1
00:00:06,417 --> 00:00:08,199
I'm very happy to be here,

2
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,045
very happy to see your beautiful faces.

3
00:00:12,313 --> 00:00:15,006
In 2008, I gave a presentation

4
00:00:15,007 --> 00:00:19,480
to a librarian group
in Salt Lake City, Utah,

5
00:00:19,481 --> 00:00:23,006
and afterwards, someone
stood up and asked me

6
00:00:23,007 --> 00:00:26,761
why I write about
such terrible things for children.

7
00:00:26,762 --> 00:00:29,059
It was not a friendly question.

8
00:00:29,060 --> 00:00:30,290
(Laughter)

9
00:00:31,161 --> 00:00:36,207
There are many reasons
why books get challenged

10
00:00:36,208 --> 00:00:38,844
with the hopes of banning them,

11
00:00:38,845 --> 00:00:41,606
the 12 most frequent being:

12
00:00:41,607 --> 00:00:43,518
offensive language,

13
00:00:43,519 --> 00:00:46,440
explicit sexual descriptions,

14
00:00:46,441 --> 00:00:50,533
incidents of violence
or brutality, including rape,

15
00:00:50,542 --> 00:00:53,788
disparagement of family values,

16
00:00:53,789 --> 00:00:57,708
treatment of satanism,
via cult or witchcraft,

17
00:00:57,709 --> 00:01:00,647
New Age anti-religious stories,

18
00:01:00,648 --> 00:01:02,767
examples of racism,

19
00:01:02,768 --> 00:01:05,497
examples of substance abuse,

20
00:01:05,498 --> 00:01:09,648
materials that include
depressing or morbid topics,

21
00:01:09,649 --> 00:01:13,158
attacks on patriotism,
or established authority,

22
00:01:13,167 --> 00:01:16,291
texts that include anti-feminism or sexism,

23
00:01:16,292 --> 00:01:20,043
and derogatory imagines of the handicapped.

24
00:01:21,653 --> 00:01:24,071
I can understand why people

25
00:01:24,072 --> 00:01:27,960
who work with and live with children

26
00:01:27,961 --> 00:01:34,280
might assume the right
and responsibility to protect them.

27
00:01:34,281 --> 00:01:36,753
Children are vulnerable,

28
00:01:36,754 --> 00:01:39,500
their brains are different.

29
00:01:39,865 --> 00:01:44,367
And people may think
that by controlling the way

30
00:01:44,368 --> 00:01:49,873
in which children encounter
the things on this list,

31
00:01:49,874 --> 00:01:52,699
they are protecting them.

32
00:01:55,107 --> 00:01:58,880
Certainly, one can see

33
00:01:58,881 --> 00:02:03,473
how the things on this list are important.

34
00:02:03,474 --> 00:02:05,498
Look at sexuality,

35
00:02:05,499 --> 00:02:10,392
when sexual experiences,
whether real or imagined,

36
00:02:10,393 --> 00:02:13,041
can influence your sexual identity,

37
00:02:13,042 --> 00:02:16,376
and your sexual identity can affect

38
00:02:16,388 --> 00:02:20,767
whether or not you are able
to form a lasting relationship

39
00:02:20,768 --> 00:02:23,420
that can carry you through life.

40
00:02:23,421 --> 00:02:24,762
Look at religion.

41
00:02:24,763 --> 00:02:27,694
If you are a person of faith,

42
00:02:27,695 --> 00:02:30,852
you may very well want to make sure

43
00:02:30,853 --> 00:02:33,480
that the children that you love

44
00:02:33,481 --> 00:02:35,617
share this faith.

45
00:02:36,153 --> 00:02:39,551
I understand these things.

46
00:02:39,552 --> 00:02:44,423
Yet, I write about all the things
that are on this list.

