Racist attempts to ban True Diary

Yet another attempt to ban Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

Montana Community Unites to Save Sherman Alexie Book From Being Banned

By Adrian JawortAbout 150 people—half of whom were Natives—crowded into a Billings, Montana School District 2 boardroom in overwhelming support of Sherman Alexie’s critically acclaimed 2007 novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on Monday, November 11.

Three parents spoke on behalf of those wanting the book removed from the 10th-grade required reading list. Objecting to the books “vulgar” use of inappropriate words and phrases, Gail Supola says the book has no educational value in regards to Native Americans and only perpetuates negative stereotypes against them.

Supola says about the media spotlight surrounding her, “During this whole process my words have been misconstrued greatly. I want to ensure that every parent and child is given the option or alternative—whereas known as a choice—about what they have to read without being afraid of persecution.”

Supola’s sentiments, however, were stifled by those of Alexie’s supporters, who waited up to two hours to speak on the book’s behalf. Afterwards, the school board unanimously agreed to keep the book in the required curriculum.And:Student Bryce Curry—a friend of Chad’s—said although he’s white, the story provided a window to him into the lives of Native Americans as it cleared up misconceptions and prejudices locals have.

“You know the parts that are ‘controversial’ and ‘offensive’? They’re meant to be offensive for a reason: to show that yes, prejudices do happen. The racism and prejudices Natives face is real. It’s not in the past, it’s in the present, and will remain in the future unless we openly discuss it in classrooms and show why it is wrong.”Montana's Institutional Racism Behind Calls to Ban Alexie's Book

By Adrian JawortTo herself, Supola’s actions are undoubtedly the opposite of racist and a noble public service. And while Supola is entitled to her opinion about the pertinence of the book as an educational tool, going against her opinion is the heavy fact Alexie’s book has cleaned house in awards, including winning the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

However, to fully ingest my accusation of “institutionalized racism” against my own beloved state‘s people, one only needs to go back just a few years ago and look at the contents of a book that was also actually banned in 2007 from a Laurel, Mont. high school’s curriculum: Blackfeet author James Welch’s American Book Award winning Fools Crow. Coincidentally, Laurel is just 15 miles from Billings.

Although Fools Crow is historical fiction, it was described by Dee Brown of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee fame as “the closest we will every come to understanding what life was like for a western Indian.” The book details the life of a Blackfeet man living in Montana in the post-Civil War era in which Plains Indians faced a transition of whites encroaching on their territory along with the continued wanton destruction of their lifeline that was the buffalo.

The book was not only challenged to be banned by Laurel parents, but high school students in Montana’s Bozeman and Helena towns who objected to the violence in it. Fools Crow details the Jan. 23, 1870 Marias Massacre in which a non-hostile Blackfeet camp was attacked and 173 men, women, and children were killed. Many more froze to death after their tipis were burned.

The camp was already weakened from a recent smallpox epidemic, and was made further defenseless by the fact most of the able bodied men were out hunting. Chief Heavy Runner was gunned down first while trying to approach the 200 U.S. cavalrymen with a paper showing he had friendly relations with the whites.

One student claimed the book left disturbing images in his head, while his mother argued that children were already exposed to too much violence via other mediums like TV and movies.

While it was the violent descriptions that disturbed students and parents, it’d obviously be naïve not to talk, write, or read about that period of time in Montana history without marking that as pivotal among its first indigenous inhabitants. The people who wanted it banned obviously didn’t care about that, however.Comment:  If it's not one thing, it's another. Funny how white people always find some reason to ban books by minorities.

Have they ever objected to a book by a white author and demanded the school replace it with a book by a minority author? I doubt it.

Even if they object to books with too much sex and violence, the goal is similar. They want to censor anything that contradicts the Euro-Christian myth of America as a "shining city on a hill" where goodness and purity reign.

For more on our cultural values, see America = Captain Ahab and America's Culture Based on Violence.

Below:  "Gail Supola, a mother upset by the selection of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, addresses a packed boardroom. Supola is asking School District 2 to remove the novel from its required reading list and tighten up its classroom opt-out policy." (Larry Mayer/Billings Gazzette)

Alexie makes comedy from tragedy

The Laughing Indian

By Lindsey Catherine CornumUsually when Indians make prime time it’s in a parade of dire statistics about poverty, alcoholism, and suicide on reservations. In his stories, Alexie does not directly challenge this image of a broken people naturally prone to self-destruction and struggling to survive in the modern world, but he writes about the child abuse, alcoholic fathers, and dead-end lives in tones light and breezy. He says when an Indian dies of alcoholism it should be considered “natural causes,” and he says it so you laugh.

