September 29 through October 6 is the American Library Association’s Banned Books week.  Florida, with its mix of cultures and religions, and its vehement politics, has had its share of contentiousness over books.  In the past, Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Orwell’s 1984, and “anything by Judy Blume” have been banned here.

In 2006 we in South Florida witnessed a banned book debate when the Miami-Dade County School Board pulled the book Vamos a Cuba (A Visit to Cuba) off the public school library bookshelves.  The ACLU then sued the school board.  Today, taking a look at Vamos a Cuba, one of a series of travel books written by Alta Schreier, what we notice most is its blandness.  Vamos a Cuba is aimed at the 2^nd and 3^rd grade audience and has seemingly harmless descriptions such as “Cuba is a country in the Caribbean Sea, south of Florida.  It is one big island with some smaller ones nearby,” and “Cuban children go to school between the ages of five to fourteen.  They wear uniforms to school.  There are different colored uniforms for different ages.” According to an August 10, 2006 article in the Miami New Times, a 3^rd grader’s father was upset that the book portrayed a cheerful view of life in Cuba and took it to the board, whose action set off a national debate.  The Miami New Times article points out that “The Vamos series…had been in Miami-Dade public school libraries for five years before anyone complained. During that time, no one had questioned why Vamos a Colombia fails to mention decades of kidnappings by leftist guerrillas or why Vamos a China omits any mention of the millions who starved during Mao's Great Leap Forward.”  The superficiality of the picture of the world offered to schoolchildren is worth questioning—though not, in our view, banning.

In a 2005 case, Hillsboro County commissioners banned gay pride displays after a library graduate assistant showcased several gay-oriented books in hopes of reaching troubled teens.  The graduate student explains in the article, “Suicide is the No. 1 leading cause of death for gay teens . . . I wanted to provide outreach to that particular segment of the population."  This too, set off a national debate, to which publishers seem to have responded with greater boldness.  Two new young adult gay-themed books, published by Simon & Schuster and Dutton, and another from Delacorte with frank heterosexual scenes, all with Florida settings, reached our office in the last couple of months for review.

And here we see the paradox of banning, because a banned book receives media coverage, passionate response to the attack, and ultimately more readers.  Many an author might wish to be banned (at least for a little while, here or there) to gain more readers in the long run, and publishers who find it hard to grab attention cannot fail to notice the sales figures that result because those who read will flock to anything forbidden. “Banned in Boston” used to be a proud proclamation.  Will "Banned in Tampa” or “Banned in Miami” be so, too?

            If you are interested in learning more about banned books, the American Library Association has extensive information on their website.  Also, visit our News page for a sampling of events around Florida and our Classic Reads page for more about enduring Florida books that have been banned.

         ---Lynne Barrett & Susan Parsons