47
00:02:45,309 --> 00:02:48,022
I have a book called
"Song of the Magdalene,"

48
00:02:48,023 --> 00:02:50,513
that takes place in the first century,

49
00:02:50,514 --> 00:02:54,173
in the land we now call Israel.

50
00:02:54,174 --> 00:02:56,539
The main character has epilepsy,

51
00:02:56,540 --> 00:02:59,812
she falls in love with someone
who has cerebral palsy.

52
00:02:59,813 --> 00:03:01,541
In that time and place,

53
00:03:01,542 --> 00:03:06,249
people with physical
and mental maladies were pariahs,

54
00:03:06,250 --> 00:03:11,500
so there is quite a lot
of derogatory images of the handicapped.

55
00:03:11,512 --> 00:03:14,004
And the main character is raped.

56
00:03:14,209 --> 00:03:16,500
In "Alligator Bayou,"

57
00:03:16,501 --> 00:03:21,666
which takes place in 1899
in Tallulah, Louisiana,

58
00:03:21,667 --> 00:03:24,523
we are in the middle
of the Jim Crow South.

59
00:03:24,524 --> 00:03:28,526
The society is stratified
along racial lines.

60
00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:31,792
Sexism, my goodness,
nobody was even aware of it!

61
00:03:31,793 --> 00:03:34,992
The book is full of racism and sexism,

62
00:03:34,993 --> 00:03:37,440
and there is a lynching.

63
00:03:37,736 --> 00:03:44,424
In "Three days," which is a story
that takes place contemporaneously,

64
00:03:44,425 --> 00:03:49,498
a little American girl
is driving with her father in Italy.

65
00:03:49,499 --> 00:03:51,345
He has a heart attack,

66
00:03:51,346 --> 00:03:54,555
he manages to pull off
the side of the road safely,

67
00:03:54,556 --> 00:03:55,991
but he dies,

68
00:03:55,992 --> 00:03:58,174
and this little girl is waiting

69
00:03:58,175 --> 00:04:00,256
until someone finally picks her up.

70
00:04:00,257 --> 00:04:02,024
And the people who pick her up,

71
00:04:02,025 --> 00:04:04,756
want her for their own reasons.

72
00:04:04,757 --> 00:04:07,615
So, why on earth do I do these things?

73
00:04:07,616 --> 00:04:12,618
You know, the last thing I want
to do, as a writer for children,

74
00:04:12,619 --> 00:04:14,216
is hurt my reader.

75
00:04:14,217 --> 00:04:16,918
I love to tell a good story,

76
00:04:16,918 --> 00:04:22,628
a funny, scary, mysterious, whatever story

77
00:04:22,629 --> 00:04:25,616
but terrible things draw me.

78
00:04:25,617 --> 00:04:27,892
Am I hurting children?

79
00:04:28,192 --> 00:04:29,946
Let's look at the child

80
00:04:29,947 --> 00:04:33,441
who is growing up with plenty to eat,

81
00:04:33,442 --> 00:04:36,437
good food, her own bed,

82
00:04:36,438 --> 00:04:39,220
a place to study,

83
00:04:39,221 --> 00:04:43,472
she goes to a school where the teacher
cares about what she's learning

84
00:04:43,473 --> 00:04:47,818
and works very hard to make it a good day.

85
00:04:47,819 --> 00:04:51,963
There are people who talk
to her and listen to her,

86
00:04:51,964 --> 00:04:54,359
and she can talk to them.

87
00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,659
This is a loved child.

88
00:04:56,660 --> 00:04:58,807
This is a protected child.

89
00:04:58,808 --> 00:05:01,052
Let me set this child aside
for the moment.

90
00:05:01,053 --> 00:05:02,907
And let's look at the child

91
00:05:02,908 --> 00:05:06,050
who maybe doesn't have
her own bed to sleep in,

92
00:05:06,051 --> 00:05:07,502
maybe doesn't sleep that well,

93
00:05:07,503 --> 00:05:09,768
maybe there is no blanket
to keep her warm,

94
00:05:09,769 --> 00:05:12,521
maybe she went to bed hungry,
she wakes up hungry,

95
00:05:12,522 --> 00:05:17,283
she goes to an underfunded,
overcrowded school.

