Dear Xochitl Gonzalez,

I recently finished listening to the audiobook of your novel, Olga Dies Dreaming.  As other audiobooks became available, and I wasn’t at all captivated with Olga’s occupation as wedding planner to the elite, I nearly dropped the novel.  Napkin drama?  How trendy and shallow can an author be?  The stories of those who meander through lives taking little note of the world they walk through can be repulsive.

Yet, I kept reading.  I’m glad I did.  Your novel is layered with questions and meaning.

What changed my mind? For one, an unwillingness to give up on any Latina author, writing about two Latinos –puertorriqueño siblings in this case, particularly when the two are financially successful and live in privilege.  For another, like many from the old neighborhood, Pietro and Olga grapple with the way achievement can separate us from our sustaining roots.  Also, their family disorientation feels authentic (though created for the novel), and their concerns are ones most of us have.

Adding the political backdrop teased me in.  While not a fan of strictly political books, I am an avid fan of fiction with a political backdrop. Novels that raise socio-political questions keep me reading. Consider The Bean Trees. Barbara Kingsolver fosters awareness on issues of immigration, indigenous trauma, and racism.  And while some will dismiss such writing as divisive and manipulative, I truly appreciate the adept way Puerto Rico’s issues are woven into Olga and Pietro’s exploration of identity.  A dissatisfaction with wealth, a call for attention to their own disintegrating neighborhood, and a tangled concept of liberation compelled me.

Intelligent novels are often more inspiring than what passes as news. One such mismanaged media example is when the spotlight should’ve been on what Puerto Ricans needed after a hurricane. Instead, cameras and talking heads highlighted Drumpf tossing paper towels to a beleaguered crowd in Puerto Rico.  His actions so despicably clueless, if not absolutely incompetent, for someone of such rank made for cringe worthy reporting.  And was a red herring distraction leading us away from the central point. Can news even reveal what’s important to know?

Perhaps it won’t be surprising to say that I’m most often the tune-out type; neither a disaster do-gooder nor disaster porn addict, yet left wondering how to be most helpful. Disaster news overwhelms and pushes me into a pit of darkness and confusion. The same thoughts and prayers, the same scenes, the same promises.  In the case of P.R., little thought of the island inhabitants, except when hurricanes put them in the public’s eye, crossed my mind.  Yet I’ve since learned about H.R. 8393, which offers P.R. the opportunity to vote for independence. The Senate hasn’t passed the bill, and maybe a letter can provide a tangible way to support P.R. You have my admiration for giving readers insights into the lives and struggle of Americans (yes readers, P.R is America).

Speaking of status and socio-political issues, the villainy of the Selby clan and their cronies was very satisfying.  I love a good villain to despise, and their exploitive actions and entitlement made it easy to loathe them.  While weaving in the people who manipulate politics seems an obvious choice, Dick’s hypocrisy (no spoilers here) diminishes him and minimizes the impact of those who want to and could possibly make a difference.   Certainly, all of them propose a thwarted view of helping our fellow man.

Of course, everyone has dirty hands—even those who stand helplessly by (like I do) in a significant crisis.  The main characters aren’t perfect.  You are very clear that their mother, Blanca, isn’t either.  Her manipulations remind me a bit of my abuela.  While many mothers are guilty of manipulating their children, especially Latina ones, and I certainly have been told I can craft quite a respectable guilt trip, Blanca takes her desire for parental influence to a new level.

Most provocatively, Olga Dies Dreaming turns the usual matriarchal model of loving mother on its ear.  But I admit, I was torn, wanting her kids to see her passion and commitment to improve life for their countrymen.  Isn’t sacrifice for others noble?  Aren’t parents supposed to want more for their children?  She tells Pietro, that “even people who were once your sails can become your anchors.” Indeed, our hopes can tie down our children, and before they can live their dream, they will need to slip off the chains of expectation, and listen to their own hearts.

As the story continues, the missives from Blanca unfolds a disturbing view and an extreme impact of parental expectations. What’s even more brilliant (to me as a writer) is the use of this epistolary device which allows Blanca to remain distant from us, the reader, while echoing same in her relationship with her kids.

One last note on parental relationships, the siblings’ reaction to their mother helped me sort out some possibilities for my own story, including recognizing the role of generational trauma and my own desperate attempts to be considered worthy of my father’s attention.

