My buddy, Elaine Viets, says it better than I could in her blog post.
Banned Books week is coming up - so celebrate by buying, reading or recommending one or more of the books that have been banned over the years. More info at the American Library Association site.
I was a lucky kid - my folks never restricted what I read. I grew up in a household full of everything from mystery and suspense, to horror, to the latest schlocky bestsellers (Harold Robbins, anyone?)
I remember reading Robbins' The Adventurers at the ripe old age of eleven. Honestly, I didn't understand a lot of it, but I did enjoy the fact that it was long and took me a while, because most kids' books were short, 45,000 words makes for not much reading time for this chick. I'm an extremely fast reader - at least I used to be, when time wasn't so much a premium.
I could devour two or three books over a weekend, more if I didn't have any other activities planned. A standard kid offering would flash by in an hour or even less. The ability to go to the living room shelves (floor to ceiling and wall to wall) was a blessing. That's where I discovered Sherlock Holmes, Mary Stewart and Bram Stoker. Ian Fleming nestled close to spy thrillers and gothic novels. My fiction reading worlds were as varied and diverse as any public library.
Did reading these adult level books cause me any harm? Not even close. In fact, I attribute my ability to write, to think and to learn to the fact that I was never shackled to a particular type of reading material. I'm a better learner for it. I'm a better writer for having been exposed to a wide variety of fiction writing.
So grab your favorite beverage, get out the reading glasses and pick up a banned book or two and read them yourself, then share them with your children and expose them to all the wonderful worlds that are out there awaiting their discovery.