96
00:05:17,284 --> 00:05:19,999
Maybe she's very much loved,

97
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,209
but the socio-economics
of the situation are such

98
00:05:23,210 --> 00:05:27,601
that she is battling
a number of things constantly.

99
00:05:27,602 --> 00:05:30,500
And then, there are other children,

100
00:05:30,501 --> 00:05:32,580
who are not so much loved.

101
00:05:32,581 --> 00:05:36,348
And this has nothing to do
with socio-economic status

102
00:05:36,349 --> 00:05:39,179
or race, or religion, or ethnicity,

103
00:05:39,180 --> 00:05:40,401
none of that.

104
00:05:40,402 --> 00:05:46,111
We all know that all kinds of things
happen behind closed doors

105
00:05:46,112 --> 00:05:49,178
in every sector of our society.

106
00:05:49,179 --> 00:05:52,183
So these are the unprotected children.

107
00:05:52,184 --> 00:05:55,098
What happens to an unprotected child

108
00:05:55,099 --> 00:05:56,922
when they read a book

109
00:05:56,923 --> 00:06:02,004
in which the main character
is also unprotected?

110
00:06:02,980 --> 00:06:04,491
One things that happens,

111
00:06:04,492 --> 00:06:07,935
is that they find out
that they are not alone.

112
00:06:07,936 --> 00:06:13,105
Children often do not talk
about the problems that they have.

113
00:06:13,106 --> 00:06:14,946
Sometimes because they know

114
00:06:14,947 --> 00:06:16,711
they can't do anything about it,

115
00:06:16,712 --> 00:06:19,448
so, what's the point of talking about it?

116
00:06:19,449 --> 00:06:21,268
Sometimes, because they are loyal

117
00:06:21,269 --> 00:06:24,250
to the people that they love.

118
00:06:24,251 --> 00:06:26,925
Sometimes it could be because of fear.

119
00:06:26,926 --> 00:06:30,542
If you tell and people believe you,

120
00:06:30,543 --> 00:06:34,252
maybe you'll be snatched from
your family, and then what?

121
00:06:34,253 --> 00:06:37,260
And if you tell and people
don't believe you,

122
00:06:37,261 --> 00:06:40,967
then you have to go back
to the situation you were in,

123
00:06:40,968 --> 00:06:44,401
and deal with the people
who know that you told on them.

124
00:06:44,402 --> 00:06:46,733
It could be much worse.

125
00:06:46,734 --> 00:06:48,632
So, there you are!

126
00:06:48,633 --> 00:06:53,103
You are alone, and you don't know

127
00:06:53,104 --> 00:06:56,347
what other people are dealing with.

128
00:06:56,348 --> 00:06:59,589
There, in a book, you find out!

129
00:06:59,590 --> 00:07:01,504
This person talks to you in a way

130
00:07:01,505 --> 00:07:05,101
that maybe no one else
in your life talks to you,

131
00:07:05,102 --> 00:07:07,768
in a more intimate way!

132
00:07:07,769 --> 00:07:10,881
If you have done something terrible,

133
00:07:10,882 --> 00:07:16,181
really done it or just imagined it,

134
00:07:16,182 --> 00:07:18,858
you may think you are an awful person,

135
00:07:18,859 --> 00:07:21,338
and there, in a book, you'll find out

136
00:07:21,339 --> 00:07:23,505
that absolutely ordinary people

137
00:07:23,506 --> 00:07:27,048
do terrible things
and think terrible thoughts.

138
00:07:27,049 --> 00:07:30,541
There's no one as lonely
as a child who thinks

139
00:07:30,542 --> 00:07:33,699
that she's the worst person ever.

