Kwok released the book thirteen years ago Girl in Translation out, a story about a Chinese girl who tries to make a living in the US with her mother. The novel has been published in more than twenty languages, in the Netherlands under the title Almost home. The English version is an international bestseller.
Kwok recently received an email. “A mom told me that a school district in Pennsylvania might want to ban my book. She said she’d be happy to defend my book to the school board. Then I thought, I’m going to do that myself.”
Earlier this week, the same parent picked up Kwok from the airport. The writer flew to the US to attend the school’s board meeting. In a hotel room she wrote her speech, which she has now presented to the school board.
60 books under the microscope
“It’s different from what I’m used to,” she says. “Normally I am invited to speak for people who want me there. Now I wanted to speak myself, because I think it’s so important.”
Almost home stands with sixty other books on a list being scrutinized by the Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania. Why would the school want to ban the book? “Yes, that’s a very good question,” laughs the writer. “There really is so little in my book that could offend people.”
“There are a few things they question. There’s pot smoking in the book, kissing, and the character in the book having sex once. Also, abortion is being considered, but not done.” In addition, the coarse language in the book would be a problem. “But there are 85,000 words in the book. Four of them curse words. And actually two of them aren’t even curse words, but body parts.”
‘Pornographic content? Ridiculous’
There is absolutely no reason to keep the book out of the school library, says Kwok. “The book would have pornographic content,” she says. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. If my book were a movie, I don’t think it would even get the 12+ rating.”
Kwok understands that as a parent you want to protect your child. “But you can also discuss it with your child: should you read this? Are you too young for this?” She sees that besides her book many other books are banned in the US. “And those are really literary books. None Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Kwok suspects the matter is about something much bigger. “Many books that are banned from schools come from marginalized voices. Like people with a migration background, or queer people. It’s those voices that disappear first.”
‘Not addressing some topics’
It is not unique that a school in the US decides to remove books from the library. According to CBS News over 1600 different titles were banned in the 2021-2022 school year alone. Many of those books are about LGBTI characters, deal with racism or have sexual content. On the list with most often banned books are well-known titles such as Looking for Alaska van John Green, Thirteen Reasons Why from Jay Asher and The Handmaid’s Tale van Margaret Atwood.
America correspondent Erik Mouthaan has seen the trend develop in recent years. “Since the corona pandemic, a period in which many children did not go to school for a long time, more attention has been paid to what children learn at school. A large group of parents believe that schools embrace some social changes too quickly and that some themes should not be discussed at school. be, but at home.”
Because 2020 was not only a corona year, but through big ones Black Lives Matter-protests also a year of large social, progressive movements, says Mouthaan. “America is rapidly becoming less religious, there is more attention for themes such as racism, diversity and sexuality. Some parents want to put the brakes on as a result.”
Mouthaan says she regularly speaks with “conservative parents who just don’t want sex to be a topic that can be discussed in school or in textbooks.” “They want to control that themselves.”
Action groups and school boards
It is almost only schools in conservation states or areas where books end up on the ‘blacklist’. “Lists are then circulated of books that, according to conservative activist groups, such as the Moms for Liberty, would not be suitable for children. Some school boards agree.” Boards are also sometimes pressured by parents to remove certain books from the library, says Mouthaan.
“At the same time, you see that these kinds of ‘banned books’ are being brought to the attention in left-wing, democratic areas.”
The list of books to be banned in the Pennsylvania school district is due to a new school policy, according to Kwok. “Since a few months, the members of the school board are the ones who determine which books can be read in the library. They then decide without having read the book itself. Normally the teachers and librarians also have a voice, but not anymore .”
Run race?
Even now that Kwok has defended her book, she ‘absolutely does not’ expect it to return to the school library. “Actually, I think the race is over. But I do hope that I can change something, that I can convince some people, for example: reasonable people who have been given wrong information so far.”
The author is not concerned about the sale of her books. “Whether my book is banned here or not is unimportant to my career. But it’s something that I think is very important. I think it’s a dangerous trend. You don’t want it to spread like oil slick.”
