As I grow older, I see more and more how complicated book banning is. As adolescents, we see adults as nagging and controlling. Why can’t we read what we want? Violence – cool. Sexual content – spicy. But as adults, we start to think differently. We start to think, “I probably shouldn’t have read this at that age,” and hope to guide teenagers away from such things. But when is the right age for heavy content? Some people believe when teenagers become young adults, they are finally ready to tackle more mature content.
For young adults 18 and older, books that handle heavy content with care can teach them life lessons. These books would provide them with the mental maturity to understand serious topics. However, Utah’s book bans prevent young adults from engaging with these topics.
House Bill 29
In a recent article from The Guardian, books written by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur, and Sarah J. Maas are set to be taken off the shelves from Utah’s public schools and libraries. The state is allowed to ban books under House Bill 29: Sensitive Material Review Amendments. Based on the number of schools that ban specific titles, those books are banned entirely throughout Utah. Unfortunately, this goes beyond schools and libraries.
The article also states that banned books must be “legally disposed of” and “may not be sold or distributed.” Banning books from schools is one thing, but to make older readers unable to enjoy the freedom of reading these authors’ books is taking it too far. At this point, every book with small or vague mentions of sexual content or indecency will be banned in Utah. From the book ban list, we’ll be looking at three books that don’t need to be banned. Their stories are more than their content.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is an influential writer who takes her writing seriously with certain themes. Oryx and Crake is a weird book to grasp, but it’s more than what it’s being banned for. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world taken over by a deadly plague.
Once known as Jimmy before the world came to ruin, Snowman travels through his destroyed society, not knowing if anyone else is still alive. After losing his loved ones, Snowman loses hope. This book depicts some gruesome imagery that can be expected in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Atwood is trying to say something under the explicitness of the story that young adults should learn. If you’re paying more attention to that instead of how humanity could be like this one day, then you aren’t focusing on the book’s message.
Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
Book three of the Crank series, this book follows three of Kristi’s five children, Hunter, Summer, and Autumn. Each in different families, they each struggle with their addictions, trying to fill a void their mother should have filled. From drugs, sexual intercourse, and alcohol use, these kids are stuck in the same cycle their mother has never escaped from. Hopkins does not glorify these addictions nor is she making light of these kids’ situations. It doesn’t end with a bleak, pessimistic message either. This book unlike the other first two, is breaking the cycle. With support from each other, these siblings can make it out to a better ending. If anyone with addiction reads this book, they could also feel like there is hope for them from their entrapment.
Blankets by Craig Thompson
This book is about the first love of a young man. In a graphical memoir of Thompson’s adolescent years, the author draws his life in a snowy winter church camp where he falls in love with Raina. Conflicted with faith and growing up in his family’s religion, Craig finds comfort in Raina. Unless the graphic art is enough reason to ban this book, I see nothing but a love story. Blankets won two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, a testament to how phenomenal this book is. I don’t understand why it warrants being banned when it can connect with young adults who can relate themselves to Thompson.
The books banned in Utah don’t deserve to be kept off library shelves. They each explore heavy themes young adults can learn from and shouldn’t be shunned for being “pornographic or indecent” when they aren’t. Except for Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series, in my opinion. Maas’ books should stay away from public schools. However, they deserve to be bought in Utah bookstores.
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To find more graphic novels like Blankets, head to our Banned Books: Because We Stand With the Well Informed shelf on Bookshop.org!
