There was an article in the Chicago Tribune (on November 7, 2012) titled "Class, today's word is irony," written by writer James Klise. Klise is the author of Love Drugged, a YA novel about a gay teen, which was a Stonewall Honor Book in 2011 and made the ALA (American Library Association) Rainbow List of GLBTQ books for young readers. Recently, Klise was invited to speak to teens at an event at a school library in Kansas called Right to Read.

The topic, in honor of Banned Books Week, was "censorship and teen books."

Writes Klise,

A few days later, I received a second email from the librarian. She hated to say it, but I probably was not a good fit for their event after all. She explained that she works in a very conservative community. After some consideration, she and her principal decided that my first young-adult novel, called "Love Drugged," about a closeted gay teen, might be too edgy for some parents there.

As he points out, the librarian was not in an easy position. On the one hand, she wanted to have someone talk to young readers about banned books, and about the freedom to read whatever you want. On the other hand, she is responsible to the parents of her community. This is a situation that is all too common, where the beliefs and opinions of one group affect what is available for everyone else to read.

When the controversy is over subject matter and children, it's easy to say that we should err on the side of caution.

Take the books away so our kids don't have to be exposed to whatever it is that somebody thinks is offensive. On the other hand, as Klise says, what about those kids who need to read about that subject? The gay kid who thinks he's alone, the picked on girl with the thick glasses, the awkward nerd who trips over his own feet? Those kids need to know they aren't alone, and often the only books kids like them star in are the ones somebody wants to ban.

Another, related issue, is about who decides what is and isn't offensive. Neil Gaiman, writer of books for many age groups, wrote a brilliant essay called "Why defend freedom of icky speech?" illustrating why it is important to preserve all speech (with the possible exception of that which incites hate). Freedom to read is a lot like freedom of speech. So how can we defend it? Classic Literature Guide Esther Lombardi has a list of ideas. And every year has a Banned Books Week, so why not take that opportunity to read a banned book? Or give your kids some banned books to read. Most of the time, the reasons for people wanting them banned are a little overwrought. And the fact that someone wanted to ban the book might just get your kids to read it.

Years ago, when the Premier of the province of Canada I lived in at the time wanted to remove Grapes of Wrath from schools, hundreds of teenagers went out and bought the literary classic and read it in protest. It backfired for the Premier, but it was great for educators, and for the teens themselves.