The His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass is the first book of the series) is the story of how a girl discovers a plot to separate children from their “daemons”, which are animal-shaped physical manifestations of the soul in the universe of the books. Both adults and children have daemons, but only children’s daemons can change shape, which makes them valuable to the villains, for mysterious reasons. The story is about the science and morality behind the existence of daemons (souls), and the power of these souls. It’s a profoundly moral story. There’s no question that there are anti- religious elements in the book. But in regards to those elements Pullman said in an interview, “As for what it’s against - the story is against those who pervert and misuse religion, or any other kind of doctrine with a holy book and a priesthood and an apparatus of power that wields unchallengeable authority, in order to dominate and suppress human freedoms.”

One of the quotes used to justify the boycott is “my books are about killing God.” But in the same interview Pullman says “That’s not to say I disparage the religious impulse. I think the impulse is a critical part of the wonder and awe that human beings feel. What I am against is organised religion of the sort which persecutes people who don’t believe. I’m against religious intolerance.” The “God” in his books isn’t the God worshiped by Christians. The God in his book is a God in an alternate universe with a corrupt church trying to stop the spread of good and wisdom.

Another quote the anti-Pullman camp is jumping on is from a different interview when Pullman says, “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.” What the email doesn’t add is the rest of the quote that continues, “Mr. Lewis would think I was doing the Devil’s work.” Pullman is specifically answering a question about what C.S. Lewis would think of his work. He’s not saying that he’s trying to undermine Christian belief. He’s saying that’s what someone else would think. The author isn’t against Christianity, Catholicism or religion in general, he’s anti-religious intolerance and against the dogmatism and oppression of the church.

If you’ve read the complete interviews and still disagree with the author’s viewpoint and don’t want to read the books that’s one thing. It just irks me that based upon a few emails and memos from people who haven’t seen the movie or read the books that parents all over the country are going to forbid their kids from reading an award winning trilogy.

I should add that I am completely against censoring books for children for any reason except age-appropriateness. I am all for dialogue between parent and child and think that it’s imperative for parents to monitor what their kids read. But I think it’s most important for parents to read along with their children and discuss the books they read rather than forbidding them from reading them altogether. Though I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the decision, if a parent were to take the time and read the book before deciding they didn’t want their child to read it I wouldn’t complain. As a parent it’s your right to make decisions for your family.

As for the movie, it doesn’t bother me that parents may not want their children to see it. I’ve read the books and I don’t think they’re appropriate for young children. As far as I know the movie is rated PG-13, and if it’s true to the book I wouldn’t recommend kids much younger seeing the movie since the books were written for a young adult audience. Based on my classroom experiences, kids much younger than seventh grade wouldn’t even understand the books for the most part, so a PG-13 rating seems spot on. In other words, while I haven’t actually seen a movie in the theater for two years now, if I were to see this movie and parents with children under ten were in the audience I’d be annoyed.

I have to admit that I’m reticent to see the film because I don’t want it to ruin the books for me. The books are remarkable. I can’t recommend them enough. But I have hope. One blogger who has seen the movie writes, “It is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Go see it in the biggest theater you can.”

Here’s an article from the Harry Potter Fan Zone:

You can read more from Stacey, the new blogger at Hogwarts Herald.

Bold those you’ve read.
Italicize books you have started but couldn’t finish.
Add an asterisk* to those you have read more than once.
Underline those on your To Be Read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange*
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita*
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye*
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

What makes me laugh most is Congress. Dogs can also be very funny, but I have to give the edge to Congress. –Dave Barry author of Peter and the Starcatchers

A woman strutting out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to her heel gets me every time. –Lisi Harrison author of The Clique

Freudian Slips: One night I was reading to my four-year-old daughter a rather boring picture book about Paul Revere. When I came upon the word ‘timber’ I accidentally said ‘tampon’ instead. I became immediately hysterical, laughing so hard tears were running down my cheeks. Of course my daughter thought I was insane and insisted that I continue reading, even though I had the giggles. Soon she had the giggles too and our giggles morphed into uncontrollable howls of laughter. It reminded me of my seventh grade biology class when I raised my hand to answer a question and I said ‘orgasm’ instead of organism. I turned purple and had to hide under my desk because my teacher was a man with a mustache and I could not look at him without bursting into hysterical laughter. By the end of class we were all under our desks. — Cecily von Ziegesar author of Gossip Girl

Reading (and writing about) characters’ excruciating embarrassing social gaffes always make me laugh! Which is awful, since goodness knows I’ve committed enough of them! — Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries

The Readergirlz are also celebrating Teen Read with chats this week.

