WEBVTT

00:00:06.417 --> 00:00:08.199
I'm very happy to be here,

00:00:08.200 --> 00:00:11.045
very happy to see your beautiful faces.

00:00:12.313 --> 00:00:15.006
In 2008, I gave a presentation

00:00:15.007 --> 00:00:19.480
to a librarian group
in Salt Lake City, Utah,

00:00:19.481 --> 00:00:23.006
and afterwards, someone
stood up and asked me

00:00:23.007 --> 00:00:26.761
why I write about
such terrible things for children.

00:00:26.762 --> 00:00:29.059
It was not a friendly question.

00:00:29.060 --> 00:00:30.290
(Laughter)

00:00:31.161 --> 00:00:36.207
There are many reasons
why books get challenged

00:00:36.208 --> 00:00:38.844
with the hopes of banning them,

00:00:38.845 --> 00:00:41.606
the 12 most frequent being:

00:00:41.607 --> 00:00:43.518
offensive language,

00:00:43.519 --> 00:00:46.440
explicit sexual descriptions,

00:00:46.441 --> 00:00:50.533
incidents of violence
or brutality, including rape,

00:00:50.542 --> 00:00:53.788
disparagement of family values,

00:00:53.789 --> 00:00:57.708
treatment of satanism,
via cult or witchcraft,

00:00:57.709 --> 00:01:00.647
New Age anti-religious stories,

00:01:00.648 --> 00:01:02.767
examples of racism,

00:01:02.768 --> 00:01:05.497
examples of substance abuse,

00:01:05.498 --> 00:01:09.648
materials that include
depressing or morbid topics,

00:01:09.649 --> 00:01:13.158
attacks on patriotism,
or established authority,

00:01:13.167 --> 00:01:16.291
texts that include anti-feminism or sexism,

00:01:16.292 --> 00:01:20.043
and derogatory imagines of the handicapped.

00:01:21.653 --> 00:01:24.071
I can understand why people

00:01:24.072 --> 00:01:27.960
who work with and live with children

00:01:27.961 --> 00:01:34.280
might assume the right
and responsibility to protect them.

00:01:34.281 --> 00:01:36.753
Children are vulnerable,

00:01:36.754 --> 00:01:39.500
their brains are different.

00:01:39.865 --> 00:01:44.367
And people may think
that by controlling the way

00:01:44.368 --> 00:01:49.873
in which children encounter
the things on this list,

00:01:49.874 --> 00:01:52.699
they are protecting them.

00:01:55.107 --> 00:01:58.880
Certainly, one can see

00:01:58.881 --> 00:02:03.473
how the things on this list are important.

00:02:03.474 --> 00:02:05.498
Look at sexuality,

00:02:05.499 --> 00:02:10.392
when sexual experiences,
whether real or imagined,

00:02:10.393 --> 00:02:13.041
can influence your sexual identity,

00:02:13.042 --> 00:02:16.376
and your sexual identity can affect

00:02:16.388 --> 00:02:20.767
whether or not you are able
to form a lasting relationship

00:02:20.768 --> 00:02:23.420
that can carry you through life.

00:02:23.421 --> 00:02:24.762
Look at religion.

00:02:24.763 --> 00:02:27.694
If you are a person of faith,

00:02:27.695 --> 00:02:30.852
you may very well want to make sure

00:02:30.853 --> 00:02:33.480
that the children that you love

00:02:33.481 --> 00:02:35.617
share this faith.

00:02:36.153 --> 00:02:39.551
I understand these things.

00:02:39.552 --> 00:02:44.423
Yet, I write about all the things
that are on this list.

00:02:45.309 --> 00:02:48.022
I have a book called
"Song of the Magdalene,"

00:02:48.023 --> 00:02:50.513
that takes place in the first century,

00:02:50.514 --> 00:02:54.173
in the land we now call Israel.

00:02:54.174 --> 00:02:56.539
The main character has epilepsy,

00:02:56.540 --> 00:02:59.812
she falls in love with someone
who has cerebral palsy.

00:02:59.813 --> 00:03:01.541
In that time and place,

00:03:01.542 --> 00:03:06.249
people with physical
and mental maladies were pariahs,

00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:11.500
so there is quite a lot
of derogatory images of the handicapped.

00:03:11.512 --> 00:03:14.004
And the main character is raped.

