Author Archives: Brooke Thompson

Censorship Book: Adventures of Huck Finn

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The Adventures of Huck Finn embodies one of the most common characteristics of banned novels: racial tension and controversy. Although Huck Finn wasn’t written as an obstructive attack on slavery, the obscene mention of the N-word used over 200 times throughout the novel has caused the biggest uproar among teachers, students, and parents for several years now. In fact, the N-word was suggested to be changed to the word “slave” in order for the novel to still be taught in schools. What if Twain used the N-word to intentionally create discomfort among races? Would altering or changing the word in Twain’s novel change the author’s intended meaning? I choose this particular text because I’d like to consider why the N-word even causes a discomfort to the degree that several schools are banning this novel. The issue that needs to be considered here is the larger conversation behind the banned novel. There is a good reason for Twain’s language. Young adults shouldn’t be robbed of the opportunity to learn and benefit from the themes of this novel because of a controversial word that causes a growing undefined discomfort among educators in today’s school systems. Because I’ve experienced the aura of discomfort in my classroom when assigned this novel, I want to explore how other schools approach or react to Twain’s work.

Dystopian Themed Novel Response

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Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Article Title: “Pure Escapism For Young Adult ReadersThe author’s opinion to the questions posed, “Why do bestselling young adult novels seem darker in theme now than in past years? What’s behind this dystopian trend, and why is there so much demand for it?” differs from the average, standard response. According to the author, the standard response is similar to the idea that “these dark, pessimistic times with the economy and culture; the darkness of the subject matter reflects those fears.” However, she believes quite the opposite. The dark novels that are becoming continual bestsellers today are not because these novels reflect the world of young adult readers. Instead, Stiefvater believes that the love for dystopian themed novels are because young adults aren’t facing these issues; because of that, they lack the ideas of what is right versus what is wrong: “Teenagers want to be able to fight for what is right – but finding out what’s right is now 90 percent of the battle…with the dystopian novels, we know just what we’re fighting for” (Stiefvater). With the complex world we live in today, young adults are satisfied with the choices presented to them through dystopian themed novels.

I must say that I agree with the author. We are living in a complex world where morals aren’t black and white. Trying to decipher what is good versus what is bad can become complicated. Dystopian novels lay a clear path for young adult readers to make choices on what they choose to fight for. As Stiefvater stated in her response, “Teenagers want to be able to fight for what is right – but finding out what’s right is now 90 percent of the battle.” However, with dystopian novels, what’s right and wrong is clear. There’s no battle in trying to figure it out. These novels don’t reflect our society as young adult readers, but they sure do satisfy it.

The author’s commentary is directly related to The Giver. The Giver is another dystopian novel where the morals are laid out in black in white, simple enough for a young adult reader to grasp. Jonas, the main character of the story, is an example of a young adult who can’t see right from wrong until he is exposed to dystopia – a world outside of the world he knows. It’s from this knowledge that Jonas is able to fight for what he believes is right. This idea is directly correlated to the author’s point of view of dystopian novels giving us an idea of exactly what we’re fighting for. The Giver is so widely popular, not because it reflects our society, but because it’s so simplified that it satisfies our desires to want to fight for what’s right – in fact, it’s so black and white (the idea of a controlled, robot society versus a society of emotions and memory) that we are able to fight for what’s right; there’s no battle in trying to figure it out.

Picture Book Assignment

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For my picture book project, of course I chose the classic 1955 Medal Winner, the Cinderella Story, or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown, merely because it’s my favorite childhood book that seems to never get old, no matter how many times it’s rewritten. Furthermore, after assessing the requirements of the Caldecott Award, it’s evident that this book exceeds those requirements. This picture book does a fantastic job of demonstrating a story through visuals that allows an easy connection for all children. I look forward to researching further on this classic story.

Junie B. Jones

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Aside from the children’s books read to me from my parents before the start of elementary school, the most memorable book ever read to me was on my first, uncertain day of kindergarten. I went to Huddleston Elementary School in Peachtree City, Ga – a few blocks away from my home. I was close enough to the school that the bus route had a stop right in front of my house for my two older brothers, four weird-looking neighborhood kids, and me. I remember standing at the bus stop that dark, musk morning of the first day of school with the whole neighborhood gang, anxious to ride the bus for the first time. I was standing in the front of the line with my right hand in dad’s hand and my left hand in mom’s. As the bus pulled up in front of us and screeched to a stop, I remember pushing myself toward the back of the line with tears running down my face. I wasn’t ready for the first day of school.

Somehow I ended up in the car with my dad in the driver’s seat, my mom in the passenger seat, and me in the back – alone. My brothers rode off to school in the ugly yellow bus as I was chauffeured. As we walked into class, my parents helped me to get settled in and acquainted with my teachers. I clearly remember one of the first activities of the day was Ms. Nashky leading the class to the circle carpet for story time. She explained to us how we were going to meet a friend that was going to journey with us through our first year of elementary school. She began to talk about the fears and the concerns we may have had on our way to school that morning, especially about the school bus, and how our new friend was feeling the same way. She said she would introduce this new friend to us, and help us become familiar with her. Then by the middle of the school year, Ms. Nashky was going to let us read about our new friend on our own. After her introduction, she pulls from behind her back, “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.”

From that day, throughout my entire first year of kindergarten, I became best friends with Junie B. Jones. I collected every single book, both in English and a few in Spanish, even though I wasn’t at all bilingual. I felt so much a part of Junie B. Jones that I almost thought I was Junie B. Jones. As Ms. Nashky told us before we met her, she would have the same thoughts and feelings of school as we would. And to my surprise, our concerns were almost identical. From this book series, I gained a great fascination with many other book series that carried on my love for reading all throughout both elementary and middle school. I looked for comfort in book series where I could relate my thoughts and feelings the best. Moreover, it wasn’t necessarily the books themselves that linger in my memory like, “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus,” but it was the characters; it was Junie B. Jones I remember. I was more grateful for her and the book’s characters than the actual plots of the books themselves, for it was my ability to identify myself through these characters that got me through my childhood and early teenage years.