BOOKISH NEWS: Attempt to Ban Anne Frank, Library Smashes Closure Threat, Horror: Science vs Supernatural, Bookish Deals & More!
BOOKISH NEWS
Hi, and welcome to our news feature, in which we highlight and discuss some of the news that has been big in the bookish world this week.
Attempt to Ban Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Most people would think that the Diary of Anne Frank is not only a worthwhile book to read, but something that every child should study in order to understand the trials and tribulations that so many people went through during the Holocaust. It is regarded as a classic by many, and deservedly so. However, a mother from Michigan obviously disagrees as she has tried to get the unexpurgated version of the book banned from the state’s classrooms. The mother maintained that the work was inappropriate for her 12 year old child and her peers, as it contains overt references to sexual organs. The attempt failed, unsurprisingly, with the school board deciding unanimously to keep the book on the syllabus.
Personally I don’t think there should have ever been any question of this. Anne Frank was alive during, and wrote about, some of the worst crimes against humanity that the modern world has seen. I feel it is important both that young children learn about these things, and that the words that the young girl wrote during that harrowing time are kept as they were.
Source: The Guardian
Horror: Science vs Supernatural
Once upon a time it was ghosts, ghouls and various other monsters which struck fear into the heart of the imaginative person. There was no explanation for these creatures to exist: they just did, and in many cases that was where the fear stemmed from. Recently, however, novels and films have been turning that idea on its head and positing completely rational and scientific reasons for beings such as vampires. Humans are infected or otherwise changed into something different, something more than human. This takes away the mystery of the supernatural that was once a horror staple, but it introduces a new level of fear – that these things could really happen to us.
I think that horror stories need to adapt and change as society does. We are no longer living in the Victorian era, in which people were easily fooled by pictures of ectoplasm and fairies: people now question why and how things happen, and I think that authors and film-makers have caught on to that fact. The Guardian story considers where horror can go from here, but I think that new horrors come about as events happen in society so we will never be at a loss for new things to be scared of.
Source: The Guardian
Jenny Colgan Writes Romance Novel of the Year
Although it was a close call, Jenny Colgan beat four other award-winning novels at the RNA Summer Party on Thursday. The success of the author’s work – Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams - pipped the others to the post due to its originality, as it integrates an element of surprise which is often thought to be found lacking in romance novels.
Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? Penny chews or hard boiled sweeties (you do get more for your money that way)? The jangle of your pocket money . . . the rustle of the pink and green striped paper bag . . .
Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian’s sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong.
Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton’s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.
Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams first won the romantic comedy award, although it beat other genres such as historical romance and contemporary romance in the overall awards. The award was presented by author Lindsey Davis.
Source: BBC News
Library Smashes Closure Threat
With so many libraries having closed or being threatened with closure, a library in America has decided to be proactive and speculate to accumulate by raising funds to install a 9 foot statue of the hulk, as well as investing in more comic books and make a ‘creation station’ where people can draw their own comics. It may seem a little off-the-wall as an idea, but it is aimed at developing the library in a way that is new and exciting, and this possibly drawing in people who would otherwise not use the library as a facility. Libraries, like all facilities which the public use, have had to adapt dramatically in recent years just to keep the interest of the people who already use them. The funds are being raised via Indiegogo, with incentives to persuade people to pledge just that little bit more.
So many causes are using fundraising sites right now, and there are few more worthwhile I can think of than keeping a library open for new people and even new generations to use.
Bookish Deals
- £0.49 - Rules for a Lady (A Lady’s Lessons #1) by Jade Lee
- £0.77 - The Heresy Within (The Ties that Bind #1) by Rob J. Hayes
- £1.00 - The Bad Boyfriends Boot Camp by Poppy Dolan
- £1.30 - Sisters of Magic Box Set (Books 1-3) by Donna Grant
- £2.01 - The Werewolf Prince and I (Moretti Werewolf) by Marian Tee
- £2.67 - Instant Gratification (Wilder Adventures #2) by Jill Shalvis
- £2.73 - The Rancher (Redbourne #1 – Cole’s Story) by Kelli Ann Morgan
- £3.07 - In Rides Trouble (Black Knights Inc, #2) by Julie Ann Walker
- £3.47 - Scrap Metal by Harper Fox
- £3.99 - The Woodcutter by Kate Delaney
Thank you for stopping by! We hope you enjoyed this weeks bookish news. Feel free to comment on any of the stories, and let us know of anything interesting we may have missed.
4 Comments
I can’t believe that they tried to ban Anne Frank! :/ it is like when they tried banning Looking for Alaska.. it is atrocious x
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It is completely ridiculous, I agree. I think some people just like to be offended by things.
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I think sometimes people need to get a grip… especially parents trying to ban their children from reading books containing sex or sexual parts… for goodness sake, the parents themselves have had sex to make their children! I have no problems with any of my children reading what they like, I draw a line at strong drug references though, although I don’t mind it being mentioned.
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The thing is that I can understand if a parent doesn’t want their young child reading about gratuitous sex which is happening for no reason – but The Diary of Anne Frank is an important book that happens to mention sexual organs e.t.c alongside its message. I really can’t fathom how a person can be so very offended by reading about sex in a book that talks about such horrific things.
That’s the thing – we all have likes and dislikes, and things that we don’t like reading about – but we can’t assume that other people feel the same way. I don’t like reading about drug use but that is a personal choice and I wouldn’t try to actively have it banned for an entire class/school/state. I’m sure the parent could simply have asked that her own daughter be excused from the class if she was so worried about it, rather than trying to make the decision for thousands of other children and parents.
Haha, and you are right about how the children come into being in the first place. I think that parents trying to shelter their kids too much from the realities of life is more likely to end with unwanted pregnancies e.t.c.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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