10/28/09: Scholastic has lifted the ban on Luv Ya Bunches at book fairs."Scholastic does not censor books. We review thousands of titles each year for our book clubs and book fairs, and we are committed to a review process that considers all books equally regardless of their inclusion of LGBT characters and same sex parents. In an interview with School Library Journal, Scholastic stated that we are currently carrying Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle in our school book clubs. We also said we were still reviewing the book for possible inclusion in our book fairs. Having completed our review of Luv Ya Bunches, Scholastic Book Fairs will carry the title in our spring fairs for middle school.
(On Our Minds).
Scholastic is proud of our long history of providing books that will appeal to the wide range of interests and reading abilities of children in the many diverse cultures and communities we serve. Luv Ya Bunches is just one example"
10/23/09: Scholastic has decided to censor Lauren Myracle’s new book Luv Ya Bunches (Abrams/Amulet, 2009) do to its language and homosexual content.
The company sent a letter to the editor asking the author to omit certain words such as “geez,” “crap,” “sucks,” and “God” (as in, “oh my God”) and to alter its plot line to include a heterosexual couple. The author Lauren Myracle agreed to get rid of the offensive language “with the goal—as always—of making the book as available to as many readers as possible,” but the deal breaker was changing Milla’s two moms (School Library Journal).Contact Scholastic and tell them that kids with LGBT parents deserve equal representation. You can also tweet them here.
H/T to Family Equality Council for the activist alert.
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5 comments:
i am so mad at them. sent a tweet an email. had a few words id like to say to that company. i will no longer buy from them
They're claiming now that they didn't censor it. http://bit.ly/SoBNc - they say "Scholastic is offering Luv Ya Bunches in our Book Clubs. We decided we would not offer this title in Fairs. School Library Journal inaccurately stated that we censored the book. We review thousands of books each year and only a limited number can be carried in our channels."
It's important to get both sides of any story -- in this case I think you need to look at Scholastic's track record - they're incredibly fair and supportive of the LGBT community! Just because one book wasn't included in the book fair doesn't mean we should get up in arms and demand that everyone start a letter-writing campaign. Scholastic has been a champion of material featuring all kinds of families and children. Let's thank them for that, instead of screaming from the hilltops when we (wrongfully) believe we're being harmed in some way.
I disagree anonymous, if they are censoring this book from fairs due to its gay content they are doing a disservice to young teens with queer parents, or lgbt students. They need to be called out when doing wrong, and praised when right.
Thanks for the post thread. I felt well informed and able to write a clear, solid email.
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