00:03:14.209 --> 00:03:16.500
In "Alligator Bayou,"

00:03:16.501 --> 00:03:21.666
which takes place in 1899
in Tallulah, Louisiana,

00:03:21.667 --> 00:03:24.523
we are in the middle
of the Jim Crow South.

00:03:24.524 --> 00:03:28.526
The society is stratified
along racial lines.

00:03:28.542 --> 00:03:31.792
Sexism, my goodness,
nobody was even aware of it!

00:03:31.793 --> 00:03:34.992
The book is full of racism and sexism,

00:03:34.993 --> 00:03:37.440
and there is a lynching.

00:03:37.736 --> 00:03:44.424
In "Three days," which is a story
that takes place contemporaneously,

00:03:44.425 --> 00:03:49.498
a little American girl
is driving with her father in Italy.

00:03:49.499 --> 00:03:51.345
He has a heart attack,

00:03:51.346 --> 00:03:54.555
he manages to pull off
the side of the road safely,

00:03:54.556 --> 00:03:55.991
but he dies,

00:03:55.992 --> 00:03:58.174
and this little girl is waiting

00:03:58.175 --> 00:04:00.256
until someone finally picks her up.

00:04:00.257 --> 00:04:02.024
And the people who pick her up,

00:04:02.025 --> 00:04:04.756
want her for their own reasons.

00:04:04.757 --> 00:04:07.615
So, why on earth do I do these things?

00:04:07.616 --> 00:04:12.618
You know, the last thing I want
to do, as a writer for children,

00:04:12.619 --> 00:04:14.216
is hurt my reader.

00:04:14.217 --> 00:04:16.918
I love to tell a good story,

00:04:16.918 --> 00:04:22.628
a funny, scary, mysterious, whatever story

00:04:22.629 --> 00:04:25.616
but terrible things draw me.

00:04:25.617 --> 00:04:27.892
Am I hurting children?

00:04:28.192 --> 00:04:29.946
Let's look at the child

00:04:29.947 --> 00:04:33.441
who is growing up with plenty to eat,

00:04:33.442 --> 00:04:36.437
good food, her own bed,

00:04:36.438 --> 00:04:39.220
a place to study,

00:04:39.221 --> 00:04:43.472
she goes to a school where the teacher
cares about what she's learning

00:04:43.473 --> 00:04:47.818
and works very hard to make it a good day.

00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:51.963
There are people who talk
to her and listen to her,

00:04:51.964 --> 00:04:54.359
and she can talk to them.

00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:56.659
This is a loved child.

00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:58.807
This is a protected child.

00:04:58.808 --> 00:05:01.052
Let me set this child aside
for the moment.

00:05:01.053 --> 00:05:02.907
And let's look at the child

00:05:02.908 --> 00:05:06.050
who maybe doesn't have
her own bed to sleep in,

00:05:06.051 --> 00:05:07.502
maybe doesn't sleep that well,

00:05:07.503 --> 00:05:09.768
maybe there is no blanket
to keep her warm,

00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:12.521
maybe she went to bed hungry,
she wakes up hungry,

00:05:12.522 --> 00:05:17.283
she goes to an underfunded,
overcrowded school.

00:05:17.284 --> 00:05:19.999
Maybe she's very much loved,

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.209
but the socio-economics
of the situation are such

00:05:23.210 --> 00:05:27.601
that she is battling
a number of things constantly.

00:05:27.602 --> 00:05:30.500
And then, there are other children,

00:05:30.501 --> 00:05:32.580
who are not so much loved.

00:05:32.581 --> 00:05:36.348
And this has nothing to do
with socio-economic status

00:05:36.349 --> 00:05:39.179
or race, or religion, or ethnicity,

00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:40.401
none of that.

00:05:40.402 --> 00:05:46.111
We all know that all kinds of things
happen behind closed doors

00:05:46.112 --> 00:05:49.178
in every sector of our society.

00:05:49.179 --> 00:05:52.183
So these are the unprotected children.

00:05:52.184 --> 00:05:55.098
What happens to an unprotected child

00:05:55.099 --> 00:05:56.922
when they read a book

00:05:56.923 --> 00:06:02.004
in which the main character
is also unprotected?

00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:04.491
One things that happens,

00:06:04.492 --> 00:06:07.935
is that they find out
that they are not alone.

