My Favorite Banned Books: Carrie

This week, September 27-October 3, is Banned Books Week, a time to honor those authors and their books that have created waves of controversy among the selfish and simple-minded.

Who has the right to tell you what to read? No one. Except me. Put "Carrie" on your TBR list if you haven't already. And spread the word.


"Carrie" by Stephen King is frequently banned, not because of the violence or gore, but because of its anti-fundamentalism, its anti-Christianity. If there is a person alive who does not know this story from either the book itself or the movie with John Travolta, then he or she has been living in a cave - or surrounded by fundamentalist Christians.

I joke, I kid, I come from love.

Seriously, though, "Carrie" is a terrific exploration of what it's like to be a persecuted teen in high school. It's a revenge fantasy that satisfies a part of all of us that wants to get back at the people who hurt us, willfully or not - and remember, lots and lots of people died in this book, not simply the girls and boys who were mean to Carrie. Ultimately, the revenge is not sweet nor is it satisfactory, because, well...I can't spoil that for you, can I? Suffice to say, one certainly may want revenge and fantasize about how to get it but the outcome isn't nearly what you think it will be. Innocent people often lose, as do the people who seek revenge in the first place.

Sure, there's a lot to upset people in this book: teen sex, profanity, telekinetic powers...but it's just a fun book, nothing more. Sometimes a book is, you know, only a book, a story to be enjoyed. I love King's books for their shiver effect. His best make me a glutton for words - I just want more and more and more and I won't stop reading until I'm stuffed to the gills.

My Favorite Banned Books: The Handmaid's Tale

This week, September 27-October 3, is Banned Books Week, a time to honor those authors and their books that have created waves of controversy among the selfish and simple-minded.

Who has the right to tell you what to read? No one. Except me. Put "The Handmaid's Tale" on your TBR list if you haven't already. And spread the word.


"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood is dystopian science fiction, utopia gone horribly wrong. It has been banned in places because of its depiction of the mistreatment of women as well as sexual scenes and of course, accompanying profanity. Atwood wrote the book in the early 80s, a time when there was a backlash against the feminism of the 70s. The 80s were a sorry time for women in this country: all the advances that women had made, the sacrifices they had made in order to create more opportunities for subsequent generations of women, were being ignored or rejected. There was a national call for women to return to the home, to leave the workplace and go back to raising the kids. Sure, you remember the big hair and shoulder pads but do you remember Nancy Reagan? Do you remember the conservatism of the 80s?

Atwood's story is told by Offred, a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a class society in which women of a lower caste are the concubines for the ruling caste and provide babies for the women. In this society, sexual intercourse is considered degrading to women so only the lower class women have it. Men and women are very strictly segregated, according to their gender as well as to their class. Atwood critiques fundamentalist religions as well as caste societies and the military.

I attended a women's college in the late 80s and we were taught we could - and should - do anything we wanted to. I also was raised by parents who never told me I couldn't do something because I was a girl. However, that's not the case for millions of women all over the world. So many women are treated like third class citizens, like chattel, like property, like they are only good for one thing. Many young women in the US don't realize that American women used to be treated that way too. They often take their freedoms for granted. Don't get me wrong: there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to be a wife and mother but women should not be defined by those designations alone, just as men are not. We need to promote worldwide equality for women.

This will be an eye-opening novel for a lot of people. Read it.

Tomorrow...Carrie by Stephen King.

My Favorite Banned Books: Fade

This week, September 27-October 3, is Banned Books Week, a time to honor those authors and their books that have created waves of controversy among the selfish and simple-minded.

Who has the right to tell you what to read? No one. Except me. Put "Fade" on your TBR list if you haven't already. And spread the word.


"Fade" by Robert Cormier has been banned and probably burned in many places. Why? Well, why not? It's got murder and rape and incest and a kid spying on other people because he can make himself invisible. I didn't read this book until I was in my early 20s but it still had a big impact on me as a reader and continues to do so as a writer. You would think that a tale of someone who can be invisible would be heroic - superheroic - with lots of derring-do and discovery but this is very, very dark.

