Books
Whenever I hear anyone speak of a “slow computer” or that “this printer takes forever” I visualize robed monks sitting before their desks with quill and ink pot tirelessly writing character after character, word after word. That was “slow” and did “take forever,” until the blessed year 1455 – moveable type, the printing press.
Reverse engineer to find significant moments. Human speech for the concrete (rock) to the abstract (love). Symbols that stand for those words and methods to preserve those symbols. Lasting surfaces for the symbols: cave walls, large rocks, clay tablets, vellum, papyrus, paper. Symbols become the written words for both concrete and abstract meanings that pass from generation to generation. A sense of history requires preserving the facts of a community; scribes record and preserve. Moveable type, the printing press, multiple copies of the same thing. People read.
Reading becomes a common activity but not for everyone. If one reads, one cannot do physical labor – only the upper-class men could afford books and had time to read.
In America, slaves by law could not be taught to read: even into the 20th century, voters had to pass literacy tests before they could vote – only upper-class white men were allowed to read and vote. Women were not allowed to read because, even after long grueling hours of labor with each child, women were considered “too delicate” to read history, mathematics, sciences, novels –maybe a little poetry or Bible verses but nothing stronger.
From 1559 until 1956, the Catholic Church provided lists of books Catholics could not read. Nazi gangsters burned libraries of books. In our own time and state, politicians and religious groups have waved lists of books they want banned, pulled from the shelves. In one Arkansas county, the proposal was that anyone who checked out or handed a reader one of the listed books would be arrested and jailed.
I know there are people who are afraid of books, want them banned, think books can hurt people. I am automatically morally, politically, and intellectually opposed to banning books. I have read boring books, outrageous books, books with explicit sex and violence, but none that should be banned like tobacco or assault rifles or laws against voting, things that really do hurt people.
A recent Atlantic article notes that 2 of every 5 Americans who read, read only one book last year. I have heard the argument that we are in the “post written word” era, that we gather information faster and better from electronic sources.
Cyberbullying has become reality, and records show high correlations between cell phones, teen suicide, and anti-social behavior. Gen Z people spend an average of 6 hours 27 minutes daily on their electronic devices. Only Harry Potter readers came close to that.
Banned books. I admit I had not read even one of those banned or strongly objected to. These three, I think, should be read by anyone who is at all curious about young people and the choices they face. I thought I could read as if I were a young person – but that was too far a stretch for my 91 years. I had to read as one who knows almost nothing about being a teen in 2026.
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, published 2020. It is subtitled A Memoir-Manifesto. A Black gay man, he examines the nature-nurture quandary each of us faces, gays even more. He is kind, understanding, expresses gratitude even while detailing each segment of his life until at 30 he writes this memoir. Without anger, hatred of self or others, he wants to create what wasn’t there when he was young – a book to help understand what he was going through as a kid.
He hopes that “someone might see a reflection of themselves in the words and know that they are not alone, that they too can grow and thrive.” The detail I found most endearing was his grandmother, full of love and acceptance, who kept him in balance.
Gender Queer, A Memoir by Maia Kobabe was published in 2020. This is a graphic book. Other than MAD, Doonesbury, and Snoopy I have no experience with the form… but I liked it. Kobabe was able to tell some of the harsh realities of young queer choices, mistakes, growths, and understandings in the semi-clinical manner that drawings and word bubbles allow. These choices were not made less important, but made clear for the reader to understand, to recognize, and to legitimatize. Here too, the author expresses gratitude, no anger.
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, published in 2021. This book I might decide to own. (I once owned hundreds of books and moved them every time I moved – or gave my house a thorough cleaning. I now tap into the library until I find a book I want close by.) Drawings, diagrams, large print allow the breakdown of subjects, definitions, addresses, a compendium of detail. The narrative is honest, sometimes humorous, always informative… and just good to read. This is important information for “anyone who might be curious” no matter age, gender, or orientation.
One caveat: I spent years, red pen in hand, insisting on correct pronouns. I understand the need for nontraditional pronouns but I can’t make “they” into a singular pronoun. I will keep trying. They will keep trying?