Support Ellen Hopkins

As you all know, there were some shenanigans with the Norman, Oklahoma school district involving Ellen Hopkins and her books. One crazy ass parent ripped into the school, demanded Crank and Glass be removed from the library and didn't want Ellen speaking to any students in the entire school district. The psycho got her wish because the superintendent is a pussy and doesn't want to actually have a discussion about something like that and would much rather just snuff it before the flame gets too big.

So Ellen's books were banned from the library and she, as a person, was banned from the school district. Neener on them that she still spoke at a local venue but, of course, no one that made the fuss about her to begin with deigned to show up. Figures, right? Surely that wacko mom had never read any of Ellen's books either. Just found out what they were about and went on a stink about them.

Now Ellen's got a local radio personality on her ass about the good of the banning, the bad of her books and the immorality she's promoting by writing such filth. Yeah, if you're not *headdesk*ing by now, you're a better person than I am.

Now Ellen's asking for your help. Go to her blog and snag the email addresses she has listed. BE NICE and send in your reasons why Ellen is a fantastic author, why her books are encouraging and why they should remain on the shelves. The objective here is to BE NICE! Meaning, don't use coarse language. It'll pretty much invalidate your point and get your email deleted. Say what you want, but say it with class.

Yeah, this coming from me. Hey, I'm not sending the guy my blog post, am I? But be sure to send your thoughts to these guys and get your voices heard and make sure that Ellen gets her day in court. She and her books don't deserve to be treated like they have by the Norman, Oklahoma locals.

ELLEN HOPKINS BANNED FROM OK SCHOOL!!!

No, I'm not joking, unfortunately. A big thanks to Mari Mancusi for the heads up about this.

Ellen Hopkins donated her time (including travel and board) to a charity cause that landed her in a middle school in Norman, Oklahoma for an author visit scheduled for September 22, this coming Tuesday. This past Tuesday, September 15th, an irate parent bum-rushed the school and demanded that Crank and Glass be removed due to the content. The superintendent conceded and not only pulled the books but forbade Ellen from speaking at that school or the high school.

The upside, the librarian that organized the whole thing, Karin Perry, wouldn't let the day fall and organized for Ellen to speak at the Hillsdale Baptist College at 7:30 on Tuesday. If you're in the area, or know anyone who is, be sure to spread the word and flood the campus in support of Ellen.

Read Ellen's LiveJournal post about it all here.

Of course, the geniuses at SafeLibraries had to have their say in her comments section, posting how how no books have been banned within the last 50 years . . . on an author's blog post ranting not only about how her books were banned from said school library but how she, herself, was forbidden from speaking at that school or the high school . . . O_o Facts? Facts?! Who needs facts? We'll just plug our ears and go LALALALALALALALALA because that so pwns facts like whoa. O_o

Aaaaaaaaanyway, be sure to leave Ellen a comment on her blog to show your love for her and her work and show how moronic the entire situation is. Shame on you, Dr. Joseph Siano, superintendent of Norman's public schools. Lemme guess, you smoked under peer pressure, didn't you?