There are plenty of things to be nervous about when you’re heading into your first school visit. Is what I’ve prepared going to hold their interest? What if no one asks me questions? What if I get on stage and throw up?
What I wasn’t worried about was getting taken to the principal’s office, but when I arrived at the school at 8:00 a.m. that’s where I was taken. It turns out that upon learning of my visit a parent had objected to my being there, citing the ‘inappropriate content’ of my work.
Now given that just a few days earlier I’d posted a blog in support of Laurie Halse Anderson, whose book Speak had been challenged in Missouri, and that I’d posted about how I thought someday Nightshade would be challenged on Page Turners Blog I felt a little like the universe testing my sense of irony. I expected challenges, but I simply wasn’t prepared for an objection on my first day visiting a school.
Standing in the principal’s office I felt very small and a bit like I’d been sucker punched. I was a very well behaved child, and at age 32 this was my first time being sent to the principal’s office, told what I’d done wrong and how I should behave. The principal went on to request that I keep things from getting “PG-13” and that I didn’t say anything like encourage the students toward “vampire conversion.”
Vampire conversion? Okay, first of all, there are no vampires in Nightshade. Secondly, do any authors give presentations at schools that promote vampire conversion? I wanted to know if Heather Brewer and Richelle Mead get this question at their school visits.
As I went to the auditorium I felt a bit ill. I was already nervous and now I worried about having to censor myself when I spoke and answered questions. But then I started to get angry because I remembered who I am. I teach for a living. I know how to talk to students. I wrote a book I love and I don’t think it’s at all inappropriate. I have a Ph.D. in history and I understand the ways in which violence, religion, and sexuality have shaped societies. I use that research to inform my novels. These subjects shouldn’t be avoided or hidden. They need to be discussed. Running away from the more difficult topics of history only makes it more likely that patriarchy, inequality, and ignorance become more deeply rooted in our cultures.
Fortunately I was saved by the wonder that is young readers. Over the course of the day I spoke to about 400 students. They were all amazing. Their questions were smart and engaging. Their ideas were fantastic. Each session was buzzing with intelligence and enthusiasm. When I finished, my voice was pretty much gone but it was one of the happiest moments of my life. And nothing about that trip to the principal’s office mattered. Not one bit.
One of the event organizers did some digging and found out that the objection had come from a parent who hadn’t read Nightshade. She’d just seen my blog post supporting Laurie Halse Anderson. Turns out my first encounter with censorship stemmed from my speaking out against it. All it does is make me determined to barrel ahead without fear. And I’m not doing it for myself. I’m doing it for each of those students, who gave me more with their questions and ideas than I could ever hope to give them.
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Andrea Cremer is the author of the upcoming release, Nightshade, which will be released on October 19th by Philomel Books/Penguin. You can find out more about Andrea and her books by visiting her site here http://www.andreacremer.com/ and her blog here http://www.blurredhistory.blogspot.com/
Thank you Andrea for this post! This is one of the reasons why we're speaking out against banned books. It seems more often than not, a book is challenged by someone who hasn't even read it. TEAM NIGHTSHADE!
