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I blew off my aunt's warning about a Judy Blume book until I found it in a locked case at my library
My aunt kept going on about how "Forever" got pulled from her school in Ohio back in the 80s, and I figured she was just being dramatic about some old paperback. Then I walked into my own library here in Austin and saw it sitting in a locked glass case with a little "restricted" sign, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Why are we still locking up books about kids growing up, and has anyone else seen this happen in their town?
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nora1841mo ago
A locked glass case with a little restricted sign" sounds like the setup for a museum exhibit about the 1950s, not a public library in Austin in this century. It would be funny if it were not so sad, honestly. My own small town did something like this a few years back with a different coming of age book, and the librarian told me it was for "community standards," whatever that means. Kids are going to learn about their own bodies one way or another, and hiding a paperback behind glass does not change that. All it does is teach them that growing up is something shameful. Your aunt was right, and the fact that her 1980s story still holds up today tells you everything about how little we have moved on.
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