In a branch of absent parents comes the family that still holds a place for Olga and Pietro. They are fortunate.  And thus, the book holds a hopeful tone. While I appreciate my siblings for many things, when it comes to processing my father, they offer no shoulder.   And as I reread all of my father’s poems and letters as a way of understanding him, so many questions remain unanswered, so much pain remains.  Like these two orphaned adults, I’m trying to figure out where home lies.

Underlying discordant notes (of class, racism, imperialism, radical activism) are part of the whole picture. And along with origins and dreams, you remind us how these merits deep examination. We can benefit from hearing this music before we can realize true growth. 

While little of this sounds light and funny, Olga Dies Dreaming traces an inevitable superficiality of the upper classes, and those that upwardly climb, all of whom forget the benefits from previous generations’ hard work and sacrifice. Of course, you make us laugh, if even squirm, at Olga and Pietro’s bumbling attempts to be comfortable with coveted success.  And because both possess a strong need to be good and authentic people, yours is a fun read.  

Final note for readers:  the origin of the title. Olga Dies Dreaming led me to the work of Puerto Rican poet, Pedro Pietri best known for “Puerto Rican Obituary” in which writes about the sacrifices made to become someone else. “Puertorriquenos are a beautiful race” indeed.

Thank you.  Pietri’s work is worth reading, and so is your book.

#letters_to_authors

How Did I Miss It?

I rarely miss poetry month, and I usually recognize October 20 as National Day on Writing. National Author’s Day on November 1st, is marked on my calendar. But for some reason I’ve missed April 10th, National Encourage a Writer Day.

To say that April is my birthday month would be a feeble excuse. I’m a writer and a writing mentor. Specifically, my profession centers on encouraging writers, but then I suppose since I encourage writers daily, a special day seems unnecessarily specific. I consider each day a good day to write and thank writers for what they bring into our world and hearts.

Maybe you already know, but since it’s the first I’ve heard of it, and despite announcing this a month late: Happy National Encourage a Writer Day!

April 10 is National Encourage A Writer Day!

Photo by Mark Neal on Pexels.com

How does a writing mentor encourage writers? It’s probably easier to say what I don’t do with writers. We don’t do the dishes — unless the act is related to a story. We don’t visit museums — unless the act is to inspire ideas for writing. We don’t …….

You have the idea? Everything you do can be related to storytelling, writing, and generally, feeding writers!

But here a few specific things I recommend:

Read a writer’s work. It could be a canonized author who has produced classic works of literature, a contemporary author who grabs the reader’s mind to consider the world today, or the writing of a family member who would love to share a story or opinion. Maybe two or more of you can even swap writing.

Buy journals! And write in them. I confess I have a shelf full of journals of all size, including ones I’ve made. When my sister scolded me and swore off buying me journals, I begged her to reconsider. I love journals of all types. My only caveat would be not to focus on the most beautiful leather bound types — sometimes those kind are like that special evening dress and heels, too pretty for ordinary days and presumably mundane thoughts. Instead, find something with no distinctive features, ones that easily slip into bags, purses or pockets. Choose the ones that you can write a grocery list in or a list of objects a character holds dear. Not that everyone doesn’t need a special journal, but do lean into the basic black dress or suit that for those multiple opportunities. And if you have one of the remarkable kind, dive in. It’s too sad to see a journal sitting alone and empty.

Finding a quiet place is a good next step, though maybe quiet isn’t what provokes stories. There are days for the spot by a calming body of water and days for a noisy coffee shop where you can eavesdrop on patrons to practice dialogue. I gave my son a journal to record his travel experiences, and he wrote all over Europe, whenever we stopped moving (though thinking about it, he also wrote on the train and airplane). Comfort is probably helpful, though, So take along a cushion, a blanket, a water bottle (or splurge on the special coffee), and definitely snacks! Writing can induce hunger.

Books are handy for inspiration. I cannot say enough about imagination-igniting reading. Beyond the basics of craft, genre essentials, plot structure, and vocabulary, a writer- reader will find emotional impact, story ideas, riffing on character, imitating an author’s style, sipping on scenery, and setting up conflict. In my writing classes, mentor texts (writing that models good writing) are critical to a writer. Reading and writing, like peanut butter and jam, or like sunshine and water to a flower, they go together.

Write with a writer’s mind not an editor’s pen. The process of writing demands mistakes. They prove that you’re learning. There’s no need for everything to be polished nor everything to be red-penned to death. Holding every piece of writing to scrutiny is a sure way to kill the joy of putting pen to paper. Put a timer on let the words scribble out onto paper.

