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(WestSide Books, Dec 2011; Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Feb 2012)
SkinWalkers: 
Cheryl Rainfield on Banned Books
I read banned books; there are some fantastic books that have been banned. And Scars has also had challenges, as well as the recent opinion piece in the WSJ which called Scars and many other powerful books “too dark”.
So when I saw that Banned Books Week is coming up (Sept 24-Oct1), I decided to create a video. I hope you’ll watch it, and I hope it speaks to you. If you like it, please let others know about it.
August 30th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Cheryl, you know I have great respect for you. Please read this as it captures in words exactly what I have observed and reported for years about BBW:
http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p=3019
August 31st, 2011 at 8:53 am
Gay Penguins! YA! I think that banning books is bullshit. But I am curious as to your opinion about books such as the Anarchist Cookbook. My 9th grade English teacher said that it has no redeeming value. I have to say I agree, considering it’s about bomb making.
August 31st, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Cheryl,
I loved the video. I’m going to share with folks I know. It’s also just a very consice way to say what I have difficulty saying about banned books. Thanks for putting this together and putting it out there.
Joe
August 31st, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Dan, thanks for the interesting article. Some banned books are indeed challenged books. But many have been banned, and many challenged books have been challenged–kept out of libraries, etc.
Jessica, I think gay penguins are pretty cool, too. (smiling) And around the Anarchist Cookbook–I have the same response that I did to that book that taught pedophiles how to rape boys. I do not think that any non-fiction book that teaches people how to horribly harm or kill someone should be allowed. It just puts hate into the world and horribly hurts people, even encourages killing people. That’s not okay. That’s very different than a fiction book that, while it shows the pain of horrible things, also shows hope and a way to deal with those horrible things. There is a huge, huge difference.
Joe, I’m so glad that you loved the video; thank you for letting me know that! (beaming) And thank you so very much for sharing it with people; I appreciate that so much! I’m glad it fits with the way you think, too.