When I first heard about Washington High "banning" Little Brother by Cory Doctrow, I immediately felt shame because I lived and worked in Pensacola for six years. I didn't even want to be connected to a town who felt that action was OK (although at least I wasn't like a few of my friends who were alums of that school - they were really upset).
But, honestly, knowing Pensacola, it didn't surprise me. It's not really a radical town; conservative is a mild way of explaining the town. That still doesn't excuse this behavior. It is just wrong to tell kids they can't read something.
I was proud of the English teachers for continuing to fight against their principal about deleting the book from the summer program because he "didn't like it" (even though he didn't read it; I'm not sure how you don't like something you don't try). I was proud of the commenters on the news articles saying they were going to go out and buy it. I was proud of the students for still wanting to read the book.
But Cory Doctrow was just amazing. Sending free copies of the book? Making a video to talk to the students about their book being banned? Awesome. It took two easy steps to show that he cared - and he didn't even care that someone might not like his book, because he understands that not everyone has the same likes/dislikes. He just cared that kids were being denied the possibility of finding something they enjoyed reading.
We should never take books out of kids' hands. Like Doctrow, we should be putting them IN their hands.
So, bravo, Cory Doctrow, bravo!
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