00:06:07.936 --> 00:06:13.105
Children often do not talk
about the problems that they have.

00:06:13.106 --> 00:06:14.946
Sometimes because they know

00:06:14.947 --> 00:06:16.711
they can't do anything about it,

00:06:16.712 --> 00:06:19.448
so, what's the point of talking about it?

00:06:19.449 --> 00:06:21.268
Sometimes, because they are loyal

00:06:21.269 --> 00:06:24.250
to the people that they love.

00:06:24.251 --> 00:06:26.925
Sometimes it could be because of fear.

00:06:26.926 --> 00:06:30.542
If you tell and people believe you,

00:06:30.543 --> 00:06:34.252
maybe you'll be snatched from
your family, and then what?

00:06:34.253 --> 00:06:37.260
And if you tell and people
don't believe you,

00:06:37.261 --> 00:06:40.967
then you have to go back
to the situation you were in,

00:06:40.968 --> 00:06:44.401
and deal with the people
who know that you told on them.

00:06:44.402 --> 00:06:46.733
It could be much worse.

00:06:46.734 --> 00:06:48.632
So, there you are!

00:06:48.633 --> 00:06:53.103
You are alone, and you don't know

00:06:53.104 --> 00:06:56.347
what other people are dealing with.

00:06:56.348 --> 00:06:59.589
There, in a book, you find out!

00:06:59.590 --> 00:07:01.504
This person talks to you in a way

00:07:01.505 --> 00:07:05.101
that maybe no one else
in your life talks to you,

00:07:05.102 --> 00:07:07.768
in a more intimate way!

00:07:07.769 --> 00:07:10.881
If you have done something terrible,

00:07:10.882 --> 00:07:16.181
really done it or just imagined it,

00:07:16.182 --> 00:07:18.858
you may think you are an awful person,

00:07:18.859 --> 00:07:21.338
and there, in a book, you'll find out

00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:23.505
that absolutely ordinary people

00:07:23.506 --> 00:07:27.048
do terrible things
and think terrible thoughts.

00:07:27.049 --> 00:07:30.541
There's no one as lonely
as a child who thinks

00:07:30.542 --> 00:07:33.699
that she's the worst person ever.

00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:37.402
In a book you find out
that you are not alone.

00:07:37.403 --> 00:07:41.539
If terrible things are happening to you

00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:45.697
and you don't know
they happened to other people,

00:07:45.698 --> 00:07:48.659
you can feel that maybe
there's something about you

00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:51.512
that make them happen to you!

00:07:51.513 --> 00:07:54.339
Maybe there is something wrong with you.

00:07:54.340 --> 00:07:56.019
Maybe it's your fault.

00:07:56.020 --> 00:07:58.795
You can suffer guilt.

00:07:58.796 --> 00:08:03.007
There, in a book, you see this child
did nothing to make it happen to her!

00:08:03.008 --> 00:08:05.248
But it's still happened.

00:08:05.249 --> 00:08:09.977
Terrible things happen
to good people all the time.

00:08:09.978 --> 00:08:12.380
It's very comforting.

00:08:12.381 --> 00:08:13.847
Or you may think

00:08:13.848 --> 00:08:16.004
that you're the only one it's happening to

00:08:16.005 --> 00:08:19.153
and you develop
a big chip on your shoulder,

00:08:19.154 --> 00:08:20.897
you're angry about it,

00:08:20.898 --> 00:08:24.255
you don't understand
that lots of people around you

00:08:24.256 --> 00:08:28.488
are coping with things
that they are not talking about either.

00:08:28.489 --> 00:08:33.432
So, it can give you
a wonderful perspective

00:08:33.433 --> 00:08:36.974
that allows you some consolation.

00:08:37.284 --> 00:08:39.893
Another thing that reading
these books can do,

00:08:39.894 --> 00:08:43.255
is give you hints, help

00:08:43.256 --> 00:08:45.298
in coping with your situation.

00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:49.419
Not that these books are going to deal
with the same situation that you're in,

00:08:49.420 --> 00:08:51.242
they may be dealing with something

00:08:51.243 --> 00:08:54.205
that's very different
from what you are in.

