On Oct 1 I talked to Dixie K. Keyes​’ class at Arkansas State University through Zoom on SCARS being challenged and what to do when a book is challenged. I talked about the importance of teens finding reflections of their experiences in books, especially of painful issues such as sexual abuse, suicide, self harm, racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, and sizeism, and how books can save lives. They did for some of my readers and for me.
You can watch my talk on YouTube, or read it as an article on my website. It feels deeply wrong to me to prevent kids and teens from having books that might help them heal, talk to someone sooner, find community sooner–or even save their lives.
