To the editor:

In these last few weeks of a rather adventurous 2020, not much else could go awry – but there’s always hope. So banned books are our topic today and this is a separate argument from age appropriate as no one would give War and Peace to a 5 year old – silliness aside for a moment – each year at the end of September Authors, Writers and Librarians set out to inform the public of the current list of banned books in the USA. each year adds to the list as groups either religious or school decide for you what your children or you can and cannot read, or that you should not read lest damnation fall upon your head.

When I was in 8th grade my precocious self decided to tackle “War and Peace” – after maybe an hour of attempting I went to Brahm Stoker’s Dracula, much more accessible to my 13 year old brain. The teacher asked me “couldn’t get into it huh?” to which I responded, “nope” I’ve had a love hate relationship with Russian novels, mostly hate – I just cant get into them Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, et ali., Russian music and vodka, not withstanding – would I ban Russian novelists? no, not cause of my short coming – let someone else enjoy them, I’ll stick to early American, Victorian and Edwardian Lit. and Stark Trek, can’t forget that. But using a similar logic the scenario I put forth is of another book of mystical flavour – “Harry Potter” – I’ve seen the movies have not read the books – banned due to themes of witchcraft, sorcery and the occult – kids might start practicing magic and become thus involved in the cult. Using that same logic – may I suggest Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and The Mysterious Island so maybe your child will learn how to fish, whitewash fences, get along with people, negotiate contracts and learn survival skills.

Our First Amendment does give us the right to our freedoms of expression, assembly speech, etc., We really need to use our own logic to determine what is ok reading and what isn’t for us. I’ve read many books where I wondered where the author was going – probably won’t read that author again, but I can always choose to at some point.