Lauren Mrycale is an American author who rose to fame after her book series Internet Girls made it onto the New York Times Bestseller list. However, not everyone is a fan of the Internet Girls. The series toped American Library Association’s “Most Challenged Books List” in both 2009 and 2012. You may wonder what’s so controversial about a book that focus on a high school girls how text each other about their teenage troubles. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why parents of teens want the books banned.
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Foul Language
The characters Internet Girls books are no strangers to foul language. While simply skimming the novels, you will be hit with words such as “penis,” “fuck,” and “condom.” Some parents of teens, who in many cases are already trying to get their children to stop swearing, despise the way that the books are promoting this type of language. Or at least, that’s how they see it.
pOOR DECISION MAKING
Many parents also feel the Internet Girls books excuse bad behavior among teens. One character in the series attends a college party while still in High School. There she is forced to remove her shirt while the college students take pictures of her. Although Myrcale’s goal with these scene was to show teenage girls what not to do and let them know that their actions will have consequences, some parents didn’t see it that way. Another character in the novels gets a boyfriend just because she doesn’t want to be alone. Parents feel that this message encourages teens to go along with the crowd and make decisions based on what they think society wants, not what actually makes them happy.
sexual content
Maddie removing her top isn’t the only example of sexual content in the Internet Girls series. There are several discussions about sex that take place among the female characters as well. Minor sexual language is also used throughout the novels.
The following issues caused Myracle to receive many angry emails and letters from parents of teens who read the series. Another one of her books Twelve, from her series, The Winnie Years, got a lot of hate for the way the talk about tampons in a book for young readers.
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During an interview with BBC Myracle said that many parents will write to her angrily stating, “Who gave you the right to take away my child’s innocence?” She has also been accused of being a pedophlie and pointing young girls in the wrong direction. But Myracle continues to write her stories the way she wants to, spreading the positive messages that she wants to use to help teens across the globe.