140
00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:37,402
In a book you find out
that you are not alone.

141
00:07:37,403 --> 00:07:41,539
If terrible things are happening to you

142
00:07:41,540 --> 00:07:45,697
and you don't know
they happened to other people,

143
00:07:45,698 --> 00:07:48,659
you can feel that maybe
there's something about you

144
00:07:48,660 --> 00:07:51,512
that make them happen to you!

145
00:07:51,513 --> 00:07:54,339
Maybe there is something wrong with you.

146
00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:56,019
Maybe it's your fault.

147
00:07:56,020 --> 00:07:58,795
You can suffer guilt.

148
00:07:58,796 --> 00:08:03,007
There, in a book, you see this child
did nothing to make it happen to her!

149
00:08:03,008 --> 00:08:05,248
But it's still happened.

150
00:08:05,249 --> 00:08:09,977
Terrible things happen
to good people all the time.

151
00:08:09,978 --> 00:08:12,380
It's very comforting.

152
00:08:12,381 --> 00:08:13,847
Or you may think

153
00:08:13,848 --> 00:08:16,004
that you're the only one it's happening to

154
00:08:16,005 --> 00:08:19,153
and you develop
a big chip on your shoulder,

155
00:08:19,154 --> 00:08:20,897
you're angry about it,

156
00:08:20,898 --> 00:08:24,255
you don't understand
that lots of people around you

157
00:08:24,256 --> 00:08:28,488
are coping with things
that they are not talking about either.

158
00:08:28,489 --> 00:08:33,432
So, it can give you
a wonderful perspective

159
00:08:33,433 --> 00:08:36,974
that allows you some consolation.

160
00:08:37,284 --> 00:08:39,893
Another thing that reading
these books can do,

161
00:08:39,894 --> 00:08:43,255
is give you hints, help

162
00:08:43,256 --> 00:08:45,298
in coping with your situation.

163
00:08:45,299 --> 00:08:49,419
Not that these books are going to deal
with the same situation that you're in,

164
00:08:49,420 --> 00:08:51,242
they may be dealing with something

165
00:08:51,243 --> 00:08:54,205
that's very different
from what you are in.

166
00:08:54,206 --> 00:08:59,434
But you see somebody persisting,

167
00:08:59,435 --> 00:09:02,083
being resilient,

168
00:09:02,084 --> 00:09:06,883
being resourceful,
looking for help in different places,

169
00:09:06,884 --> 00:09:13,012
and it gives you some ideas
of how you might go about

170
00:09:13,013 --> 00:09:15,523
trying to manage.

171
00:09:15,713 --> 00:09:19,868
Now, sometimes,
the problems that a child faces

172
00:09:19,869 --> 00:09:22,685
are child-sized problems,

173
00:09:22,686 --> 00:09:26,550
and are something
that the child can influence.

174
00:09:26,551 --> 00:09:28,783
But sometimes, they are not!

175
00:09:28,784 --> 00:09:34,524
Children are our least
powerful members of society.

176
00:09:35,250 --> 00:09:38,049
So, these books over here,

177
00:09:38,050 --> 00:09:41,060
they better not be saying

178
00:09:41,061 --> 00:09:45,632
that the child can solve
an enormous problem.

179
00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:48,084
Richard Pak,

180
00:09:48,096 --> 00:09:51,579
one of the wonderful writers for children,

181
00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:54,105
says: "Writers for children

182
00:09:54,106 --> 00:09:57,757
cannot afford to traffic in happy endings,

183
00:09:57,758 --> 00:10:03,470
because if we do, we risk leaving
our reader undefended."

184
00:10:03,471 --> 00:10:06,007
It is very important for the child

185
00:10:06,008 --> 00:10:11,509
who is in a situation
that they cannot change,

186
00:10:11,510 --> 00:10:14,179
to see what happens to a child

187
00:10:14,180 --> 00:10:17,908
in another situation
that they cannot change.