That line, a flippant address to the very unnatural death by destitution common in Indian populations, appears multiple times in the latest collection of Alexie stories, Blasphemy. Every zinger Alexie writes must be written at least twice, so this career-spanning collection of new and selected shorts is full of one-liners stretched beyond their means. Just a shade away from cliché to begin with, Alexie’s language becomes a parody of itself. Blasphemy is a repetitive catalog of ways in which Alexie has made comedy from tragedy. The stories are mostly in the first person, mostly involve men, who mostly talk in the exact same way, and who are struggling with one or all of the following problems: women, fear of death, and absent fathers. They are almost all “funny.”

Despite cycling and recycling the same old tropes told in the same voice, Blasphemy has received not one poor review. Is Alexie really such a flawless writer that critics cannot go beyond praise as repetitive as his oeuvre itself? Or are most reviewers seduced by the charming prose of an Indian who eases their guilty consciences? The latter seems much more likely.

In a wonderful triumph of multiculturalism, Alexie can get famous writing about one of the most brutally repressed people in and because of America—just as long as he supports the popular perception of Indians and is friendly enough to have a good laugh about it. The laughter is key. Angry Indians do not win National Book Awards very often unless their anger is masked in metaphor, contained in the beautiful intricate prose of a Louise Erdrich or, in the case of Alexie, delivered with a punchline. Not only are his stories shot through with humor, almost every image of Alexie shows him laughing. On the cover of Blasphemy, in his twitter avatar, in the first images of a Google search: the guy is almost always buckled over in laughter.Comment:  I've read four or five of Alexie's books. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is probably the best.

I hadn't noticed this problem before, but I did notice it in Absolutely True Diary. It was a central part of my reaction. I thought the depiction of a teenage Indian's life was spot-on--possibly the best we'll ever see. But Junior's sharp wit sounded too much like adult humor put in a youngster's mouth, not a youngster's natural reaction to events.

In other words, the witticisms weren't always believable coming from a teenager. They made Junior seem more like a shallow TV character than a fully realized literary character. That limited the story's impact.

But that's a minor criticism for an otherwise excellent book. I'd probably give Absolutely True Diary a 9.0 of 10. It doesn't get much better than that.

For more on Sherman Alexie, see Why Alexie Is Voting for Obama and Best Teen Novels Are White?

Best teen novels are white?

On NPR's Very White Best Young Adult Books List

By Shaker LaurieEarlier this week, National Public Radio published its "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" list. Voted on by NPR readers/listeners from a list of 1200 nominations, also audience-submitted, the list is loaded with amazing writing—amazing writing about white protagonists. Only two—yes, two—books on the list are written about main characters of color: House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

As a teacher of reading and English in schools with large populations of students of color, young adult fiction about characters of color is high on my radar. Many of my students don't see themselves as readers when they walk into my classroom. Reader identity and engagement are a huge component of the work we do as we address student reading problems, and when students are handed books full of characters that are unlike them racially, culturally, and socio-economically, the chasm between their picture of themselves and their idea of books and who books are for only widens.

The problem is not that amazing books about teens of color don't exist. They do. My kids latch obsessively onto books about teens like them and read them voraciously because adolescents in all their self-involved glory enjoy reading texts that remind them of, well, themselves. Sherman Alexie and Sandra Cisneros certainly deserve their received accolades: The House on Mango Street is a beautifully poetic account of a Latina's coming of age, and Absolutely True Diary poignantly tells the story of a boy who struggles with life on a reservation and his desire for a strong education. Judith Ortiz Cofer, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, and Matt de la Peña's work also comes to mind, so when NPR comes along and declares 100 books the "Best-Ever" and leaves nearly every single young adult title written about people of color off the list without caveat or mention, damage is done.

Clearly, audience-selected "Best Ever" lists are dangerous and problematic, but the absence of any indication of NPR's awareness of the glaring neglect on their list is also troubling. A list of "Best-Ever" books that declares only two books about teens of color worthy keeps all of these amazing stories in the margins, and arguably marginalizes them even further. When the world of reading remains so predominantly white, children and teens of color receive the clear message that they don't belong. It sends a message directly from readers as well as NPR that writing about people of color is not valuable or valued, that their stories aren't as important as the trials and tribulations of Edward and Bella; the Twilight series ranks #27. Comment:  For more on Native-themed books, see "Books that Shaped America" and Race in Revealing Eden.

