A school board in Charleston, West Virginia, banned two of my favorite books, The Prince of Tides and Beach Music, both by Pat Conroy. Read Pat's scathing response in his letter to the editor published in the West Virginia Gazette.
Once again, we're in the midst of Banned Books Week, celebrating our freedom to read and calling attention to the threats made to that freedom. Village Books was extremely fortunate this week to be able to host our friend Chris Finan, author of From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act, A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America. Chris was the special author guest for a taping of The Chuckanut Radio Hour. He's been blogging his tour across the country and I thought you might especially enjoy this entry about his visit to Bellingham.
For some time the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been pretty popular at Village Books. Teens--and adults who read teen-lit--like the book a lot. But, according to this article in the New York Times, some folks (read some parents) aren't so pleased with the book being recommended to their kids.