We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Free People Reading Freely, the Blaine County Library’s Book Club, met on Monday evening, May 6, and discussed three banned and challenged books: Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Marlon Bundo with Jill Twiss, and Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford. Readers shared their responses to these books using the six-word story protocol.
With Gossip Girl, readers recalled the American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage that originally ran on the CW network for six seasons from September 19, 2007 to December 17, 2012. According to one reader, the television drama diluted von Ziegesar’s book, which she described as “the show on steroids.” While readers agreed that addresses can label and clothes can identify, the book felt “over the top” to book club readers, who decided that the lifestyle and social dynamic of the characters living in New York City’s Upper East Side were somewhat foreign to those growing up in a small, rural community.
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is a funny and inclusive picture book that has a positive message about celebrating who you are and loving whom you want. For this book, readers penned two six word stories: People fear what they don’t understand and Difference isn’t bad; difference is special.
The third book, Love and Other Curses, tells the story of the protagonist’s tumultuous identity exploration. As Sam attempts to discover who he is and whom he wants to become, he wonders: Is he gay? Is he transgender? Does he desire a drag queen identity? Unsure about which identity he wishes to cultivate, Sam uses music as a balm to this complexity. Music actually plays a major role in the story, not only through the box of twenty one albums that Sam’s mother left behind for him with notes on the sleeves but through the songs written and played by Linda—songs like “Blanket Fort,” which describes the human need for a safety net or a comfort spot where we feel secure, sheltered, and special.
Readers penned these six word stories to capture Ford’s themes: Family shows up in surprising forms; Trans isn’t about playing dress-up; Erase difficulty: celebrate life’s happy parts.
Although the six-word memoir began as a narrative platform for telling a personal story in only six words, the strategy serves as a versatile analysis and comprehension tool for multiple content areas. As literary response, the six-word story inspires conversation around a big idea. It is also a way to capture and distill the essence of an author’s main characters or main ideas.
Given that many families travel, garden, or find leisure in the outdoors during the summer months, the book club will not meet again until fall. Librarian Valerie Frank encourages readers to watch for a new theme and new sessions in September.