True Diary on most-challenged list

Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary Makes ALA’s Most-Challenged List AgainSherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has made it onto the American Library Association’s (ALA) list of most-challenged books once again, though it has slipped from number two to number five since last year.

Cited for “offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group,” Diary is the semiautobiographical story of a 14-year-old Native teen who explores questions of community, identity and tribe as he assimilates into a white, off-rez school. It is marked for adolescents in grades seven through 10.

The list is compiled annually based on numbers of complaints from parents, the ALA said in a press release on April 9. During 2011 the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports attempting to have various materials removed or restricted from library bookshelves and school curricula, the organization said.

Last year Alexie joked about not making number one on the list; this year he’ll have to content himself with being solidly in the top 10. Besides making last year’s list, Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto’s Fist Fight in Heaven and Ten Little Indians were among the books banned earlier this year by the Tucson Unified School District when Arizona outlawed ethnic studies programs and the school district shut down its Mexican American Studies Department.Comment:  For more on the book, see School Reverses True Diary Ban and Absolutely True Dairy's Variant Covers.

School reverses True Diary ban

Richland School Board OKs Sherman Alexie book after second vote

By Josh PetersonThe Richland School Board decides that a highly-debated book originally voted off the district's reading list, will be taught in schools after all.

Originally, the school board voted 3 to 2 to in favor of keeping the Sherman Alexie book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" out of the high school curriculum.

But after reading the book and after some strong public opinion, two of those board members changed their minds.

The book is about a young, native american man struggling with his identity.

Some readers have concerns that the book contains inappropriate themes.How thoughtless people make thoughtless decisions:

Richland School Board reverses course on book ban

By Jacques Von LunenNone of the board members had read Absolutely True when they first voted on it. That was the job of the Instructional Materials Committee, or IMC, established a little more than a year ago to review all books used in Richland schools.

Guay and Donahoe thought that the entire IMC read the book before its members gave it mixed reviews last month.

But to speed up the process, IMC members split up in groups. Each group reads a particular book and then shares its findings with the rest of the members.

Once Guay and Donahoe found out that only part of the committee had read the book, they wanted to revisit their votes against it.

"That was my misunderstanding," Donahoe said Monday.

He read the book two days after the June 14 meeting and found it to be "outstanding," he said.Comment:  Another way to determine if a book is "offensive" is to spend five seconds Googling it. If you see people have praised it and given it awards across America, it's probably a good book.

Duhhh.

For more on Absolutely True Diary, see Young-Adult Fiction Too Dark? and Absolutely True Diary Challenged Again.

Absolutely True Diary's variant covers

Speaking of Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary, educator Debbie Reese has posted 12 variant covers for her readers:

Australian cover for Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

(Source: Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature, 6/9/11.)

Comment:  Of the 12 covers, six show a stereotypical toy Indian chief or warrior. All six are brandishing weapons: a spear, bow and arrow, or rifle.

Another one shows a cartoon Indian with feathers in his hair along with a tipi and spearpoint. And another shows a boy with a shadow Indian.

So that's eight of 12 covers with a stereotypical Indian on them. Wow.

Yes, you could try to justify these stereotypical Indians. For instance:

The story deals with an Indian boy's efforts to overcome society's stereotypical beliefs about him. The stereotypical Indian is meant to suggest the boy's struggles, and thus the book's content.

Or,

The toy Indians are obviously facetious. They're contrasted with toy cowboys, also facetious, to mock society's beliefs. The stereotypical image is often small, to show it's an inferior or marginalized belief. In a couple of cases it's tilted to show it's a crazy or cockeyed belief.

But let's go to our tried and true test of stereotyping. How often do young-adult African American novels feature a 19th-century Zulu chief or warrior on the cover? How often is a black protagonist's identity so in doubt that the cover has to reference it?

What other ethnic group has to ask and answer the implied question: Are we really primitive people from the distant past? No, as this book will prove, we're actually modern people. We live in houses, wear glasses and t-shirts, and play basketball just like everyone else.