What if you had an ability that caused you more pain because of what you could do with it? The temptations that you would face to use it unwisely, perhaps immorally, would be a constant challenge, to say the least.

The story is told across 3 decades by and about 3 different characters. There is teenage Paul who tells the story of how he first learned of his ability to fade, an ability that affects one member of each generation of his family. Fading seems like it would be cool for young Paul but he soon sees things that he doesn't want to. As an adult, Paul learns that his nephew is the next fader in the family but poor Oscar has been abused and uses it for revenge. And finally, the third story is told by Susan, Paul's cousin who is a writer, who finds his memoir and has to figure out if it was true or not.

Cormier's books are frequently challenged by parents and library patrons. People seem to want him to write neat and tidy stories of teens for teens when, in fact, he writes about real life. Can a person really fade to invisibility? Well, no but you certainly can feel like it. You can feel what it's like to be persona non grata, to be an outsider whom no one pays attention to. And yes, all of those nasty things do happen in our world. I love Cormier's books, including "The Chocolate War" (brilliant!!) and "I Am the Cheese."

Tomorrow...The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

My Favorite Banned Books: A Wrinkle in Time

This week, September 27-October 3, is Banned Books Week, a time to honor those authors and their books that have created waves of controversy among the selfish and simple-minded.

Who has the right to tell you what to read? No one. Except me. Put "A Wrinkle in Time" on your TBR list if you haven't already. And spread the word.


"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle was one of my favorites as a pre-teen and I recently re-read it and loved it just as much. It has been challenged and banned by people who believe it's anti-religious (anti-Christian, that is, not Muslim or Buddhist or any other type of religion) and for its references to witches and crystal balls (kind of like the banning of "Harry Potter").

The focus of the book is young Meg Murry whose parents are both scientists and whose father has disappeared. Meg's mother believes he will be back but others are not so sure. They think he has left the family. Meg's younger brother Charles Wallace is a genius but odd, as many young geniuses are. But it is his strange ability that draws three witches to their home: Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, all of whom can travel through time and space by folding it (tessering - btw, this was my first introduction to space-time theories - it's very easily explained in the book!).

The witches tell Meg and Charles Wallace that they can help them find their father who is stuck on another planet. Meg is wary but Charles Wallace is eager to go. They bring along Calvin, a lanky teen who goes to school with Meg. I always pictured Calvin as sort of a taller, cuter Ron Howard from his "Happy Days" role of Richie Cunningham.

They travel to all different planets and each one is more interesting than the next. My favorite part of the book is when Charles Wallace is being controlled by the evil IT. The young boy is cold and emotionless. In order to save him, Meg must show him love. It sounds a little lame but it works in the book - it's kind of sad too.

Several more books followed in the series but I only read the first one. The rest are on my TBR list.

Tomorrow...Fade by Robert Cormier.

My Favorite Banned Books: 1984

This week, September 27-October 3, is Banned Books Week, a time to honor those authors whose books have created waves of controversy among the selfish and simple-minded.

I truly believe the people who seek to ban books from libraries and schools are indeed self-centered, egotistical individuals. How else to explain why someone wants to prevent others from reading something - forever! - simply because he or she doesn't approve of it?

Isn't it enough to exert influence over your friends and children with your opinion? When I don't like a television show or a song, and the subject of said show or song arises during conversation, I will offer my opinion to the person I'm talking to. But I would never tell that person to not watch or listen - ever! Who am I to tell you what to do?

Well, now I am going to tell you what to do. Put "1984" on your TBR list if you haven't already. And spread the word.

"1984" by George Orwell is one of my very favorite novels of all time. It's been banned in the past because of perceived pro-Communist views and sexually explicit material. The book tells the story of Winston Smith, a disillusioned worker drone in the Ministry of Truth. His country, Oceania, is at war with either Eastasia or Eurasia and depending on what is happening, history is constantly rewritten to accommodate the changes. For instance, if Oceania and Eurasia are allies now, history will be rewritten to show that they have always been allies.

