The Anne Frank Controversy. Or Why I'd Like to Smack People.

If you haven't already heard of the scuffle going down in Michigan, you can read about it here.

As some of you already know due to my previous posts, I'm a huge advocate for literacy and the idea of book banning is absolutely ludicrous to me. This idea that Anne Frank is being labeled as inappropriate to a group of seventh graders evokes something that really lights up some rage.

This is a censorship battle, of course, and then some.

This argument stems from a certain passage in Anne Frank's diary where she's explaining the discovery of her own anatomy. Honestly, it's normal to be curious, especially if you have no friends, books or mentors who are around to really explain the changes that are occurring during puberty. You could argue that for a group of seventh graders, that this material could be inappropriate; but is it really? Especially when that group entering their early teens is going through the same thing? By censoring this or by even arguing this, we're teaching that girls should be ashamed of their own anatomy as well as insulting the immortalization of a girl who died in a concentration camp.

This book has been read by so many people… so many young people. The material described does not make anyone a bad person, that's like the whole video games-makes-you-violent argument. Why would you insult your child by not letting them read a book like this if the idea behind it is that it would badly influence them? If you're concerned that a girl discovering her body, and explaining it, is too graphic, I'm sorry but you can't hide your children from themselves, and their own personal discoveries.

As an adult, I look back and I found solace in relating to the characters in my books. Although reading a passage like that in the Diary of Anne Frank may have made me blush, I would be grateful to know that these changes were normal. Reading this thing, while that was happening would have definitely made me feel less alone, too.

Of course this whole coming-into-womanhood isn't the main premise of what she wrote about.  It's about the struggle of growing up under such difficulties. It's the truth of how real the Holocaust was and how so many children were murdered. It's a unique and intimate portrayal of the realities of war based on racial, social and religious bigotry which is extremely relevant to this day where we don't even hear about half the wars that go on in the world. We learn about the good guys, and the bad guys, but rarely about those in-between, those innocents who suffer the most out of these ordeals.

Life isn't rainbows and sunshine and the removal of this book from any school is not going to shelter your children from a harsh reality. Learning about a bleak past in present day will only influence us to strive for a better and brighter future.

So to the mom who wants this book removed; shut up. You're not being the good mother or person that you think you're being.

It's Not About the "HOW"

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! To where? Where isn't important, but when is. That when is right now --  The Era of Information and Technology. 

"i"

If you haven't noticed, but the title for my blog is "i Live Literary" which, as you can see, the 'i' isn't capitalized. There's a reason for this; it's an ode to how I'm connecting with all of you. It's an ode to the internet, to information and to individuality. It's also and obvious ode to Apple, to whom I must thank for providing me the tools to which I can continue reaching, connecting, and writing. And here comes the product war.

Look, I don't care whether you're Mac or a PC. I don't have to justify myself for using a Mac, but, just for the sake of it, I did study art. 

Which brings us to this product war topic:

So, Rose, I see you read from an eReader -- I really like physical books myself. What do you prefer?

I don't care how you read. I care about if you even read at all.

I own a lot of books and most of them are across the country, in my parent's basement, in storage. I moved to my current location by hauling three suitcases, a backpack and a purse on the plane with only a few books in my possession. Books are heavy and shipping all those books? Maybe when I have a means to do, I'll reunite my library. Meanwhile, I have this Kobo of mine to keep me company with a small library's worth of books for when I'm on the road. I feel like I'm on the road a lot.

I like to keep reading and I devour book after book; each one after the next. Carrying a small library isn't the most viable of options. For years I would try and find some solution to bring a small library with me without the baggage limit being insanely overweight and finally, finally my prayers were answered! I love new technology and how it can evolve and change our lifestyles. Well, it didn't change my lifestyle; just helped in it's improvement.

That fact is, having this eReader is great for me. It may not be for everyone but I don't really care anyways. The only thing that matters is that I'm still reading. I'm still processing information, analyzing and educating myself. I'm constantly trying to improve my literacy and improve upon myself as a human being.

I don't want to be categorized in the 16% of the human population who can't read, 84% of which are adults (aged 25 and over) and two-thirds of which are women. I'm extremely privileged to have been educated in Canada where literacy rates are around 97% but...does that mean that Canadians learned to read or do they read to learn?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I care about if you do read as opposed to how you read.

Your literacy isn't based upon just knowing how to read but based one your ability to think critically. It's important to know how to use the symbolism and metaphors in a story to decipher the relevancy of what you're reading, but why?

We often forget why we read, or why it's important; some of us just know that it is. The importance of it is that written and spoken language depend on it. It's the basis of where we begin to coherently understand how to make informed decisions, create, and communicate. It's how we begin to improve economic, social and political impact, how we begin to decrease mortality rates and increase health, and it's a foundation to where we start education. Reading is a beautiful thing that can lead to great things, amazing changes, and evolve our communities and culture.

"Live Literary"

Live Literary, in my blog title, is a celebration that I share with all of you. It's a celebration for literature, for reading, for books. Whether you read from an eReader, your tablet or phone, from a paperback or hardback, or listen to audiobooks - "Live Literary" is my hope for a brighter, better future in reading, education and for the betterment of ourselves and our society.

Read. Think Critically. Think Creatively.

For now, Literates,

Fare Thee Well.

Education and Book Banning

I've been well out of high school for a few years now and I really don't know what goes on in high schools these days. As far as I remember during my grade school years, no parent has ever complained about any assigned reading that I have ever had the privilege of picking apart. I never understood book bans, or people who go out and complain that the books being picked apart in the classroom are inappropriate for children.

Grade 12 English was where I was given the gift of a study in Elie Wiesel's Night. The book itself is a telling about Eliezer's (slightly fictionalized version of Elie, himself) own reflections on the struggle to survive the Holocaust inside an Auschwitz concentration camp. At the beginning of the novel, a man, Moishe the Beadle speaks of witnessing babies being thrown into the air and used as targets for machine gunners. I always reflect back on reading this novel and discussing it in class and that very image to me was disturbing but so important to my education. Why is learning about the Holocaust from this book, so important?

Because we see people struggle with their humanity and faith in this book. We see Eliezer's relationship with his father strengthen, falter, and personal conflicts. We see fragility in these characters but really, it's not the characters we see these things in. We relate to them because the themes portrayed in this book are timeless. The Holocaust has happened once, ever and hopefully, never again; but that isn't to say that genocide, war, and torture aren't happening in the world. That isn't to say that we, ourselves, will never be put in a position where the strength of our relationships will be put to the test in such a terrifying way. Or where our beliefs, faith and humanity are challenged for a scrap of bread.

In my neighbouring country of America, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) banned this book in 2001-2002. It was challenged in Texas for it's use of profanity, horror and violence which as a result, only select students were permitted to read this book. 

To say that teenagers should not read this book is an insult to the intelligence of young minds. The minds that we often call our "future" and the minds that will bring us into advancement and innovation. Night is the truth -- horror, violence and all. It is not worth banning and doing so would be absolutely insulting to Elie, to so many other Holocaust survivors and to those we tragically lost. 

It's amazing, however, that so many amazing books, meant to impact us as a society have been banned/are banned/challenged into being banned. Literature should be celebrated and should be open to everyone unless, in a sort of ironic fashion, the dystopian futures of 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 should happen. The censorship of books is incredibly, mind-bogglingly frustrating.