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Online Forum: Nuances of Censorship
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PEN's Children's/Young Adult Book Authors Committee weighs in on the
many forms of censorship—be it from schools, libraries, and especially
self-censorship in the process of writing.
>> Join the discussion. |
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| Elizabeth Levy: Dracula Is a Pain in the Neck and So Is “Self-censorship” |
My brother’s favorite game was “strangle.” As I remember the rules, he
would pretend to strangle me, and I, so happy to get my older brother’s
attention, waited till the last minute to call for help and get him in
trouble. It was my favorite game. When I began to write children’s
books, it was natural that I would draw on the love/hate bonds between
siblings. The feelings are still strong, but after reading Mary Ann
Hoberman’s piece I realized I have never written the game strangle into
my books. And I wonder why. Do I think it would be too much for the
kids, or too much for the adults who stand as the gate keepers to those
who buy books? Or is writing better when it transforms a specific
memory into something broader?
So many of my books, Frankenstein Moved in on the 4th Floor, followed by Dracula is a Pain in the Neck, The Night of the Living Gerbil, and The Vampire State Building,
etc, are versions of my brothers game of strangle. Siblings try to
scare each other "close to death" and pull back. There is no
supernatural in any of these books. And yet these are the ones that
most often get me "disinvited” after I have been invited to a school.
Someone, usually from the PTO, asks “would I mind not mentioning those
ones.” Usually the "disinvite” comes from the title, not even the
content. I would perhaps be prouder if a closer reading of my content
raised objections. I agree with Bob: being disinvited to speak is not
exactly a burning issue of censorship. Disinvited sounds much more like
something that happens with a grade school birthday party when someone
gets mad and says “You can’t come.” Oddly though, it still hurts.
Betty Miles, the wonderful writer, helped me because it had happened to
her. I learned to say that a school district certainly doesn’t have to
buy any books they don’t like, but if the kids are at the appropriate
grade level, I have to stand behind all my books. I wrote them. I can’t
orphan them. I try to explain to kids the ways that my strong feelings
from childhood spill into my adult life and still fuel my writing. At
nearly seventy and sixty-five, my brother and I can still push each
others buttons, but without those buttons and emotions my story would
be empty, and I encourage children to write about their strongest
feelings. I tell them that my greatest fear, far scarier than vampires,
is the one that I somehow haven’t been honest, and haven’t given it my
all.
I keep in my office a wonderful cartoon that Art Spieglman and Maurice Sendak did together for The New Yorker. Spieglman says “when parents give Maus my book about Auschwitz to their little kids, I think it’s a child abuse. I wanna protect my
kids.” Sendak replies, “Art—you can’t protect kids…they know
everything….in reality, childhood is deep and rich. It’s vital
mysterious and profound. I remember my own childhood vividly. I knew terrible things….but I knew I mustn’t let adults know I knew…it would scare them.”
© 2007 by Elizabeth Levy. All Rights Reserved.
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