Forge a place in your schedule. Habit sounds dull and repetitive. Celebration sounds weighty and complicated. Find something in between to give you a reason to enjoy writing. One author suggests a family night –perhaps filled with a storytelling game. My son’s girlfriend is a master of creating games. One Thanksgiving she passed out sheets of paper, instructed us to fold them and off we went on a combination of drawing and writing. The results had us scratching our heads and holding our middles as we joyfully read each other’s work.

Explore the world. Combine an interest with writing, illustrating to enjoy what you learn along the way. When researching this day, I came across a novel idea to write about all things nurse. If not an occupation, how about a place? When they were young, my kids and I would choose a country– say Italy–and we’d make italian dishes, play italian music and games, and generally learn about Italy — tailored to their age and interests. A fond memory of my son’s State Directory just surfaced. Along with capitals and symbols for his social studies learning, he’d write a paragraph about the state. I still have this journal project in my cupboard. Maybe he’ll decide to visit the states one day. What way might you explore the world and your passions in a journal?

Focus a day just on storytelling. My eldest still talks fondly about a game we used to play: the what-if game. Car trips were filled with fantastical stories starting with something as mundane as a piece of litter she spotted on the side of the road. One day, we made a spontaneous trip over the coastal mountains to enjoy the salty breeze. We ended up in a restaurant, sketching out a tragic comedy screenplay about a family coming together, based mostly on what-ifs and members of our own extended family. Before kids write, they tell their stories. Mom, listen to this dream I had! Grandad, you’ll never guess what happened at the store! Maybe this could be the time to share some family stories which might prompt illustrations and captions or a peak at an old family album. Writing and storytelling definitely go together.

Show not tell. This foundational rule in writing (often misunderstood) can remind us to show that writing is worth doing and can be found all around us. How often do you write? How often do you write in front of young writers? Hand signed thank you notes deserve a comeback! Write letters of appreciation to a teacher, a grandparent, a mail carrier, or each other. Write down the memories you hope they’ll treasure.

Other inspirations:

• Write your family history together– interviewing family members helps us treasure them, learn about history and remind us that history is more than what we find in a textbook.
• Write/tell a fan fic –a revised telling or extended telling of a favorite character from books, tv, or movies.
• Write a shopping list for the family you’d like to be or the family that just won the lottery– any daily writing can have wings and fly.
• Write a contest entry to submit. There’s money out there. Or host your own in which every writer who submits earns a fancy pen and simple journal. And maybe a hand published copy of everyone’s work pulled together in a “book”.

What not to do:

• Make every writing and story an assignment.
• Make them write by themselves.
• Critique and edit their work. Instead tell them what you enjoyed or want to remember.
• Forget that writing can cultivate a lifelong desire to turn thoughts and feelings into words.

Finally, attend an event.

On my calendar this year will be more visits to hear author’s read and talk about their work. I’ve noted what bookstores, colleges, and libraries include writers on their event listings.

Share the Ways You Make Writing a Pleasure

How do you make writing more pleasurable?

Do you light a specific scented candle to set the mood?

Do you look for prompts?

Do you have a book you’d recommend?

Do you have a writing buddy?

Making Life Visible

I’m at an exciting part. Deep into the story of Addie LaRue, I push away everyone and everything just so my eyes remain on the page (or earbuds in the ears). I want to know what happens to the cursed Addie as she walks through life invisible and forgettable to all but . . . Uh, no. No spoilers here.

My creative writers are at an exciting place, too.

They’ve written a series of exciting things happening, of characters meeting swords to beasts, and suspenseful moments climbing toward the peak of a story. None of which is easy. Working through the challenges to make their characters visible and memorable, they have set down words, a story, an adventure, rhe writers bring their pages ready to share, eager to share aloud and hear some feedback. And I’m eager to read what they’ve written!

The plot is evident. But lately, amidst fantastic twists and crazy turns, I’ve been wondering about their characters. How can they become invested in these characters? Are they real enough, do we care enough, to keep reading?

In the fall, I asked my students, “Imagine a monster breaking through the fence. It attacks a group member. What do you do? Would you run or fight?” We agree they’d probably run away screaming. Then I ask what changes if the attack is their best friend (we work at friendships in group, but it takes a bit of time). The response comes with “Sure, I’d help him/her.” We work our way through various scenarios that changes the shrug to a physical response: a karate pose, two fists up, a brief scan for a possible weapon– a branch, a flower pot? What will it take to move us to stay and fight? Do we know enough about someone to risk our time and energy? What if they are the only person who knows where the treasure is hidden?