October 14th: Tanya Lee Stone
October 15th: John Green
October 16th: Sara Zarr
October 17th: Deb Caletti
October 18th: Rachel Cohn
October 19th: Kirsten Miller
October 20th: Mitali Perkins

* Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
* The Miss Spider series by David Kirk
* Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
* The Frances series by Russell and Lillian Hoban
* The Paper Bag Princess, A Promise is a Promise, Angela’s Airplane, David’s Father, Millicent and the Wind, Moira’s Birthday, Murmel Murmel Murmel, Pigs!, Something Good, Stephanie’s Ponytail, and The Boy in the Drawer by Robert Munsch
* Chrysanthemum, Lily and her Purple Plastic Purse, and Julius, The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
* The Little House and Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
* Helga’s Dowry and Adelita by Tomie DePaola
* When I’m Sleepy by by Jane R. Howard and Lynne Cherry
* The Charlie and Lola series by Lauren Child
* Big Momma Makes the World and Lucia and the Light by Phyllis Root
* The Princess Knight, plus many other titles by Cornelia Funke
* The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker and Grace Lin
* The Library by Sarah Stewart
* Moonstruck by Gennifer Choldenko
* Roxaboxen by Alice Mclerran and Barbara Cooney
* A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
* The Balloon Tree by Phoebe Gilman
* Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty Macdonald
* Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
* The Little Princess series (which, trust me, is NOT all princess-y) by Tony Ross
* The Daisy series by Jane Simmons
* Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
* If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond
* Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
* Ugly Truckling by David Gordon
* Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (I can vouch for this one. The story is cute and the illustrations are fabulous.)
* Lizzy’s Lion by Dennis Lee
* Ganzy Remembers by Mary Grace Ketner
* Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Joan Rankin
* Who Said Boo? by Anne Miranda
* Attic of the Wind by Doris Herold Lun and Ati Forberg
* Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink
* George and Martha: One Fine Day by James Marshall
* Maggie and the Pirates by Ezra Jack Keats
* Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
* Fairy Wings by Lauren Mills
* Dahlia by Barbara McClintock
* Red Riding by Jean Merrilla
* Outside, Over There by Maurice Sendak
* Peg and the Yeti by Kenneth Oppel
* Bullfrog Builds a House by Rosamond Dauer and Byron Barton
* Petronella by Jay Williams
* A Cowboy Named Ernestine by Nicole Rubel
* Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson
* Little Red Cowboy Hat by Susan Lowell
* Eloise by Kay Thompson
* Sleepless Beauty by Frances Minters
* Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch
* The Maggie B by Irene Haas
* The Stella series by Marie-Louise Gay (Bonus: She has a little brother named Sam!)

More of what we’re reading here next week, and thanks to some of the Readergirlz for stopping in and commenting!

Before I get to the meat of the discussion I have to get a few things out of the way. First of all, Myspace makes my eyes bleed. I’m about 15 years too old for the bizarre fonts, hearts, and flashing backgrounds. Secondly, the structure of the forum was hard for me to adjust to. People ask questions all at the same time and it goes incredibly quickly. I’ve never been in any real online chat groups, so I’m unaccustomed to the format. It’s unlike most forums I’ve been involved with, where people take the time to read previous questions before barreling in with their own.

Aside from my Myspace issues, I was quite impressed with the chat. Ann Brashares did a much better job of keeping up with the questions than I did and did an admirable job of giving the Readergirlz thoughtful answers. The girlz were giggly and excited and through their squeeing they managed to ask equally thoughtful questions, though many came from the Divas and the teachers logged in to the chats.

