School Excoriates Book Reviews that Fail to Disclose "Graphic Sexual Details" in Books for Children; Lush by Natasha Friend is "Wildly Inappropriate" for Certain Children

Natasha Friend, the
award-winning author
of PERFECT, LUSH,
BOUNCE, and FOR KEEPS

A school has spoken out sharply about misleading school book reviews that leave children exposed to inappropriate material.

"I read the book and it is not appropriate for fifth graders," stated Kalida Superintendent Don Horstman.  "I contacted the publisher and the two major school reviewers that almost every teacher uses, which both gave glowing reviews.  They apologized, but I don't know what they will do to the reviews.  You rely on a professional service such as Scholastic to review your books.  Everything I read gave glowing reviews and didn't go into the graphic sexual details of the book.  From reading those reviews I would have bought the book."

"It was amazing that any, any educational organization would recommend (Lush) to any middle-grade level child," stated Horstman.  "It is recommended for grades five through nine and it is wildly inappropriate for those ages."

It is breathtaking as it calls into question major book reviewers who fail to reveal inappropriate material for children.  (Might it have something to do with walking on eggshells in publishing?)  Public schools and communities nationwide need to take note of this.  No wonder parents create sites like TheBookBuzz.org.

Oh look!  The American Library Association [ALA] listed it as "Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers Winner" for 2007!  (Another ALA Quick Pick book was removed from 371 middle and high schools in the New York City public school system for being inappropriate for children.  And a book with 0ral s3x was awarded by the ALA as the best book of the year for 12 year olds and up.)  Here's the ALA's review of Lush:

Thirteen-year-old Samantha’s father is an alcoholic.  When he is sober, he is a great guy, but when he is drunk, he is scary and abusive.  With her mother in denial and a four-year-old brother to protect, Sam writes a note asking for advice and leaves it in the library, hoping an older girl she admires will write back to her.  So begins a correspondence in which Sam opens up about her father’s alcoholism as well as her crush on an older boy.  In return, the letter writer, who goes only by initials, reveals some hard truths.  As she did in Perfect (2005), Friend adeptly takes a teen problem and turns it into a believable, sensitive, character-driven story, with realistic dialogue.  The cautiously optimistic ending works because Friend has convinced readers that Sam can handle whatever happens.  Friend, who clearly understands and empathizes with young teens, is a writer to watch. -- Debbie Carton

See anything missing?

You have to see this for yourself to believe it:

"Lush" Causes Uproar by Parents

by Cortney Mumaugh

Putnam County Sentinel

15 December 2010

KALIDA - Concerned parents addressed the Kalida School Board on December 8 regarding a book a fifth grader brought home from school.

"Lush" by Natasha Friend was deemed inappropriate by parents, Kalida School Board and Kalida administration.  The book has been pulled from library shelves at the school.

"Lush" was purchased by a fifth grade teacher based on the review provided by Scholastic.  The Scholastic website states the following about "Lush":

"Samantha has a secret...It's hard to be a thirteen-year-old-girl.  But it's even harder when your father's a drunk.  It adds an extra layer to everything - your family's reaction to things, the friends you're willing to bring home, the way you see yourself and the world.  For Samantha, it's something that has been going on for so long that she's almost used to it.  Only, you never get used to it.  Especially when it starts to get worse.

Sam knows things have to stop.  But she doesn't know how to make them stop.  So she picks a random girl in the library and starts sending her notes, asking for advice.  And she keeps an extra-close eye on her little brother, trying to protect him from getting hurt.  Sam doesn't want her family to fall apart.  But that might be what has to happen for things to be okay again.

As she did in the prize-winning Perfect, Natasha Friend has written a powerful, honest novel that gets to the heart of one girl's problems - and the strength she must find in order to cope."

Scholastic rates the book appropriate for ages 13 and over.  A seemingly relevant story for a child to read.  However, this review does not mention the sexual nature of "Lush."

"The book was disgusting and disturbing to anyone, especially a child in the school system.  It's open and very descriptive of sexuality, rape, and drunkenness," stated the father of a Kalida fifth grader.  "There needs to be some sort of system so this does not happen again."

"I read the book and it is not appropriate for fifth graders," stated Kalida Superintendent Don Horstman.  "I contacted the publisher and the two major school reviewers that almost every teacher uses, which both gave glowing reviews.  They apologized, but I don't know what they will do to the reviews.  You rely on a professional service such as Scholastic to review your books.  Everything I read gave glowing reviews and didn't go into the graphic sexual details of the book.  From reading those reviews I would have bought the book."

"It was amazing that any, any educational organization would recommend (Lush) to any middle-grade level child," stated Horstman.  "It is recommended for grades five through nine and it is wildly inappropriate for those ages."

Karl Lammers, Elementary Principal is checking into a screening procedure/process and will report back to the parents and Superintendent.

