catholicsphere

Apparently, there is much controversy over the 2007 Newbery Award Winner, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.

The New York Times reports elementary school librarians are looking to ban the book because of content on the first page.

The book is described on Amazon.com’s site as follows:

When Lucky’s mother is electrocuted and dies after a storm, Lucky’s absentee father calls his ex-wife, Brigitte, to fly over from France to take care of the child. Two years later, the 10-year-old worries that Brigitte is tired of being her guardian and of their life in Hard Pan (pop. 42) in the middle of the California desert. While Lucky’s best friend ties intricate knots and the little boy down the road cries for attention, she tries to get some control over her life by restocking her survival kit backpack and searching for her Higher Power. This character-driven novel has an unusually complicated backstory, and a fair amount of exposition. Yet, its quirky cast and local color help to balance this fact, and the desert setting is fascinating. Lucky’s tendency to jump to conclusions is frustrating, but her struggle to come to terms with her mother’s death and with her new life ring true. Phelan’s cover and line drawings are simple and evocative, a perfect complement to the text. Fans of novels by Deborah Wiles and Katherine Hannigan will be happy to meet Lucky.

Certainly weighty stuff for a target audience of grades 4 thru 6, don’t you think?

But, what of the offending passage? Well, judge for yourself whether this is appropriate for 10-12 year olds…

“Sammy told of the day when he had drunk half a gallon of rum listening to Johnny Cash all morning in his parked ‘62 Cadillac, then fallen out of the car when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.”

“The question of Short Sammy’s dog’s scrotum settled into one certain brain crevice as she picked her way among the weedy bushes of the dry wash. Even though Lucky could ask Short Sammy almost anything and he wouldn’t mind, she could never ask about the story of Roy, since she had overheard it. If she asked about Roy, then he would know that she’d been eavesdropping at the anonymous twelve-step meetings.

Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much. It sounded medical and secret, but also important, and Lucky was glad she was a girl and would never have such an aspect as a scrotum to her own body. Deep inside she thought she would be interested in seeing an actual scrotum. But at the same time — and this is where Lucky’s brain was very complicated — she definitely did not want to see one.”

The context of the discussion that Lucky had overheard was apparently listening through the wall to a discussion as part of a 12-step program. Without having read the book, however, its difficult to see what relevance such content has to the story. Some comments at Amazon.com do suggest that the story would not have been affected had this been left out.

Of course, the question of censorship does enter into the equation, too.

So, what do you think?

[tags]newbery award, susan patron, higher power of lucky, books, library, literature, censorship[/tags]