The Youth Media Awards were announced this week. The book Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly won the Newbery Award. I saw one person on Facebook comment that the one review of the book mentioned that the r word is used a lot in the book. I don’t know what review that was, but I found one on Amazon with the same complaint. Is the r word used in the book? Yes, but you have to look at context. It is used multiple times by the bully against a kid who goes to the resource room for special help. I know that we would rather not see the word, but if you are writing realistic fiction you have to be realistic. I guarantee you kids are still calling other kids retarded no matter how many times we tell them the word is hurtful. It is real for the bully to use the word. Nothing about the book makes it seem this is OK.
In the fall there was a big controversy over the book The Black Witch. There was a review online that pulled several racist comments out and used them to say the book was hurtful and should never have been published. People piled on and posted negative reviews on Goodreads without ever reading the book. I read the book. What they fail to comprehend is that those racist statements in the book were said by racist characters. Some were said by the main character, but the entire point of the book was to see the growth in a character who was raised to believe her race was superior only to realize how wrong that was once she goes to school with other races. Context matters. It was a very good book.
I keep seeing over and over again how books are being pulled from schools because parents complained about language or other content without thinking that this language and content is what makes the book real. Why do you want your kids to read sugar-coated realities? Why are we judging books on a few words instead of on the entire content of the book? Why can’t we read challenging and difficult stories anymore?
Also – there was another school shooting today. We seem to be more active in removing “dangerous” books from schools than we are in keeping actual danger out. Maybe we could fix that?
The World's Common Tater 
Good rant. I actually had to think a bit to figure out what the r word was. I get really tired of people who judge a book based on a very small detail, often without even reading the entire book to see just how it fits in. I have no patience for this anymore. They don’t like it? Use it as a teaching point while reading the book with their child and giving it context. They might learn something themselves.
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The while giving a book a bad review without reading it first boggles the mind
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I find it so interesting how often people get up-in-arms over realistic details, such as bullies using the “r” word. I understand that someone could argue that even a realistic usage still propagates the real-world use of the world, but you’re right in saying context makes a world of difference. In the example you point out, it would seem that the use of the “r” word stands to teach kids a lesson about the harmful effects of bullying, which seems like a good thing, to me.
The recent school shooting is, again, horrific and deeply disheartening. So much can be said, but this doesn’t seem to be the appropriate place.
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I agree with your take. People don’t seem to understand context. When I write about 19th century people and use language they would use, that makes it real. Using modern PC language would be all wrong.
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“Why do you want your kids to read sugar-coated realities?” “Why can’t we read challenging and difficult stories anymore?” are spot on questions. I wonder about it, too.
When people get offended by history itself, you better be sure they will get offended at everything else.
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Great rant. Fact – kids are mean. I struggle with this too, writing historical, because it was a very class-centric, racist, ableist time in 18th century France and should we just be whitewashing all of that away?
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