what happens to us mentionable in books, we make it manageable. We can use our protagonist’s journey through trauma as a map. We can join book clubs and discuss how we might react to similar circumstances. In this as in other life issues, stories can be gateways to dealing with our real lives.
Some helpful posts for writers
In the Brevity Blog, Allison K Williams had some great ideas on how authors can find comps for their work.
If you saw the Esquire article “Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch?” and are feeling down, Kathleen Schmidt has some thoughts.
I beg of you, please stop perpetuating the idea that most books sell under 5000 copies per year. I don’t need my MBA to know publishers would be out of business if this statistic were accurate. I have been privy to hundreds of sales reports throughout my three (!) decade career in the industry. While there isn’t an “average” number of copies sold for each book published, I can confidently say that plenty of books sell over 5000 copies annually. Additionally, a book’s success is not anchored to its first year of sales. Sometimes, it takes 18 months to sell 5000 copies. Other times, it may take two years to sell 15000 copies. That is not terrible! Book publishing is a long game. Articles like this perceive it to have a finite time frame.
Libraries and book challenges and bans
As ever, this is not all the library news this week, just things that interest me and that I haven’t already mentioned.
Book challenge policies continue to consume Alachua County school employees' focus
Two meetings this week put the focus on the amount of time and resources Alachua County Public Schools employees are spending on book challenges. …
“It has taken up at least 90% of my time. In doing the research, and interpreting the law, and, you know, putting together the reviews, and the meetings, and the hearings, and reading the books,” Duval said after the Thursday advisory meeting.
Florida's book challenges were prelude to national issue ahead of 2024
Those who feel the bans have gone too far said the graphic material is a very small portion of what’s now being questioned. Their focus has shifted to condemning what they see as overzealous censorship. …
“I’m very hopeful that this year we'll see the demise of Moms for Liberty,” said Eskamani. “We'll see election results that speak to what we see in other states already, that we can go back to public education being an apolitical and foundational purpose for all of us.”
Louisiana senators revive at-will dismissal of library board members
The Louisiana Senate gave final passage Tuesday to a bill that would allow parish library systems to hire directors who are not certified librarians — after senators added in language a House committee rejected that would allow library board members to be dismissed without cause.
Moms for Liberty urges Madison council to leverage library funding
Residents affiliated with Moms for Liberty called on the Madison City Council Tuesday to withhold funding to the Huntsville Madison County Public Library system unless it updates policy to restrict LGBTQ books.
The residents argued that the library’s current policy runs afoul of new requirements from the Alabama Public Library Service and will therefore cost the library more than half a million dollars in state funding. The overall operating budget for Huntsville last year was $8.2 million, of which Madison plays a large role.
Human Rights Hero: The Librarian
Though not spelled out in the job description, to be a librarian today is to be an activist committed to the principles of free speech, free expression, a free press, and how increasing the public’s reading and technological literacy serves to protect those civic liberties. With the right to read under unprecedented attack across the country, schools and public libraries where most censorship efforts are taking place have been literally caught in the crosshairs of a small but organized faction that wants to suppress constitutionally protected access to information.
During the May 23 graduation ceremony for the Idaho Fine Arts Academy, Annabelle Jenkins handed West Ada School District superintendent Derek Bub a copy of the graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The book had been removed from the school district’s libraries in Dec. 2023.
Chilling Editorial Cartoons About Book Banning: Book Censorship News, May 31, 2024
Several examples of editorial cartoons about book banning/censorship. Have a look.
Pride Month begins
Much joy to you! I don’t review YA books as frequently as I used to, but here are some of my more recent reviews of books with LGBTQIA characters.
From Ash to Ashes
Posted on May 30, 2024 by Victoria Waddle
From Ash to Ashes by Krishna Tuli Arora is the story of an immigrant Sikh family in Long Island, New York during the 1990s. It moves through multiple POVs, but is centered on the life of protagonist Mira. I picked … Continue reading →
No Place for Fairy Tales
Posted on March 6, 2024 by Victoria Waddle
By edd tello A transgender teen wants the quinceañera of her dreams No Place for Fairy Tales is a short novel in verse that will appeal to a diverse group of readers. I picked it up in my ongoing efforts … Continue reading →
Censoring Empathy: Let’s Challenge Erasure
Posted on August 8, 2022 by Victoria Waddle
Book censorship is far more threatening than it was ten years ago because it erases anyone who doesn’t look or think like the censor. Continue reading →
A Rescue Plan Containing Multitudes
Posted on February 15, 2021 by Victoria Waddle
“Gomer knew what coming out was. He had taken the sex-ed classes, and there were gay people in his town, but they tended to come for weekends and the summer, because they had jobs in the city. They were rich … Continue reading →
What I’m Reading
I finished Nein, Nein, Nein! By Jerry Stahl. A depressed comedian goes on a tour of Holocaust sites. I would love to talk to someone about this odd but moving book.
I started
’s Those People Behind Us and am loving it. It takes place in a fictionalized Huntington Beach and so far, explores the lives of five neighbors who have differences of politics and opinions.What I’’m watching
The Staircase
The old 'don't ask, don't tell' policy rears its ugly head again! Birth control, sexuality, sexual violence....ugh. So disempowering - I guess that's exactly the point! I so agree that whatever is mentionable is manageable. Thank you for your work!
Every school library from middle school (6th grade) and up should have books addressing sexual violence. Let us know how you do Victoria and good luck!