Here are some other reviews of the book:

ALA's Booklist:

Thirteen-year-old Samantha's father is an alcoholic.  When he is sober, he is a great guy, but when he is drunk, he is scary and abusive.  With her mother in denial and a four-year-old brother to protect, Sam writes a note asking for advice and leaves it in the library, hoping an older girl she admires will write back to her.  So begins a correspondence in which Sam opens up about her father's alcoholism as well as her crush on an older boy.  In return, the letter writer, who goes only by initials, reveals some hard truths.  As she did in Perfect (2005), Friend adeptly takes a teen problem and turns it into a believable, sensitive, character-driven story, with realistic dialogue.  The cautiously optimistic ending works because Friend has convinced readers that Sam can handle whatever happens.  Friend, who clearly understands and empathizes with young teens, is a writer to watch.  Debbie Carton
Copyright © American Library Association.  All rights reserved

School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up–To the outside world, 13-year-old Samantha's family seems perfectly happy.  However, they are struggling to keep her architect father's alcoholism a secret, and the balancing act of enabling his addiction and protecting their image is becoming more and more difficult.  Sam longs to be able to share her burden with a friend and reaches out by leaving an anonymous autobiographical letter in a library book.  Her anger and frustration are palpable as she struggles with her love for her dad despite the fact that his promises to clean up never materialize.  When Sam is chastised by her mother and grandmother for not believing in his ability to change, readers will sympathize with the injustice of her difficult situation.  Yet, the author avoids a maudlin tone by infusing the plot with details of typical teen life, such as Sam's crush on an older boy and embarrassment at her developing body.  Witty dialogue and smooth writing move the novel along at a clipped pace, and tension is successfully built and maintained as the teen's father's illness takes a dangerous turn, her budding relationship comes to a head, and her anonymous library pen pal is revealed.  Despite the minor appearance of a stereotypical librarian, this is a perceptive novel featuring a likable protagonist to whom readers will easily relate.  As in Perfect (Milkweed, 2004), Friend adroitly portrays a weighty topic with touches of humor and grace.–Rebecca M. Jones, Fort Myers-Lee County Library, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  All rights reserved.

Scholastic:

It's hard to be a 13-year-old girl. But it's even harder when your father's a drunk. It adds an extra layer to everything — your family's reactions to things, the people you're willing to bring home, the way you see yourself and the world.


For Samantha, it's something that's been going on for so long that she's almost used to it. Only, you never get used to it.  Especially when it starts to get worse...

Teenreads.com:

It's not easy being 13, but when your father is a drunk, it's even harder.  Just ask Sam.  She can't even admit to her closest friends the true dynamics of her family.  While Sam is dying to confide in someone about her family problems, she'd rather tell a stranger.  That's why she starts the notes in the library.

Sam writes about all her worries concerning her father's alcoholism on scraps of paper and places the notes in between the pages of the town library's A History of Modern Whaling --- not a very popular check-out item.  To her surprise, and delight, a secret pen pal responds with advice.

While at the library swapping notes with an anonymous pen pal, Sam also attracts the attention of an older boy, Drew.  And she can't believe it when suddenly Drew is attracted to her.  With her home life such a mess, Sam wants more than anything for this boy to like her whatever the cost, even if it means going to a party and drinking.  When Sam finds herself acting like her father, she realizes that she has hit rock bottom.

LUSH is author Natasha Friend's follow-up to the highly acclaimed PERFECT.  Like her former work, it cuts to the raw emotions of this teen girl living in a not-so-perfect situation.  The language is simplistic yet touching and moving.  Sam is real and so is her father's alcoholism.  LUSH will be helpful to young people who are going through the same problem Sam faces.  Friend also includes a list of important alcoholism resources for kids and teens at the end of the novel.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

Reading Rocks at D.R. Hill Middle School:

4 stars

Sam’s life is hanging by a thread.  Her best friend since elementary school has turned into a typical dorky, pervy middle school moron.  Although Sam has four BFFs that she spends every weekend with, they don’t have a clue about her father’s alcoholism.  Sam’s mother is always zoned out on yoga, and she never wants to hold Sam’s father accountable for his drinking binges.  Desperate for advice, Sam turns to an anonymous source - by leaving a letter describing her problems in a library book.  Soon Sam begins corresponding back and forth with a person she’s never even met.  With this support things begin to get better, though.  Sam finds herself the object of a hot high school guy’s crush.  She is suddenly Miss Popularity at her own school.  Her father promises to make some changes.  Yep - life is good.  That is…until the violence starts.

Lush is an important book for anyone in middle school dealing with struggles and stress in his home life.  The author does not paint a pretty picture or a happy ending in this novel.  This does, however, offer hope to anyone dealing with alcoholism - and will offer the reader hope in the end.

