Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Mapping Censorship

In our ongoing coverage of Banned Books Week, we've highlighted challenged classics, shared last year's most frequently challenged books, and invited you to support intellectual freedom by taking part a virtual read-out. Now it's time to take a look at censorship across America in a map showing bans & challenges nationwide from 2007-2011.

The map shows that public debate about the appropriateness of books is as vigorous as ever, even here in the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley community. Included on this nationwide map is a listing for William Floyd Middle School, where Lauren Myracle's TTYL was challenged in 2007. This book, written in the form of instant messenger conversations, tells the story of three teenage girls as they begin 10th grade, and is controversial for its poor grammar, foul language, and sexual content. Have you or your child read this book? What do you think?

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Mapping Censorship

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