00:08:54.206 --> 00:08:59.434
But you see somebody persisting,

00:08:59.435 --> 00:09:02.083
being resilient,

00:09:02.084 --> 00:09:06.883
being resourceful,
looking for help in different places,

00:09:06.884 --> 00:09:13.012
and it gives you some ideas
of how you might go about

00:09:13.013 --> 00:09:15.523
trying to manage.

00:09:15.713 --> 00:09:19.868
Now, sometimes,
the problems that a child faces

00:09:19.869 --> 00:09:22.685
are child-sized problems,

00:09:22.686 --> 00:09:26.550
and are something
that the child can influence.

00:09:26.551 --> 00:09:28.783
But sometimes, they are not!

00:09:28.784 --> 00:09:34.524
Children are our least
powerful members of society.

00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:38.049
So, these books over here,

00:09:38.050 --> 00:09:41.060
they better not be saying

00:09:41.061 --> 00:09:45.632
that the child can solve
an enormous problem.

00:09:46.250 --> 00:09:48.084
Richard Pak,

00:09:48.096 --> 00:09:51.579
one of the wonderful writers for children,

00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:54.105
says: "Writers for children

00:09:54.106 --> 00:09:57.757
cannot afford to traffic in happy endings,

00:09:57.758 --> 00:10:03.470
because if we do, we risk leaving
our reader undefended."

00:10:03.471 --> 00:10:06.007
It is very important for the child

00:10:06.008 --> 00:10:11.509
who is in a situation
that they cannot change,

00:10:11.510 --> 00:10:14.179
to see what happens to a child

00:10:14.180 --> 00:10:17.908
in another situation
that they cannot change.

00:10:17.909 --> 00:10:19.789
It is my job,

00:10:19.790 --> 00:10:23.520
or I think it is my job
when I am writing a story,

00:10:23.521 --> 00:10:25.851
to let a child know that

00:10:25.852 --> 00:10:30.219
you may not be able to change your world,

00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.521
but with hard work and good will,

00:10:33.522 --> 00:10:39.550
you will be able to find a way
to live decently within your world,

00:10:39.551 --> 00:10:43.642
even if it's only inside your head.

00:10:43.643 --> 00:10:48.260
Hope, peace, even joy,

00:10:48.261 --> 00:10:53.736
can be a strictly internal matter,

00:10:53.737 --> 00:10:58.318
an it's very important
for children to see that!

00:10:58.319 --> 00:11:04.986
So, these books can be a life line
to the unprotected child.

00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:09.734
And now let's take
the child that is protected,

00:11:09.735 --> 00:11:11.951
and take a look at this child!

00:11:11.952 --> 00:11:16.643
I want to argue that this child
needs those books even more.

00:11:16.644 --> 00:11:21.067
For one, the child
will not always be protected,

00:11:21.068 --> 00:11:25.918
you cannot put your child
in a cotton-lined box for life.

00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:31.486
The child will burst out,
the box will be crushed from outside.

00:11:31.487 --> 00:11:33.753
Things happen to people.

00:11:33.754 --> 00:11:36.953
We don't live charmed lives,

00:11:36.954 --> 00:11:40.965
and everybody needs
to learn coping skills.

00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:44.966
In the book you can see somebody coping,

00:11:44.967 --> 00:11:49.826
and it can help to prepare you
for when you need to cope.

00:11:51.076 --> 00:11:54.506
But even more than that,

00:11:54.507 --> 00:11:57.759
I think the child who is protected

00:11:57.760 --> 00:12:00.258
really needs these books,

00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:02.908
because without them,

00:12:02.909 --> 00:12:04.710
if this child grows up

00:12:04.711 --> 00:12:09.052
with only good things happening

00:12:09.062 --> 00:12:11.291
and unaware

00:12:11.292 --> 00:12:17.417
that terrible things
can happen to people like them,

00:12:17.436 --> 00:12:24.988
they run the risk of becoming
intolerant and intolerable people.

00:12:25.550 --> 00:12:30.022
They run the risk of walking
past a homeless person,

00:12:30.023 --> 00:12:33.360
who is emaciated,
and perhaps, stinking,

00:12:33.361 --> 00:12:36.076
and thinking, "It's his own damn fault!"

00:12:36.077 --> 00:12:40.277
They think that all the good things
that have happened to them,

00:12:40.278 --> 00:12:43.230
have happened because they merited it,

00:12:43.231 --> 00:12:45.856
they worked hard, they had a good spirit.