The point is to create characters we are willing to fight for, so our readers will be willing to read on.

While plotting out a story can be made easier with various tools, it’s tougher to create a character we actually care about. How do story creators pull on heartstrings?

One easy way is to show your character being nice to younger kids, to the loner at school, and to animals (especially, cats, dogs and horses). Another easy way is to give him/her a positive flaw. Maybe a character is too honest and that leads to trouble (see Schooled by Gordon Korman). Or perhaps he is poor and dutiful, but can’t afford what he wants, so he must work hard to earn enough (see Where the Red Fern Grows). Maybe she is curious and intelligent, but she lives during a time when women, especially young ones, are limited in their choices — we know she’ll face challenges!

Others ways are giving characters a flaw, a habit of misjudgment, a sticking point. Authors must give characters plenty of good traits but perfection is dull. So we give the hard worker or the curious, a flaw of rationalizing their obvious mistakes. Or perhaps she has to pay for the one mistake all of her life, in the case of Addie LaRue who made a deal with the dark. Or Jean Val Jean in Les Miserables who is pursued for one indiscretion. Every reader knows a good book that has both a character who inspires caring and also has room to grow.

In fact, the world is full of characters we want to read, and very few of them are perfect specimens of humanity. We read to see how they cope with the missteps and obstacles. A single flaw won’t make a character readable. Ultimately, we enjoy a character who lies to himself.

We know about lying. All of the adults in our lives told us not to lie, so we avoid the nasty habit as much as possible. Choosing carefully how we step through minefields of white lies and rationalizations. Yet we lie to ourselves all the time. And what’s more troubling is we can believe the lies we tell ourselves.

Recognize any of these?

• I’m too busy to . . ./ I just don’t have the time to . . . .
• I’m too old/too young/too fat/to slow to . . . .
• People leave, so I shouldn’t get attached.
• I will never be as good at . . . as . . .
• I need to be in control or something will go wrong.
• I always fail at . . .
• If I could only be/have/etc. … I’d be happy

We lie when we tell ourselves that nothing we do will make the winter holidays less stressful, that the family dinner next month is going to be a disaster, or that we’ll never fall in love. One of my favorite lies that non-parents tell is that kids are so easy to raise! My sister-in-law once told me that all kids need is clothes, food and shelter. Having her own has challenged that mythical mindset.

Lies can be deeply rooted in our psyche and DNA, and if we examine recent studies about trauma, we find that they travel through generations. It’s possible, though I’ve yet to meet anyone that hasn’t faced hardship, grief, fear, doubt, regret and anger or been wounded, experienced loss or felt trauma. In which case, you can consider yourself lucky. But even if you’ve made it through the teen years without scars, just remember your reader is not likely to have been so lucky.

To be clear, this isn’t about a decidedly skewed sense of reality, of hallucinations and the like– though a character may have some serious problems– and the genre may demand such. This idea isn’t about going from good to evil. And while this is certainly not a post about psychoanalyzing yourself, we can and must analyze our characters!

The truth of the human subconscious is it’s mucky. What’s up with the nice guy who anticipates that Jill would turn him down. We authors must go into the swampy mess of the human psyche if we are to find out why the princess doesn’t think she’ll a good ruler. Sure he’s not wealthy. And yes, she can’t help turning people to ice. Go deeper. Go to the fundamental lie: Does the nice guy think no one will love him? That he is unworthy because only wealth makes worth. Does the princess believe that leaders aren’t capable of cruelty? More importantly, do they believe that they can never change?

Not only do many characters who have little confidence reject change, they commonly believe that they can’t be happy until X happens.

All too often we humans believe the same.

False beliefs, or the fancy way that psychology labels the lies we tell ourselves– Cognitive Distortions–show the power of the mind to mislead which makes them a powerful tool in creative writing. Take Catastrophizing, or what we call when a person exaggerates the effect of everything to extremes. They can lead us to go from one poor exam grade to a lifetime of boring jobs in less than five minutes. In one of my favorite novels, a mother of five daughters not only believes marrying her daughters off the only sacred duty of motherhood, but also rejecting a proposal will result in a life of poverty for her and her daughters (Pride and Prejudice). When Mrs. Bennet’s daughter rejects a valid proposal, her demeanor cascades into a dreadful fit of drama.

