Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at 7:30 p.m., via Zoom.

Since June is Pride Month, it’s a perfect time to read Susan Kuklin’s Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out! Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults, describing their sense of identity before, during, and after transitioning.

During a time of rampant misinformation and escalating attack on LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender teens and their access to school sports, bathrooms and gender affirming medical care, it is more important than ever to hear from the very teens that are most impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

School Library Journal called Beyond Magenta a “powerful and important reading” saying, “What makes this book outstanding is the way that Kuklin allows the teen voice to shine, with very little authorial interruption.”

Kuklin did a fabulous interview about the book itself and about its banned status. Check it out here: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/21/1144627475/author-susan-kuklin-beyond-magenta-book-ban

If you have questions about the Banned Books Club, contact Laci Lee Adams.

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Sunday, April 23, 12:30-2:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room.

Tuesday, April 25, 7:30-9:00 p.m., via Zoom.

Our April book is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. As noted on Wikipedia, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a first-person narrative novel by Sherman Alexie, from the perspective of a Native American teenager, Arnold Spirit Jr., also known as ‘Junior’, a 14-year-old promising cartoonist. The book is about Junior’s life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his decision to go to a nearly all-white public high school away from the reservation. The graphic novel includes 65 comic illustrations that help further the plot.”

The Anderson Branch of the Public Library is trying to reserve these books, but they are in high demand, so a copy will also be available at the church.

To discuss the book, attend at one of the dates and times noted above. For the Zoom session, the Zoom link will be sent out the day of the meeting to the Banned Book Club mailing list.

To get on the Banned Book Club mailing list, contact Laci Lee Adams, our Director of Lifespan Faith Development, at:

2023.

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Sunday, March 19, 12:30-2:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room.

Tuesday, March 28, 7:30-9:00 p.m., via Zoom.

Our March book is Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison. As noted on Wikipedia, “Lawn Boy is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel written by Jonathan Evison and published in 2018 by Algonquin Books. It tells the story of Mike Muñoz, a young adult Mexican American who has faced hardship ever since his childhood and is now going through a phase of self-discovery.”

A few of the books are on hold at the Anderson Public Library and a copy will be available at the church.

To discuss the book, attend at one of the dates and times noted above. For the Zoom session, the Zoom link will be sent out the day of the meeting to the Banned Book Club mailing list.

To get on the Banned Book Club mailing list, contact Laci Lee Adams, our Director of Lifespan Faith Development, at:

2023.

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Sunday, February 26, 12:30-2:00 p.m., in the Heritage Room.

Tuesday, February 28, 7:30-9:00 p.m., via Zoom.

Our February book is The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzerald. As noted on Wikipedia, “The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway’s interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby’s obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.” The novel includes consideration of social class, wealth, gender, race, environmentalism, and the American Dream. “The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterwork and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.”

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

To discuss the book, attend at one of the dates and times noted above.  For the Zoom session, the Zoom link will be sent out the day of the meeting to the Banned Book Club mailing list.

To get on the Banned Book Club mailing list, contact Laci Lee Adams, our Director of Lifespan Faith Development, at:

2023.

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Sunday, September 18, 2022, at 12:30 p.m., for the In-Person meeting, location TBD.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., for the Zoom meeting.

Considering the recent, violent attack on Salman Rushdie, no banned book is getting more attention right now than The Satanic Verses! Rushdie is widely known for the use of magical realism to grapple with questions of identity, history, and religiosity. Undergirding much of Rushdie’s writing is an examination and exploration of those things that we most take for granted.

A recent republication of the article, “Why Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ Remains so Controversial Decades After its Publication” (see https://tinyurl.com/Rushdie-08), includes Rushdie’s own thoughts about the reception of Satanic Verses.

Since the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” Rushdie has argued that religious texts should be open to challenge. “Why can’t we debate Islam?” Rushdie said in a 2015 interview. “It is possible to respect individuals, to protect them from intolerance, while being skeptical about their ideas, even criticizing them ferociously.”

This kind of grappling with religious texts and ideas seemed like a perfectly UU choice for our September Banned Book Club. The book is available for audiobook download through the public library and a physical copy is available for reading at the church. Reach out to Laci Lee Adams to join the Banned Book Club mailing list or to gain access to the book. Laci’s email address is:

September’s Book: Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses
In-person Meeting: September 18th @ 12:30 p.m. (Location TBD)
Zoom Meeting: September 21st @ 7:30 p.m.

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Five of the ten most Challenged Books of 2021, according to the American Library Association, were LGBTQ+ books. Since June is Pride Month, it seems only right that the Banned Book Club will be reading Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, which has the honor of being the most Challenged Book of 2021. Gender Queer is an illustrated memoir that delves into the challenges of living as a nonbinary person in a binary society.

In an interview addressing the controversy surrounding the book, Kobabe said, “It’s very hard to hear people say ‘this book is not appropriate to young people’ when it’s like I was a young person for whom this book would have been not only appropriate, but so, so necessary. There are a lot of people who are questioning their gender, questioning their sexuality and having a real hard time finding honest accounts of somebody else on the same journey. There are people for whom this is vital and for whom this could maybe even be lifesaving.”

In order to allow for the fullest participation, the Banned Book Club will actually meet twice this month – once via Zoom and once in person! If you are interested in joining one or both of those discussions, please email Laci Lee Adams to get meeting information and Banned Book Club correspondence. It’s never too late to join our Banned Book Club. You can always sign up by emailing:

June 2022.

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Everywhere in the news, we are hearing about the expanded number of books that are being taken out of school curriculums, removed from library shelves or even books being publicly burned. In many instances, the proponents of these banned books are ultra-right religious groups! One bedrock of Unitarian Universalism, however, is the free and responsible search for truth. Moreover, we expressly tie the power of our living tradition to multiple sources of inspiration. So, let’s lean into this moment of control and censorship with one of the things that make UUism truly radical – learning!

Join one of our upcoming Banned Book groups! We will be taking a multi-generational approach to our banned book clubs, by offering book clubs for children, youth and adults. In the case of parents, you can decide between a parenting group or a general adult group.

Since the most recent controversy has been around Maus, it seemed like a perfect place to start for our youth and adult book groups. The children’s group selection will be determined in consultation with parents of interested participants. If you or your child are interested in joining a Banned Book Group, please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F49A4AC2FA4F9C52-banned

March 2022.

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