In short, the possible justifications for the covers are beside the point. The fact that the covers exist suggest the sorry state of Natives in America. Blacks are no longer slaves and Asians are no longer coolies, but in most people's minds, Natives are still savage warriors. In other words, the humanity of Natives is still an open question.

For more on the subject, see Stereotypes in Dancing with the Indians and Stereotypes in Sign of the Beaver.

Young-adult fiction too dark?

A essay about contemporary fiction for teens has launched a controversy:

Darkness Too Visible

Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?

By Meghan Cox GurdonHow dark is contemporary fiction for teens? Darker than when you were a child, my dear: So dark that kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18.

Pathologies that went undescribed in print 40 years ago, that were still only sparingly outlined a generation ago, are now spelled out in stomach-clenching detail. Profanity that would get a song or movie branded with a parental warning is, in young-adult novels, so commonplace that most reviewers do not even remark upon it.Gurdon presents both sides of the argument in a biased fashion:The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless. If a teen has been abused, the logic follows, reading about another teen in the same straits will be comforting. If a girl cuts her flesh with a razor to relieve surging feelings of self-loathing, she will find succor in reading about another girl who cuts, mops up the blood with towels and eventually learns to manage her emotional turbulence without a knife.

Yet it is also possible—indeed, likely—that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures. Self-destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue. That is not to discount the real suffering that some young people endure; it is an argument for taking care.What Gurdon considers "likely" is what I consider a made-up argument without substance. Show us the evidence, Gurdon. Put up or shut up.

I've argued before that glorifying violence, racism, misogyny, and so forth helps normalize them. But that's a far cry from presenting "pathologies" in an objective or realistic way. There's a huge difference between showcasing murderers, rapists, and vigilantes and showing the ugly consequences of their actions. It's all the difference in the world.

Sherman Alexie responds

Gurdon mentions The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie's fictional take on his childhood, as an example of the books she's talking about. As we've seen, some schools have banned the book because they can't handle its "adult" themes and language.

Apparently Alexie was asked or volunteered to respond to Gurdon's essay. I'd say he nailed it:

Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood

By Sherman AlexieWhen I read Meghan Cox Gurdon’s complaints about the “depravity” and “hideously distorted portrayals” of contemporary young adult literature, I laughed at her condescension.

Does Ms. Gurdon honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?

When I think of the poverty-stricken, sexually and physically abused, self-loathing Native American teenager that I was, I can only wish, immodestly, that I’d been given the opportunity to read “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” Or Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Speak.” Or Chris Lynch’s “Inexusable.” Or any of the books that Ms. Gurdon believes to be irredeemable. I can’t speak for other writers, but I think I wrote my YA novel as a way of speaking to my younger, irredeemable self.And:When some cultural critics fret about the “ever-more-appalling” YA books, they aren’t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way into school. Or Mexican-American teens enduring the culturally schizophrenic life of being American citizens and the children of illegal immigrants. Or Native American teens growing up on Third World reservations. Or poor white kids trying to survive the meth-hazed trailer parks. They aren’t trying to protect the poor from poverty. Or victims from rapists.

No, they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged.My childhood reading

I haven't read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian yet, but I have read Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. It's a great book about the consequences of teenage rape. Other than a moment of violence when the girl finally confronts her rapist, there's nothing objectionable. Unless you object to talking about rape rather than keeping it a secret, as many people do.

In high school, I read such works as:

Macbeth
Hamlet
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher in the Rye
A Separate Peace
1984
Darkness at Noon
Crime and Punishment
Billy Budd

To Kill a Mockingbird is about a rape, and the other books include murder, prejudice, homosexuality, political executions, and other "adult" topics. They all offered serious discussions of the issues, not pandering or sensationalism. Some were a little scary to my young self, but I managed to get through them. And I'm undoubtedly better for having read them.

Speak is probably in the lower half of "darkness" compared to the books I listed. I bet Absolutely True Diary is too. I wouldn't give them to elementary-school kids, but we're talking about teenagers. If high-schoolers could handle Crime and Punishment 35 years ago, they can handle the dark, "scary" books published for teens today.

For more on the subject, see Absolutely True Diary Challenged Again and Absolutely True Diary Still Banned.

Tulalip Reads for Unity

See Sherman Alexie

By Julie MuhlsteinAward-winning author Sherman Alexie will be at Tulalip Casino on Tuesday evening for a free event. It's part of Tulalip Reads for Unity, a new literacy program presented by the Northwest Indian College-Tulalip.