Or how about a character who only sees things in black and white or extreme opposites, Polarized Thinking. What juicy situations may an author create that will easily lead him to stubbornly dig in! Or perhaps, he’ll be indecisive –after all, all or nothing means every choice in life can be too big of a commitment. One of my own characters has been convinced that the only man that can truly help her is her biggest enemy. Her own Filtering — the magnifying of the negative while ignoring the positive– traps her, renders her unable to change course. If every piece of evidence confirms her false belief, what will change her mind?

How might someone with a cognitive distortion, such as Mind-Reading or Fortune-Telling react when put in a situation that demands them to look at life differently? Can we understand a character who evades responsibility and blames others for every mistake?

Of course, we don’t have to know that these false beliefs are cognitive distortions (unless we want to work our way through them) to place them in stories, but knowing them can helps us grow both as writers and human beings.

Would it be possible for young writers who learn about the human psychology of creating authentic characters to gain awareness of their own mindsets? As we apply what we’ve learned to our characters, might we begin to see how our limitations lead to struggling against the fire-breathing dragons outside and the dark beasts inside. Of course, I’m here to open up possibilities, but every one of us must work through our own dragons and take charge of our own journeys to change.

And when it comes to arming my creative writers, I’m going to give them whatever tools I find effective. The main takeaway will be we don’t just want characters to face and overcome challenges, wielding a sword or swinging fists. We don’t just want to see they grow — an imperative for a tasty tale– we must care about them enough to see them through to the end, begging for more even when we arrive at the last page.

Here’s a few interesting places to read more on the web

• link to cognitive distortions
• formal link to cog distortions
• link of lies and plot structure

Your turn! Share your answers in the comments

What tools might you suggest to create authentic characters?  
What do you know about cognitive distortions?
What false beliefs do your characters have? 
What false beliefs are you working to change in your own life?

Running around with lit matches

Show’s over. Go home. Nothing to see. The recent book banning debate hit California as a parent complained her child had access to a book on a web based service. It was just a mistake of mislabeling or filtering or something. “This isn’t book banning or censorship,” wrote a member of the Orange Unified Public School Facebook group OUSD Buzz. “This is ensuring age appropriate materials remain where they should be.” Apparently, no one wanted to take books out of the hands of students. Debate over.

But is it, really?

Not for conservatives, not for book banners, not for those whose ideas of freedom spells less learning.

Ray Bradbury says, “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”  Given the main character of Fahrenheit 451 begins the story as a fireman burning books, Bradbury was always an outspoken critic of censorship. Undoubtedly, he would suspect the Orange County district’s suspension of Sora (related to Overdrive) is not just a simple disagreement over the age appropriateness of books. He’d point at the usual banning of books the kind where people scream “obscene pornography” over LGBTQ stories or the F word.

One must wonder, though, is this conflict more like an expectation for the world to be your child’s nanny?

Let’s face it, the joys of the digital age are expansive. One may even be tempted to use a screen to “supervise” children. But when parenting demands heightened involvement and oversight, and everyone, including disagreeing parents, seem to have their eyes locked on a screen, we tend to blame the screens. It’s a tough spot we’re in, watching out for our youth in a volatile world. We can decry the dangers of the digital age and its access to so much information at our fingertips, yet parenting is still parenting; reading is still reading; and censorship is still censorship. When we put in or take out a book from the hands of our own children, that may or may not be good parenting, but when we take the same book out of the hands of all children, that’s fear.

One OUSD first grade parent remarked that to suspend all access to a library because of complaints of two books is “the equivalent of finding a spider in your basement and taking a flamethrower to your entire home.” Many, including union president of teachers warned of an “organized effort by the extreme right… to transform public education.” Are we listening to the sirens warning of us an encroaching fire?

So while Jill Replogle and Michael Flores write about the brouhaha on LAist, leaving us a chuckle of irony — a mom read aloud the offending passages at the board meeting (gee, I hope there weren’t any children in the room!) — censorship isn’t a joke. We can laugh, but we cannot ignore attacks on books. We must be aware of anyone carrying the tiniest fire of censorship.

