Things that make me angry

I saw a blog post on tumblr, and had to put in my tuppence worth. You don't mess with books around me....

Original post

500daysofkissingmypillow:

Most Targeted Books

I am so disappointed with this.

My Sister’s Keeper and other books were judged unfairly. I mean they have a point, but this is completely biased.

Source

Back to me:

Eurgh, things like this just anger me, I have read 70% of these books, and I’d read 50% of them before I turned 16. How are these ever so vulnerable things we call teenagers supposed to learn anything about the world if we are banning books? I hate all of these warriors, protecting our innocence (apparently), when really all they’re doing is feeding our ignorance. I genuinely believe I learned vast amounts about our world from books, and I implore anybody who thinks differently to actually read these books. How is anybody supposed to learn anything if you wrap them up in blankets and only let them read stories about rainbows, puppies and cupcakes? (and nothing seriously bad happens to any of them!….. ever!). That doesn’t protect anybody! It bores them! There are falling literacy rates in Britain right now, maybe if there’s something relevant to be learned in a book, someone might actually stop and read it. 

The world, unfortunately, is out there and these books tackle real issues which sadly face hundreds of teenagers every single day. The Perks of Being a Wallflower deals with the psychological after effects of abuse, The Catcher in the Rye talks about depression and the everyday struggle all teenagers know of trying to meet the expectations of those around you, and what happens when you fail, and since it’s a really bloody good novel, it also in it’s tiny 277 pages (in certain copies) tackles the issue of bereavement. And god forbid any of them mention sex, because really, we hadn’t heard of that before picking up this book… and my goodness, we’re horrified, but we want to do it right now! (sarcasm…)

So if you’re one of those really lucky people who live in a world where nothing bad ever happens, then yes, good for you, and by all means, take these books off your shelves. However, everyone else in the world, maybe, just let them read, and god knows, they might actually learn something.