[OLA-IF-News] June 2018 Tuesday Topic: Intellectual freedom beach reads

[Shun-Sho Fong]

Welcome to Tuesday Topics, a monthly series covering topics with intellectual freedom implications for libraries of all types. Each message is prepared by a member of OLA's Intellectual Freedom Committee or a guest writer. Questions can be directed to the author of the topic or to the IFC committee<http://www.olaweb.org/contact-ifc>.



[https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/wmpnSb6V9rC8t_tCyVZNvjoM_36Gav7svySVA2IK-0itmnf7oo_wuYbZBh7bnl2sB3cxiNgHGmRo2Uu2yi1zc8sxqKfE_pY9OE2x-dnvS_q40JEpQZWbSffcpw1-gNXocUSQxily]

Tuesday Topic: Intellectual freedom beach reads for 2018
Summer is officially here and that means it's time to grab a towel, sunglasses, a drink of choice, and exercise our freedom to read!  Check out one of these books related to intellectual freedom - but, only if you want to 'cause it's your freedom to choose!

Suggestions are divided between fiction and non-fiction, with a special book challenges shout-out for a couple of titles that are particularly piquing people's interest and ire.  Click on the titles for links to discover more about each book.

Fiction

*         The List<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33846933-the-list?from_search=true> by Patricia Forde (2017) brings us to the city of Ark, the last safe place on Earth where survival is dependent on speaking List, a language consisting of only 500 words.  But Letta, an apprentice to the Wordsmith, can read all the words ever known, even the forbidden ones such as freedom, music, and pineapple.  When her master disappears and the leaders of Ark demand that Letta shorten the List to fewer words, she faces a decision: allow language to slowly slip away or follow a path that will lead to freedom or banishment.



*         Literally<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30653879-literally?ac=1&from_search=true> by Lucy Keating (2017) introduces us to Annabelle, whose life has always been perfect.  But when her author announces she's writing a new book with Annabelle as the lead, Annabelle discovers she's just a character in novel and her author has a whole life entirely plotted out for her.  Annabelle has to find a way to chart her own path if she doesn't want to live a story written by someone else.


*         The Reader<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25064648-the-reader?ac=1&from_search=true> by Traci Chee (2016) is a New York Times bestseller set in a world where reading and books are not known.  Following the brutal murder of her father and the kidnapping of her aunt, Sefia must survive and rescue her aunt on her own.  The only link to the tragedies in her life is an odd rectangular item - a book.



*         The Librarian of Auschwitz<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31145052-the-librarian-of-auschwitz?ac=1&from_search=true> by Antonio Iturbe (2017) is based on a true story and drawn from interviews with Holocaust survivor Dita Kraus.  The book's protagonist, fourteen-year-old Dita, is imprisoned in Auschwitz and assigned to create entertainment for the children while their families work.  And while her block has many secrets, the most important is that eight books were smuggled into the camp and Dita has been entrusted to protect them through the horrors of the camp.


*         The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36349079-the-marvelous-adventures-of-gwendolyn-gray?ac=1&from_search=true> by B.A. Williamson (2018) features the title character Gwendolyn, who lives in a gray world where her imagination and daydreams come alive.  And for a city where everything is identical, clouds never clear, people are controlled by the careful editing of and limited access to information, and the bowler-hatted Faceless Gentlemen, who are in charge of preserving order by erasing anything that is out-of-order, Gwendolyn is a problem.  Escaping to a land of clockwork inventions and colorful creations, Gwendolyn must learn to control her powers and stop these Faceless Gentlemen from turning every world into a gray and dull place.


Non-Fiction

*         Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36854872-speak-freely> by Keith E. Whittington (2018) discusses how and why universities must protect and encourage freedom of speech, open inquiry, and intellectual debate on campuses.  Examining hot topics such as trigger warnings, safe spaces, hate speech, protests, uninviting speakers, and more, this book attempts to show why a university will live or die by free speech and how all participants, both on and off campus, can be guided towards greater tolerance.



*         Banned Books: Defending Our Freedom to Read<https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/banned-books-defending-our-freedom-read> by Robert P. Doyle (2017) compiles entries of challenges, histories of vital intellectual freedom documents, infographics, timelines, and explanations of legal cases.  Straightforward, this book helps bring clarity to complex and sometimes convoluted issues.

Book Challenges

*         George<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24612624-george?ac=1&from_search=true> by Alex Gino (2015) has been on the Oregon radar all spring with its selection as an Oregon Battle of the Books title.  It also ranked #5 on the ALA's Top Ten book challenges for 2017.  Detailing the story of a transgender child, this title is abuzz with peoples' opinions.  It might just be time for you to form your own opinion!


*         Thirteen Reasons Why<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29844228-thirteen-reasons-why?ac=1&from_search=true> by Jay Asher (2007) is a New York Times bestseller that's caught the spotlight more recently due to its Netflix TV series that began airing in 2017.  The book follows the story of Clay and his search to discover why his classmate, Hannah, committed suicide.  This book is the #1 most challenged title on ALA's Top Ten book challenges for 2017.
Want to see the entire ALA's 2017 Top Ten List?  Click here<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10#2017>!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shun-Sho Fong, MLIS
Youth Services Associate II, Crook County Library
Oregon Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee Member
175 NW Meadow Lakes Drive
Prineville, OR  97754
(541) 447-7978 ext. 320
sfong at crooklib.org<mailto:sfong at crooklib.org>

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