Of course, as a parent I recognize there are books I wouldn’t give a second grader to read. But being a book lover, teacher and a reader of book banning attempts over the years, I’ve had plenty of time to consider banning books a threat. But don’t take my word for it: research what others have had to say this year. NPR has its own coverage of the threat of censorship in this article. And there’s an interesting peek at what’s going across the country on the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, along with a list of recent attacks on books. There’s a woman on Tiktok who shares the news from classroom libraries in Florida. Check her out here. I admire her for her specificity. Instead of simply crying foul, she’s reading aloud the books that are undergoing the “review” process (which has taken some books over a year). I puzzle why these books have been pulled from teacher and school collections. Another TikTok post featured a man ranting about books he calls pornographic. But here’s the thing: If someone is going to call out a book but hasn’t read it, I have to wonder. If someone calls out books and can’t or won’t even name titles, I don’t have to wonder. It’s noise.

Of course, I had to read the book in question as research. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg involves two older high school boys whose queer identity is known only to a few close friends and their parents. They haven’t dated because they don’t know how. Their friends haven’t quite received the memo that teasing them about being gay, even in a lighthearted way, is lame, and these scenes convey the struggle many have faced against heteronormativity — that’s a fancy word for saying the boy-girl relationship story is the norm and surrounds us like water. We’re the fish in that story. While we may not recognize that water around us, we can recognize family struggles and friend struggles.

And The Music of What Happens is full of them. Both young men have had to grapple with family issues — a lost father, a mom whose grief and resulting addiction has taken her too far. When the two meet, the young men help each other through some difficult times. Within its pages are tender moments of a growing friendship and then crush, with a sprinkle of swear words that don’t feel gratuitous and if memory serves doesn’t come close to the amount of swear words heard in the halls of schools. Note: nothing in this book come even close to the bar set by Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc. In addition to a thread of consent, Konigsberg weaves charity, toxic masculinity, and acknowledging trauma along with connection and the realization that true friends don’t hurt you.

Frankly, I was happy that Konigsberg handled the sexuality with a light touch, mostly friends dancing around the topics. The one very difficult scene is a date rape in which the young man is de-clothed. As the character dissociates (a condition in which you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you, as in feeling as though the world around you is unreal), the scene is reminiscent of a 50’s sex scene cut away. We don’t see much (my own little modest millie prefers this from most stories). What we do witness is how an unwanted sexual experience can leave a survivor feeling that they may have deserved or asked for the sexual abuse. We struggle with Konigsberg’s character as he wonders why he doesn’t move, leave or hit the abuser. Mostly, the sadness comes after the experience, causing him to shutdown and withdraw. Indeed, this traumatic experience may help readers understand how sexual abuse continues and more importantly, that telling an adult, especially a therapist, can alleviate suffering.

Nevertheless, at the heart of the book is the friendships, the failure and success of dad’s old chicken food truck, and two teens trying to work out what it means to be an adult. I don’t want to give any more spoilers, so I’ll just say that this is a book I’d add to my list of books with authentic characters.

Returning a moment to the riled up school community, Sarah Smylie, argued that a book is “not salacious or pornographic” when it describes a genuine struggle teens face. Identity and how to tell apart the good friends from the toxic ones is what coming of age books are about. As a parent, one of my favorite parts of Konigsberg’s story is the way one of the boys alerts his friend’s mom of his concern. He could’ve walked away, rightly so because he doesn’t understand what’s going on, but he doesn’t. Mom might never have known why her son was suffering without this one brave act. (And this book is filled with plenty of courage.) The mom recognizes the boyfriend’s concern and steps in. She is not only involved in her son’s life, she willingly serves as his advocate and shows him she loves him enough to encourage him to talk about something difficult.

Indeed, we need more books about adults who step up to support kids. Support is having informed discussions about books and media, not banning books. Support is about opening up conversations to help our kids figure out how to be in the world with their values intact, not shoving important questions into a forgotten corner so people have to find answers on their own. Support is sharing, not silencing concerns. Support is listening, reading, advocating for those who haven’t had a voice and need to see theirs on the shelves of libraries.

Support is checking out the books your children are reading, talking about books you’re reading, and having more conversations that help your kids fit into your family’s idea of safe. And not expecting others to do this for you.

Support is taking a hard look at what’s being pulled off of shelves and why. And speaking out against banning books.

Update by LAist: “The Sora app will be reinstated Feb. 6. In a written announcement, Interim Superintendent Edward Velasquez (who just quit) said that the books in question have been reassigned to the correct grade levels. . . No books or categories have been removed from the app.” YET.

But the debate isn’t over. Not by a long shot. Are there any fires burning in your neighborhood or nearby? Tell me about them in the comments.