Wherever Winston is, Big Brother is watching. The government knows if he is doing his morning exercises or not, if he's sneaking out to be with someone, if he isn't doing his job. Repercussions are severe.

When Winston meets a young woman, Julia, he is suddenly lifted out of his crappy existence. She helps him find a place for them to meet and have sex (they live in a sexually repressed society) away from the watchful eyes of BB.

But of course, life cannot become pleasant for Winston, can it? Very quickly, he is betrayed and brought to the dreaded Room 101 for torture. Torture here is based on your own fears (in Winston's case, it's rats). He is forced to give up Julia - but was it she who turned him in? Or someone else? Can anyone ever really trust anyone else?

Tomorrow...A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

4 Sources of Writing Inspiration

1. Museums, specifically the Los Angeles County Museum of Art here on Wilshire Blvd in LA. Sprawling grounds are perfect to contemplate the shape of clouds (it's a puppy! a puppy playing! a puppy throwing up in a shoe!) while the exhibits inside give me a peek inside the working minds of creative and clever artists. I always leave with my mouth slightly agape, wondering how I can do the literary equivalent.

2. Other writers. I'm not the sort who reads a book or watches a movie and thinks, Pfft, that was crap, I can do better. I don't aspire to write "better than crap." I aspire to write "great." Or "amazing." Or "moving." Whether it's a classic by Ray Bradbury or John Steinbeck or Edith Wharton or something by a debut author, I love to be inspired to push myself deeper and the best writers do this to me.

3. Movies based on books. Taren at Chick Manifesto recently posted about this, along with some thought-provoking responses from readers. While I do honestly believe books and the movies based upon them are two entirely separate beings, I do find inspiration in the movie versions. Sometimes a screenwriter and director team can streamline a complicated novel (e.g. "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien) into something much more manageable and, in the end, understandable. I have tried many times to read LOTR and have gotten bogged down and confused but knowing that it can become the Peter Jackson movie makes me continue to try and to respect the book as I might not have before.

4. Ballet class. As you can tell from the above, I often find inspiration for writing in distinctly non-writing sources. Ballet is a physical art form, the movements codified, and yet new and different combinations are devised all the time, making the idiom more flexible than you might think. We all use the English language, yes? But you put the words in a different order than I might and your result is wildly dissimilar from mine. Not to mention the endorphins that are released during physical activity, which makes me feel really positive about my creative endeavors: never underestimate the power of positive thinking when it comes to writing.

What's Your Favorite Book?

I am asked this question a lot. Sometimes it's disguised as an educational tool as in, "What book has influenced you most?" Or "What book would want with you on a desert island?"

Depending on the time of day and what my particular hunger level is (low blood sugar has a HUGE effect on my choice of books), I will answer "A Conspiracy of Dunces" or "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or if I think I'm really smart that day, "Foucault's Pendulum." This is usually enough to spark a discussion about other books, other favorites, authors I'd forgotten about - and serves to completely take the focus off me and whatever my choice happened to be at that moment.

In the past week, though, I realized I DO have a favorite book and it's not anything I have ever mentioned at any reading or school visit.

It's Roget's thesaurus. That's right - the book that lists words and their synonyms (and antonyms). I use it every single day when I'm writing. I refer to it all the time and rely upon it to make my writing stronger. I feel very passionate about word choice: the English language is filled to the brim with words and to not use them - and use them properly - is a crime!

Why use the exact same word to describe a cloud as you would a person? Those times that you're writing and you think, "this is kind of the word I want but not exactly" are the perfect occasions to get out the thesaurus and pick the right one. Many times I'll search for the word I want and in the searching discover another word I love, one that is perfect for a different sentence so I'll go back and replace it with the new, better word.

Having a thesaurus by your side is like owning a closet full of shoes: sure, you could always wear those black pumps, but the silvery gladiator sandals would really spice things up!