When I first got glasses, I remember feeling a sense of shock. Everything was so clear and crisp and at first it felt almost too much. Was this what the world really looked like?
Well, I feel like that's what's happening with many of the people who want to ban books. It's like they just got forced to put on a pair of glasses.
Because the books they want banned are books that show heroes can be any race or gender, stories that tell the untold but true history of our country, stories that let kids feel and see their own world and the worlds outside of their own. And seeing all that so clearly is uncomfortable.
But also very necessary.
To kids, the books that are being banned are like the glasses I wear. Just like when I looked at a tree and could finally see every leaf, these books help kids look at their community and see every human. These books can give them a clear, truer view of the world all around us.
The people who are trying to ban books are, in a sense, trying to withhold glasses from a whole generation of kids. Banning these books will permanently damage their perception of the world to the extent that they cannot — will not — recognize the humanity of their own communities.
A couple of my books books have been pulled from some library shelves.
Two years ago, in Jamestown, Michigan, because the library there would not censor LGBTQ+ themed books, residents voted to de-fund it. As of now, the library is dependent on outside donations. If a new measure is not passed this election, it's possible the area will be without this community space.
The ultimate heartbreaking message the original voters seemed to send is — we would rather sacrifice community than see that LGBTQ+ people are human.
The refusal to see others hurts us all.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know that we must not just push back against book banners. We must also push back our fear of them.
We must not quietly choose different books because we are afraid someone might get upset, because it is easier or because we don’t want to make waves. We must instead support educators and booksellers who are under attack.
And, most of all, we must try to get as many of these diverse books to as many kids as possible, so that they can see the world as it truly is.
Children's author and illustrator Grace Lin lives in Florence, Massachusetts and is a member of Authors Against Book Bans.