For the past month, people in the Tulalip community have been reading Alexie's young-adult novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Like the book's main character, Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Alexie, winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and other prestigious literary prizes, will talk about the book at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Orca Ballroom of the Tulalip Resort Casino, 10200 Quil Ceda Blvd.

Brooke Waite-Kellar, site manager of the Northwest Indian College-Tulalip, said Tulalip Reads for Unity was made possible by a donation from the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund. About 260 free copies of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" were distributed to people on the Tulalip Reservation, "from middle-schoolers to elders," Waite-Kellar said. Alexie's appearance is one of several events planned for Tulalip Reads for Unity.Comment:  Alexie's Absolutely True Diary has been part of non-Native reading programs before: Two Alexie Books for "One Philadelphia" and True Diary Chosen as One Book. But this is the first I've heard of a tribal reading program.

Using Absolutely True Diary for such a program is a good idea. The book is culturally appropriate for Indians in general and Pacific Northwest Indians in particular. Since it's a young-adult novel, it shouldn't be intimidating to adults. One hopes it'll encourage reading while instilling a bit of Native pride.

For more on the subject, see Bestselling Native Children's Books and Classmates Thought Alexie Would Shoot Them.

Two Alexie books for "One Philadelphia"

2 by Sherman Alexie chosen for 'One Book' in Philadelphia

By Michael D. SchafferThe "One Book, One Philadelphia" project, which aims to promote literacy and bring the community together by suggesting one book for all Philadelphians to read, is recommending two for the 2011 program.

Both come from American Indian author Sherman Alexie, and both have won major literary awards.

Mayor Nutter announces the selections Tuesday morning at the Free Library of Philadelphia, which sponsors "One Book, One Philadelphia" in conjunction with his office.

One of the books is War Dances, a collection of short stories and poems published last year and winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

The other, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a novel for teens published in 2007, won a National Book Award.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Teachers Protest True Diary Censorship and True Diary Chosen as One Book.

Absolutely True Diary challenged again

Controversial book to stay on reading list

Some parents seek to ban 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'

By Lisa Black, Tribune staff reporter, and Ruth Fuller, special correspondentAntioch High School has agreed to form a committee that includes parents to review books after an assigned summer reading book drew protests because of its language and description of sexual acts.

But school board President Wayne Sobczak said he doubts the book--"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie--will be pulled from shelves as some parents wanted.

"I am sensing the book is going to stay because it is age-appropriate," said Sobczak, who said he had also received positive input from parents who read the book.

"I appreciate the parents who came and had concerns," he added. "But the tone and flavor of the book is positive for children this age, and shows someone trying to do the right thing."Comment:  I'm glad to hear that at least one school official in the US has a spine. Way to stand up against the conservatives who want to control our thoughts and return us to our puritanical past.

For more on the subject, see Absolutely True Diary Still Banned and School Censors Absolutely True Diary.

Absolutely True Diary still banned

Book still suspended from Crook County classrooms

But the disputed work will be in the libraryThe award-winning book that was suspended from a Crook County High School classroom last month after a parent complained it was offensive, will remain out of the classroom until the school district can revamp its policies.

About 60 people turned out Monday night to the Crook County School Board meeting and about 15 testified about the book. The board then voted 4-1 to continue the temporary suspension, while making the book available to students in the library.

In December, Hank Moss picked up the book his 14-year-old son, Jozee, was reading for an English assignment. Moss said he was shocked by what he read in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” A few days after photocopying some pages of the book and showing them to school board members, the book was pulled from the classroom and school library.

A New York Times best-seller and a National Book Award winner, the book was written by Sherman Alexie and is about a boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to attend an all-white school. The protagonist in Alexie’s book discusses masturbation.

A committee made up of teachers, the public, an administrator and a librarian reviewed the book and voted 4-1 to recommend the school board reinstate the book without restrictions. School board members did not have to follow the committee’s recommendation.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.

Children's books are mostly white

Concerns over diversity among Newbery eliteCharacters depicted in Newbery winners are more likely to be white, male and come from two-parent households than the average U.S. child, according to a Brigham Young University study. The trend has accelerated even as the U.S. has diversified.

"We are going to have a black president--literature should catch up," National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie said in an interview. Alexie won the award for his 2007 "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," a semi-autobiographical novel about a teen growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation.