188
00:10:17,909 --> 00:10:19,789
It is my job,

189
00:10:19,790 --> 00:10:23,520
or I think it is my job
when I am writing a story,

190
00:10:23,521 --> 00:10:25,851
to let a child know that

191
00:10:25,852 --> 00:10:30,219
you may not be able to change your world,

192
00:10:30,220 --> 00:10:33,521
but with hard work and good will,

193
00:10:33,522 --> 00:10:39,550
you will be able to find a way
to live decently within your world,

194
00:10:39,551 --> 00:10:43,642
even if it's only inside your head.

195
00:10:43,643 --> 00:10:48,260
Hope, peace, even joy,

196
00:10:48,261 --> 00:10:53,736
can be a strictly internal matter,

197
00:10:53,737 --> 00:10:58,318
an it's very important
for children to see that!

198
00:10:58,319 --> 00:11:04,986
So, these books can be a life line
to the unprotected child.

199
00:11:06,179 --> 00:11:09,734
And now let's take
the child that is protected,

200
00:11:09,735 --> 00:11:11,951
and take a look at this child!

201
00:11:11,952 --> 00:11:16,643
I want to argue that this child
needs those books even more.

202
00:11:16,644 --> 00:11:21,067
For one, the child
will not always be protected,

203
00:11:21,068 --> 00:11:25,918
you cannot put your child
in a cotton-lined box for life.

204
00:11:25,919 --> 00:11:31,486
The child will burst out,
the box will be crushed from outside.

205
00:11:31,487 --> 00:11:33,753
Things happen to people.

206
00:11:33,754 --> 00:11:36,953
We don't live charmed lives,

207
00:11:36,954 --> 00:11:40,965
and everybody needs
to learn coping skills.

208
00:11:41,470 --> 00:11:44,966
In the book you can see somebody coping,

209
00:11:44,967 --> 00:11:49,826
and it can help to prepare you
for when you need to cope.

210
00:11:51,076 --> 00:11:54,506
But even more than that,

211
00:11:54,507 --> 00:11:57,759
I think the child who is protected

212
00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,258
really needs these books,

213
00:12:00,259 --> 00:12:02,908
because without them,

214
00:12:02,909 --> 00:12:04,710
if this child grows up

215
00:12:04,711 --> 00:12:09,052
with only good things happening

216
00:12:09,062 --> 00:12:11,291
and unaware

217
00:12:11,292 --> 00:12:17,417
that terrible things
can happen to people like them,

218
00:12:17,436 --> 00:12:24,988
they run the risk of becoming
intolerant and intolerable people.

219
00:12:25,550 --> 00:12:30,022
They run the risk of walking
past a homeless person,

220
00:12:30,023 --> 00:12:33,360
who is emaciated,
and perhaps, stinking,

221
00:12:33,361 --> 00:12:36,076
and thinking, "It's his own damn fault!"

222
00:12:36,077 --> 00:12:40,277
They think that all the good things
that have happened to them,

223
00:12:40,278 --> 00:12:43,230
have happened because they merited it,

224
00:12:43,231 --> 00:12:45,856
they worked hard, they had a good spirit.

225
00:12:45,857 --> 00:12:50,319
They don't recognize
the role of luck in their lives.

226
00:12:50,729 --> 00:12:53,578
People can work hard and have good spirits

227
00:12:53,579 --> 00:12:56,845
and have lousy luck.

228
00:12:56,846 --> 00:13:02,447
In a book, you crawl
inside the skin of someone else,

229
00:13:02,448 --> 00:13:05,225
you live what they are living,

230
00:13:05,226 --> 00:13:07,542
you come to understand it,

231
00:13:07,543 --> 00:13:10,209
you gain empathy.

232
00:13:10,210 --> 00:13:14,386
Empathy is the corner stone
of civilization.

