CCBC-Net Archives
Sex and Sexuality: Navigating Mature Content
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:59:35 -0500
A book I haven't yet mentioned but comes to mind with this discussion is
"Fish in the Sky" by Fridrik Erlings (U.S. edition: Candlewick Press). In it, I think Icelandic writer Erlings offers one of the most honest portrayals of a young teen boy's sexual and emotional turmoil recently seen in adolescent literature. Erling's offers unexpectedly perfect descriptions of relationships, physical desire, and emotional confusion.It's a book I think belongs in every middle school and public library because of its honesty (it's also funny, and dark at times).But it also has what I think of as a very European sensibility, with its sexual frankness, although I suspect these kind of distinctions will become less and less defined in our world. (I found our discussion book for next week, "The Summer Prince," written by a U.S. author, set in a futuristic city in South America, as sexually frank as well. Personally, I find such frankness refreshing.)
Observationally...Merri and I travel around Wisconsin presenting on books to librarians and teachers.We were talking about the fact that in recent years, we've both noticed less ... stiffening, for lack of a better word, when we talk about books with mature content, or GLBTQ content.That is to say, it used to be typical to see the body language ofa handful of people in the audience react in a way that showed discomfort, or perhaps even disapproval. That seems less true for us today.
At the same time, we both still have one:one conversations with individuals struggling with where to draw the line, especially, as has been noted earlier, when it comes to middle school libraries.These aren't individuals looking for reasons to censor or self-censor (and I agree with Ed---we don't talk about self-censorship enough, and as I've already said, I think talking about our fears is how we move beyond them). These are individuals genuinely trying to figure out the right thing to do. And it's easy for me to say, because I truly believe it, that the right thing to do is provide books for everyone the library serves, from immature sixth graders to mature eighth graders who have already turned fourteen (and kids from 11 to 14 are all over thematurity spectrum---sometimes occupying multiple points on the line), and to rely on professional reviews to help guide you in your purchases.But I'm not the one who will have to defend those selections.
So to me a key question is how can we empower librarians to feel confident in fulfilling theirresponsibility to provide materials to meet the wide-ranging needs and interests of everyone in the community they serve---not just the dominant voices.Providing such support, encouraging one another, being there as sounding boards, is one way we can help one another. If you're not a librarian, if you're a teacher or a parent or a community member, voicing appreciation for a library collection that offers kids and teens books and other materials that are relevant and appealing is another.
Which brings me back to "A Fish in the Sky." It's a book I can't imagine readers necessarily wanting to talk about with an adult, but I'd love to hear if anyone has had any experiences wth kids reading the book and responding.
Megan
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:59:35 -0500
A book I haven't yet mentioned but comes to mind with this discussion is
"Fish in the Sky" by Fridrik Erlings (U.S. edition: Candlewick Press). In it, I think Icelandic writer Erlings offers one of the most honest portrayals of a young teen boy's sexual and emotional turmoil recently seen in adolescent literature. Erling's offers unexpectedly perfect descriptions of relationships, physical desire, and emotional confusion.It's a book I think belongs in every middle school and public library because of its honesty (it's also funny, and dark at times).But it also has what I think of as a very European sensibility, with its sexual frankness, although I suspect these kind of distinctions will become less and less defined in our world. (I found our discussion book for next week, "The Summer Prince," written by a U.S. author, set in a futuristic city in South America, as sexually frank as well. Personally, I find such frankness refreshing.)
Observationally...Merri and I travel around Wisconsin presenting on books to librarians and teachers.We were talking about the fact that in recent years, we've both noticed less ... stiffening, for lack of a better word, when we talk about books with mature content, or GLBTQ content.That is to say, it used to be typical to see the body language ofa handful of people in the audience react in a way that showed discomfort, or perhaps even disapproval. That seems less true for us today.
At the same time, we both still have one:one conversations with individuals struggling with where to draw the line, especially, as has been noted earlier, when it comes to middle school libraries.These aren't individuals looking for reasons to censor or self-censor (and I agree with Ed---we don't talk about self-censorship enough, and as I've already said, I think talking about our fears is how we move beyond them). These are individuals genuinely trying to figure out the right thing to do. And it's easy for me to say, because I truly believe it, that the right thing to do is provide books for everyone the library serves, from immature sixth graders to mature eighth graders who have already turned fourteen (and kids from 11 to 14 are all over thematurity spectrum---sometimes occupying multiple points on the line), and to rely on professional reviews to help guide you in your purchases.But I'm not the one who will have to defend those selections.
So to me a key question is how can we empower librarians to feel confident in fulfilling theirresponsibility to provide materials to meet the wide-ranging needs and interests of everyone in the community they serve---not just the dominant voices.Providing such support, encouraging one another, being there as sounding boards, is one way we can help one another. If you're not a librarian, if you're a teacher or a parent or a community member, voicing appreciation for a library collection that offers kids and teens books and other materials that are relevant and appealing is another.
Which brings me back to "A Fish in the Sky." It's a book I can't imagine readers necessarily wanting to talk about with an adult, but I'd love to hear if anyone has had any experiences wth kids reading the book and responding.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
==== CCBC-Net Use ====
You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ====
The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members.
The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion
topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Thu 13 Mar 2014 01:01:58 PM CDT
