Good morning! Happy Tuesday! It is drizzly here in Minnesota this morning. I am up early serving for IHN and now sitting down to write a quick post before I go to work.
Yesterday I spoke in a nearby town to a group of 40 retired teachers about Banned Books. I know right? SO how did that happen?
A woman who is on the Friends Of The Library board “witnessed” my passion for banned books a few weeks ago and asked me if I would speak to this group. I said yes and it sounded like a really good idea at the time…
until when I was driving their yesterday and thought, I wonder if some of these teachers will be teachers I had as a student? AND…. I wondered if they would think that grown up Sheila is kind of a “rebel with a cause”talking about banned books....
When I arrived I was thrilled to see 4 of the teachers were teachers I once had. And they remembered me which always amazes me because throughout my life time I probably had about 40 teachers and they have about 1,000 students throughout their career….
AND talking about banned books was actually fun. I brought some of my own, had pictures of the ones I did not own and went from the current champions of banned: Hunger Games, Harry Potter, SPEAK, to the surprises: LORAX, The Dictionary, Lord Of The Rings, and of course the classics… It was actually a lot of fun and there were questions afterwards – a great question was,
“Do you think an author may sometimes try to be a bit controversial to hit the banned books list, after all… ban a book the kids want to read it more…”
While I can not speak for the authors, I figured in most cases no…. but who knows really…. 😛
When I was done speaking I was given a gift, a banned book bracelet (SSSQQQUUUEEE!) I have always wanted one! It really was a good time.
In other news, I noticed that The Twelve by Justin Cronin is now available for purchase. Serious SSSQQQUUUEEEE worthy. If you have not read The Passage (click for my review)– oh my… you MUST. And when you are done, be sure and give The Twelve a try. I have yet to read my copy of The Twelve and that is really insane since The Twelve was the one book I wanted most when I went to BEA in June and I have now had it on my shelf all these months.
SO off to work. I plan to be back later with a review. Have an awesome day!!!!
Book Journey 
Wow…it sounds like you did an amazing job. I love the bracelet too.
I have both The Passage and Twelve and have read neither. 🙂 Will wait for your review.
That was a good question they asked. I think that may be true…get some attention for their book.
And……CONGRATS on a GREAT job!! I am a retired teacher, and it sounds like you definitely did your homework and had a great lesson plan. 🙂
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
Thank you Elizabeth, I relaly enjoyed watching how surprised they were when they heard dome of the titles… and when they heard teachers had lost their jobs over some of these books… wow!
Loved the passage and can’t wait to get the Twelve! 😀
I heard it is really good!
I wish you had it Liesel, we could have read it together 😀 I need motivation…LOL
Love the bracelet! And what a great experience for you….I still haven’t read The Passage…I’m on the fence with this one.
I love the bracelet too Laurel – I have wanted one for years! I am not sure how you would feel about the Passage – it is very dystopian
I was just trying to figure out whether to get The Twelve from Audible with a free credit or buy the book. It is 30 hrs on audio so I just don’t know if I can stand to drag it out that long.
I listened to the Passage originally on audio and it was fantastic – and yeah…. a big one 😉
I loved The Passage!! A friend at work gave it to me one day and told me to read it. Once I started I couldn’t stop and read the whole thing in like a day. I can’t wait to read The Twelve!
Exactly Erin – when I first started reading it I had no idea what it was about.
Kudos to you for speaking – maybe it’s the start of a great new career for you!!
Years ago I used to speak to a womens group monthly – I am never totally comfortable speaking, I really am in introvert – however when it something I am passionate about I can do it 😀
Glad to hear things went well for you! I always enjoy reading people who get a chance to share their passion with others.
Thanks Earl it was one of those things that I was surprised I was offered to do!
What an awesome opportunity! Very neat that you were able to speak to/with some of your teachers.
Abut banned books even – I find that funny 😀
How wonderful for you Shelia! I loved The Passage and was lucky to win The Twelve and can’t wait to read it.
OOH awesome – Maybe we could read it together!
I just got The Passage. Had it on my list mostly because of how you gushed about it before. Can’t wait to try it.
Absolutely love the banned book bracelet!
What a great opportunity for you! And I want want want that bracelet.
And I did read The Passage and got THE Twelve delivered to my Kindle yesterday.
Oooh, I love those bracelets too! That is so cool that you got to speak about it! Way to go!
That’s so great, Sheila! I bet they really enjoyed it. I did a speech about BBW in my college speech class several years ago. Unfortunately, they weren’t as moved by the subject (I don’t think) as I was. Apathy…meh. 😦 What a great bracelet too!
I am reading The Passage right now and loving it! Unfortunately, it will be awhile before I read the sequel, but it will keep. 🙂