#lawn boy

[sockstwinksncock]

Instagram: itsdannyblond

Seems the lawn boy wants to do a bit more… 😈

[onlyhappyvibes]

[rosecorcoranwrites]

"Free speech" this, "free access" that. The real reason not to ban books is it gives them a completely unearned mystique.

I'm reading Lawn Boy for the Banned Book Club at my library and it's basically a white, straight author writing about what it's like to be a gay, half-hispanic guy who's Not Like Other Guys (TM) because he's sensitive and likes reading and isn't a sexist jerk (though I have counted 3 instances so far of the narrator misogynistically describing women's bodies, and I'm not even half way through the book). Also rich people bad poor people good. Everyone is racist. Narrator describes his special needs older brother the way a eugenicist might. Also it's totes "not awful" for two ten year olds to give each other oral sex why would you think that?

(For the record, so far that is the only child-sex content, and while it's not pedophilia, it does strike me as a symptom of a larger problem in society, namely telling gay kids who had sexual encounters as kids (with adults or otherwise) that that's totally normal. Our society isn't grooming kids to become gay, but it sure seems like there are a heck of a lot of adults who are trying to groom and over-sexualize gay kids. Think about if the book has a heterosexual oral sex thing between two kids; everyone and their uncle would assume one or both of them probably did so because of previous sexual abuse by an adult. But if it's two boys, you shouldn't worry your pretty little head about because... IDK, the gays are more likely to be sexual at that age? Like, how is that not an extremely warped view of gay kids? Let them be kids, too.)

TL;DR this pretentious, tryhard book would have been rightfully resigned to the dustbin of history in a few years if it hadn't been banned. Banning a book is like giving it a badge of honor. Please stop doing it.

[readingteabooks]

It’s Banned Books Week!

In 2021, 729 book challenges were reported to the American Library Association, naming 1597 individual books. That’s a huge spike up from 2019′s 377 challenges. Nearly double in two years.

This continues a worrying upward trend in book challenges in recent years, and many of these titles have actually been removed from library or classroom collections in parts of the US. It feels like every day I’m hearing news of a new challenge or removal somewhere, or an attempt to codify those removals into law. Libraries who stand their ground by refusing to remove materials have seen their funding slashed, librarians and teachers have lost their jobs and been harassed, even threatened.

But it’s not just libraries. Proponents of book banning are even trying to make it illegal to publish or sell books they don’t agree with.

So now, more than ever, its important to stand against these attempts at censorship. Keep aware of goings on in your area. Speak at city council meetings, run for your local school or library board, donate to your local public library, write to your local representative. Or see what else the ALA recommends to get involved.

Anyway, here are the Top 10 Challenged Books of 2021:

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

[doctornerdington]

Picked up a book from the banned books display at the library. Excellent marketing, I gotta say.

[poprocklyrics]

The place I sought was far beneath The surface of the sea My sight was poor, but I was sure The sirens sang their song for me

Bouncing Around the Room, Phish

[leehallfae]

“no matter how deep the infection runs, family is family. the only other choice is to cut them off like rotten limbs.”

— jonathan evison, lawn boy

[onebluebookworm]

After another year of censorship running rampant through the country, here’s the most challenged books of 2021

The American Library Association has released their Most Challenge Books of 2021 list, after a brutal year where book challenges and censorship are more prevalent than ever. The list is, once again, not surprising.

The complete list:

1. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe 2. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison 3. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson 4. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez 5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 7. Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl  by Jesse Andrews 8. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 9. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson 10. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

As opposed to last year, we’ve moved away from the anti-racist lit (although Hate U Give and Bluest Eye have moved up a few spots), and now LGBT lit and any book with “sexuality” has a target on its back. We’re living in a dark time, guys, and just reading these books isn’t enough. Media consumption is not activism. Fighting this level of censorship is going to take more than just awareness and platitudes. It’ll take action.

Keep informed, keep vigilant, and fight when you can. There’s a way out of this, we just have to fight back.