233
00:13:14,387 --> 00:13:17,930
Without empathy, we are each
just in our little spots,

234
00:13:17,931 --> 00:13:20,767
taking care of ourselves,
and our children.

235
00:13:20,768 --> 00:13:23,195
Who cares about the neighbor?

236
00:13:23,196 --> 00:13:27,602
Empathy allows us
to understand why we pay taxes,

237
00:13:27,603 --> 00:13:31,434
why everybody deserves an education,

238
00:13:31,435 --> 00:13:35,583
shelter, food, health care.

239
00:13:35,584 --> 00:13:39,594
Empathy makes us decent people.

240
00:13:40,239 --> 00:13:44,039
And there is no safer way

241
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,575
for a child to learn empathy,

242
00:13:46,576 --> 00:13:49,036
than through a book.

243
00:13:49,037 --> 00:13:53,195
I want to bring this down to the personal.

244
00:13:54,649 --> 00:13:55,987
When I was a child,

245
00:13:55,988 --> 00:14:00,136
my favourite book was
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

246
00:14:00,137 --> 00:14:03,541
I grew up in a family
with a lot of problems,

247
00:14:03,542 --> 00:14:06,442
that got realized in a number of ways,

248
00:14:06,443 --> 00:14:12,000
one of which was
financial insecurity, instability.

249
00:14:12,001 --> 00:14:15,532
One of my worst memories of childhood was

250
00:14:15,533 --> 00:14:20,165
coming home in the third grade
to find everything that I owned,

251
00:14:20,166 --> 00:14:23,475
- and I didn't own that much,
I was just a little third grade kid,

252
00:14:23,476 --> 00:14:26,003
but everything that I owned,
mattered to me! -

253
00:14:26,004 --> 00:14:29,001
to find everything that I owned
out on the sidewalk,

254
00:14:29,002 --> 00:14:32,514
because we have been evicted yet again.

255
00:14:32,515 --> 00:14:34,727
And I didn't know whether or not,

256
00:14:34,728 --> 00:14:38,243
anyone else was coping
with this kind of thing.

257
00:14:38,244 --> 00:14:41,281
Kids didn't talk about it at school.

258
00:14:41,282 --> 00:14:47,097
But in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,"
I saw Francie Nolan coping with poverty.

259
00:14:47,098 --> 00:14:49,615
It was very consoling to me!

260
00:14:49,616 --> 00:14:52,608
It gave me a perspective that allowed me

261
00:14:52,609 --> 00:14:56,122
to enjoy a lot of things about my life.

262
00:14:56,502 --> 00:14:59,015
In that book, there was also a man,

263
00:14:59,016 --> 00:15:01,000
at the foot of the stairs,

264
00:15:01,001 --> 00:15:04,280
who was essentially a monster.

265
00:15:04,281 --> 00:15:07,146
And Francie was very afraid of him,

266
00:15:07,147 --> 00:15:10,055
and he had gotten other girls.

267
00:15:10,056 --> 00:15:12,276
He does not get Francie,

268
00:15:12,277 --> 00:15:16,378
and I was very glad
that he didn't get Francie.

269
00:15:16,379 --> 00:15:19,072
I would not have wanted him to.

270
00:15:19,592 --> 00:15:22,329
But I would have given anything

271
00:15:22,330 --> 00:15:24,192
to be able to read a book

272
00:15:24,193 --> 00:15:27,043
about the girl who did not escape

273
00:15:27,053 --> 00:15:29,972
the man at the foot of the stairs.

274
00:15:29,973 --> 00:15:33,302
To me, it would have been a lifeline.

275
00:15:33,779 --> 00:15:37,523
So, those books just were not available.

276
00:15:37,524 --> 00:15:38,923
Today they are.

277
00:15:38,924 --> 00:15:41,905
And I am very grateful for that.

278
00:15:41,906 --> 00:15:44,075
And thank you very much.

279
00:15:44,076 --> 00:15:45,345
(Applause)