00:12:45.857 --> 00:12:50.319
They don't recognize
the role of luck in their lives.

00:12:50.729 --> 00:12:53.578
People can work hard and have good spirits

00:12:53.579 --> 00:12:56.845
and have lousy luck.

00:12:56.846 --> 00:13:02.447
In a book, you crawl
inside the skin of someone else,

00:13:02.448 --> 00:13:05.225
you live what they are living,

00:13:05.226 --> 00:13:07.542
you come to understand it,

00:13:07.543 --> 00:13:10.209
you gain empathy.

00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:14.386
Empathy is the corner stone
of civilization.

00:13:14.387 --> 00:13:17.930
Without empathy, we are each
just in our little spots,

00:13:17.931 --> 00:13:20.767
taking care of ourselves,
and our children.

00:13:20.768 --> 00:13:23.195
Who cares about the neighbor?

00:13:23.196 --> 00:13:27.602
Empathy allows us
to understand why we pay taxes,

00:13:27.603 --> 00:13:31.434
why everybody deserves an education,

00:13:31.435 --> 00:13:35.583
shelter, food, health care.

00:13:35.584 --> 00:13:39.594
Empathy makes us decent people.

00:13:40.239 --> 00:13:44.039
And there is no safer way

00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:46.575
for a child to learn empathy,

00:13:46.576 --> 00:13:49.036
than through a book.

00:13:49.037 --> 00:13:53.195
I want to bring this down to the personal.

00:13:54.649 --> 00:13:55.987
When I was a child,

00:13:55.988 --> 00:14:00.136
my favourite book was
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

00:14:00.137 --> 00:14:03.541
I grew up in a family
with a lot of problems,

00:14:03.542 --> 00:14:06.442
that got realized in a number of ways,

00:14:06.443 --> 00:14:12.000
one of which was
financial insecurity, instability.

00:14:12.001 --> 00:14:15.532
One of my worst memories of childhood was

00:14:15.533 --> 00:14:20.165
coming home in the third grade
to find everything that I owned,

00:14:20.166 --> 00:14:23.475
- and I didn't own that much,
I was just a little third grade kid,

00:14:23.476 --> 00:14:26.003
but everything that I owned,
mattered to me! -

00:14:26.004 --> 00:14:29.001
to find everything that I owned
out on the sidewalk,

00:14:29.002 --> 00:14:32.514
because we have been evicted yet again.

00:14:32.515 --> 00:14:34.727
And I didn't know whether or not,

00:14:34.728 --> 00:14:38.243
anyone else was coping
with this kind of thing.

00:14:38.244 --> 00:14:41.281
Kids didn't talk about it at school.

00:14:41.282 --> 00:14:47.097
But in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,"
I saw Francie Nolan coping with poverty.

00:14:47.098 --> 00:14:49.615
It was very consoling to me!

00:14:49.616 --> 00:14:52.608
It gave me a perspective that allowed me

00:14:52.609 --> 00:14:56.122
to enjoy a lot of things about my life.

00:14:56.502 --> 00:14:59.015
In that book, there was also a man,

00:14:59.016 --> 00:15:01.000
at the foot of the stairs,

00:15:01.001 --> 00:15:04.280
who was essentially a monster.

00:15:04.281 --> 00:15:07.146
And Francie was very afraid of him,

00:15:07.147 --> 00:15:10.055
and he had gotten other girls.

00:15:10.056 --> 00:15:12.276
He does not get Francie,

00:15:12.277 --> 00:15:16.378
and I was very glad
that he didn't get Francie.

00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:19.072
I would not have wanted him to.

00:15:19.592 --> 00:15:22.329
But I would have given anything

00:15:22.330 --> 00:15:24.192
to be able to read a book

00:15:24.193 --> 00:15:27.043
about the girl who did not escape

00:15:27.053 --> 00:15:29.972
the man at the foot of the stairs.

00:15:29.973 --> 00:15:33.302
To me, it would have been a lifeline.

00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:37.523
So, those books just were not available.

00:15:37.524 --> 00:15:38.923
Today they are.

00:15:38.924 --> 00:15:41.905
And I am very grateful for that.

00:15:41.906 --> 00:15:44.075
And thank you very much.

00:15:44.076 --> 00:15:45.345
(Applause)