The Chicago-based American Library Association has awarded the Newbery Medal to one book annually since 1922. All Newbery books remain in print, underscoring their enduring nature.

About 10 percent of new children's books published last year focused on minorities, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We still are a largely white world in children's literature and it's always an uphill struggle," said Roger Sutton, editor of Horn Book magazine, an 85-year-old review of children's books.

The Brigham Young study analyzed the race, gender and family background of the characters in 82 Newbery winners through 2007. The analysis compared three periods, starting with 1922 through 1950, followed by the era in which the civil rights movement gained momentum, 1951 through 1979, and concluding with the 1980 through 2007.

Black and Hispanic protagonists became scarcer during the past 27 years. American Indian and Asian main characters increased in number--to two each.Comment:  1980 through 2007 inclusive is 28 years, not 27. Let's assume they meant 28 years.

In the last 28 years, the protagonists in Newbery winners included 19 whites, two blacks, two Asians, and two Indians. Presumably there were three others. Perhaps they were Aborigines, animals, or aliens.

Comparing these figures with the general population, we see that whites are fairly represented at about 68%. Blacks are underrepresented and Latinos are grossly underrepresented. Asians are overrepresented and Indians are grossly overrepresented--alas. One Indian protagonist every 100 years would be fair, so two in 27 or 28 years is good.

So the proportions of each minority are off, but the overall proportions aren't far off. Where Newbery winners are concerned, this article is a bit alarmist.

The industry as a whole

The story is different for children's books as a whole. Only 10% feature minorities? That figure should be more like 30%. Children's books are much too white overall.

Nor do I believe the typical rationalizations of publishers, editors, and Newbery judges. "We just pick the best books. We can't help it if most of them are written by whites and feature white protagonists."

We've learned that everyone is prone to aversive racism. They're biased against minorities even if they think they're fair. People in the book industry are no different. They judge that what's familiar to them--white people in middle-class, two-parent families--is "best."

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.

School censors Absolutely True Diary

Oregon high school pulls Sherman Alexie book from classA parent's complaint prompted the Crook County School District to pull a book that had been assigned to a high school English class.

Hank Moss, a Prineville father of three, said he was appalled when he perused "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Written by Sherman Alexie, the semi-autobiographical story of a boy who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. It won the 2007 National Book Award for young people's literature.

"I didn't feel the book was appropriate for a required reading assignment for a 14-year-old," Moss said. "It had a lot of references that I didn't feel comfortable with."

The protagonist, for example, discusses masturbation.School yanks book from class after complaintAlexie said his book is indicative of reality.

“Everything in the book is what every kid in that school is dealing with on a daily basis, whether it’s masturbation or racism or sexism or the complications of being human,” he said. “To pretend that kids aren’t dealing with this on an hour-by-hour basis is a form of denial.”

The high school English teacher who assigned the book didn’t return calls for comment.

“The world is an incredibly complicated place, and our literature must match that, especially literature for our kids,” Alexie said. “The book is incredibly positive about the world we live in, and people from vastly different politics and groups end up being friends. … If they read the book, it’s a celebration of the values of what they (parents who oppose the book) hold dear.”Comment:  The books on the "10 most challenged books of 2007" list include The Golden Compass, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Color Purple, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Next on the list:  Romeo and Juliet because it promotes teen suicide.

For more on the subject, see All About Sherman Alexie.

True Diary chosen as One Book

Book chosen for this year's One Book/ Many Voices event"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie has been selected as the featured book for Floyd County’s One Book/Many Voices for 2008.

Sherman Alexie grew up on a Spokane Indian reservation in Washington to become a bestselling novelist, poet, comic and screenwriter. He received the 2007 National Book Award for "The Absolutely True Diary," his first work for young adults.

He will give a public lecture and sign books on Sept. 18 at 7 pm at Pepperell High School.

Now in its second year, One Book/Many Voices is designed to encourage reading, spark discussion and bring the community together through the reading of one great book. In 2007 close to 1,000 citizens read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and nearly 4,000 people turned out to hear the author, Maya Angelou, speak at The Forum.

According to Susan Cooley, director of the Sara Hightower Regional Library system, “'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' is an especially rich book for our community. The book examines the challenges of growing up and fitting in, as well as problems of racism, poverty and substance abuse. We think it will engage both adult and adolescent readers.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see All About Sherman Alexie.