When asked about how she handles writing from four perspectives her Pants series, Ann responded

I try to approach each of my characters individually. Though you read the book with the characters’ parts spliced together, that’s not how I write them. I focus on one girl at a time and write her story from beginning to end. That way I’m able to lose myself in her as best I can. To spend days and weeks as Carmen, say, and not have to be anyone else. At the end I write the scenes where the girls appear together.

Her advice for the writers in the group

My advice is not original, I’m aftaid–read a lot. You probably do that already. Write a lot. Write so much that writing feels natural the way thinking and speaking do.

Also, leave yourself alone. Give yourself time to imagine things. I am a big proponent of having absolutely nothing to do.

Her thoughts on community service

I went to a quaker school and started community service projects in first grade, so that’s always on my mind. I am just starting the Sisterhood Foundation. I’m putting a bunch of the money from the books into it and using the money to benefit girls and education and literacy. It’s a new project, and I’m excited about it. Also, I’m a mentor to a high school girl. We’ve been together for three years so far, and I love being part of her life.

And one of her low moments as a writer

I have had many low moments! One came recently, when I did a signing at a Costco in New Jersey. (I think it was New Jersey.) I was all set up with my books and not one person came. Not one. Finally a woman ambled along. I got all ready to sign a book for me and she asked where the office furniture was. The saleswoman in the book area felt so sorry for me she hugged me.

Because The Cybils is a blogger-run, blogger-inspired awards process, we operate with the expectation of openness and transparency. If you have any question about the process—any question at all—please feel free to e-mail Anne or Kelly at any time.

Nominations are open in the following categories:

Fantasy/Science Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction: Middle Grade and Young Adult
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Here are the rules:

The book must have been published in 2007:

* Only one book per category;
* Click on a category and read the description;
* Click on “comments” and type in the author and title;
* Make sure your book isn’t already listed, please.

Nominations close Nov. 21, so take your time and come back often.Thanks for joining us!

1. The Book Stacks lists some reasons why books have been banned or challenged.

My favorite? Where’s Waldo? was removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top.

I remember hearing the rumors of that back in the day and I remember looking. But like goofy Waldo, the topless woman eluded me.

2. Nikki Grimes author of Bronx Masquerade, one of my favorite books for reluctant high school readers, is chatting tomorrow night at the Readergirlz forum. If you haven’t read Bronx Masquerade put it on your list. Here’s what Grimes writes about her book on her website

Bronx Masquerade is a novel written in 18 voices. It follows a classroom of high school students over the course of a year, exploring who they are behind the masks they wear, and using poetry to do it.
Bronx has no single main character, in the traditional sense, but there is one character whose point of view is represented throughout: Tyrone Bittings. Tyrone serves as Greek chorus, commenting on every character in the book. He helps the reader connect the dots from character to character and from one subplot to the next. Each character has his own story to tell, but Tyrone is privy to them all.

3. Judy Blume wrote an editorial back in 1999 asking, “Is Harry Potter Evil?” Sadly, eight years later, it’s still relevant.

4. Since I don’t live in the UK I failed to notice that it’s Children’s Book Week there. Booktrusted has the inside scoop.

5. And lastly for the vintage book lovers, here’s a digital collection of 20 children’s books.

Stay informed. If you read or hear about a challenge at your school or public library, support your librarian and free and open access to library materials. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates they learn of only 20 to 25 percent of book challenges. Let us know if there is a challenge in your community. Find out what the policy is for reviewing challenged materials at your school or public library. Join the Intellectual Freedom Action News (IFACTION) e-list.

Join the Freedom to Read Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to the legal and financial defense of intellectual freedom, especially in libraries. You can also support the cause by buying Banned Books Week posters, buttons and T-shirts online.

And check out the Thursday Thirteen at the Book Stacks where Elisa lists 13 banned books she has read.

banned book week, celebrate your freedom to read, censorship, fight censorship

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

more about banned books week here and here