Goodreads.com:

In her debut, Perfect, Natasha Friend probed teen angst and denial.  Her second novel, Lush, invites us into the life of a 13-year-old girl forced to cope daily with her father's alcoholism.  Young Samantha's ugly family secret isn't her only problem, though:  Her mother seems more interested in achieving yogic tranquility than in dealing with family problems; her gym teacher views her as a menace; and, oh yes, her boobs won't stop growing.  This arresting novel of adolescence will touch a chord in troubled teens.

Young Adult Book Reviews:

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 14 and up
# of Pages: 178 p.
RAC Book: Yes

Samantha struggles with the fact that her father is an alcoholic.  He is a successful architect who often comes home late or not at all due to his drinking habits.  Her mother is constantly making excuses for him and trying to tell her that everything is okay, but Samantha does not believe this and starts to grow distant from him.  After a binge he is always apologetic and promising change, but Sam quickly learns that his word means nothing.  Her little brother is young enough that he doesn’t understand what is going on, but Sam tries to protect him from it nonetheless.  She begins leaving notes for someone in the library she believes might be able to help her, but the person responding to her notes is not who she thinks it is.  As she deals with some bullying at school the situation at home continues to get worse.  The worst part is that she starts to wonder if she could have the same tendencies as her father.

Alcoholism is a very serious topic for young adults, but this story relates the topic best to teenagers and what it can be like to live with an alcoholic.  This book discusses the warning signs, the symptoms, and even the steps needed to begin overcoming this disease.  Having said that, it never gets preachy or gives the impression that something of this nature can be fixed quickly.  Communication is stressed as being very important to helping a family member work through this problem.  A good book about a serious subject.

Common Sense Media:

Parents need to know that this book is about a girl struggling to cope with an alcoholic father.  In an alcohol-fueled rage, her father hits her young brother with a bottle.  Also, Sam shares some serious kisses with a high school boy; he pressures her to have sex one night while she's drunk at a party -- until he realizes she's only 13.  That same night, she is molested by a group of boys in her grade; when she returns to school, she's called names and her locker is vandalized.

HMS Library:

Did you ever feel like you couldn’t trust your own father?  Samantha feels this way.  The book Lush is about a girl named Samantha who just wants her dad to stop drinking alcohol.  Samantha writes letters to this girl in the library who she doesn’t know because she thinks she can help her out with the problems of her dad and all.  Samantha one day realizes it’s not that girl it’s someone else.  Samantha has her best friends she can’t live without, but they don’t know about her dad.  The only person that does is Charlie Parker, Samantha’s old friend.  There is also someone Samantha likes named Drew at the library.  Drew changes her whole world.  You’ll have to read what happens with that.

I really enjoyed this book.  I think it’s a fun book.  This book is realistic fiction.  I think mostly girls would enjoy it.  This book makes you want to keep reading because you want to find out what happens with Samantha’s dad, if he ever stops drinking alcohol.  I am currently reading the 3rd book in the series called Bounce.  It’s really good so far.  I never got to read the 1st book in the series Perfect, but I bet it is as good as the others.  You don’t have to read the series in order because each book deals with a new character and a new story.

Sarah K. - 7th grade

Shelfari:

It's hard to be a 13-yr-old girl.  But it's even harder when your father's a drunk.  It adds an extra layer to everything -- your family's reactions to things, the people you're willing to bring home, the way you see yourself and the world.  For Samantha, it's something that's been going on for so long that she's almost used to it. Only, you never get used to it.  Especially when it starts to get worse... A bold, honest Scholastic Press debut from Natasha Friend.

Tino Booktalk:

Lush by Natasha Friend tells the story of a thirteen-year-old girl, Samantha, who has an alcoholic father.  Her father makes life harder for her and her family, but she didn’t know things could get worse.  Samantha knows that things have to stop, but she doesn’t know how to make things stop.  So she chooses a random girl from the library and starts sending her notes for advice.  But the note gets picked up by someone else who tells her to “give up” and that “no matter what you do, things will never change.”  Determined to prove her anonymous pen-pal wrong, she starts telling “her” everything that happens and how she tries to keep her family together.  This book is unpredictable and really shows the voice of the character.  From the prize-winning author of Perfect, Natasha Friend creates a realistic story of one girl’s journey to finding her strength.

Reviewed by Susan W.

Building Rainbows:

Samantha has a secret... Her father is a drunk and it,s hard keeping this secret.  She wants this to stop but it keeps getting worse.  In the library she picks a random girl and starts sending notes, asking for her advice.  She also meets someone else at the library...

Book review by: Maris
age: 12

Lastly, let me remind people of "Court Backs Local School Control in Evans-Marshall v Board of Education; ALA Loses Another Means to Propagandize Local Communities."  It is also good to remind communities that "It's Not Censorship, It's Parenting!  -- Best Explanation Ever for What's Wrong With the American Library Association and its Effect on Public School Libraries."

Dear Superintendent Don Horstman, you are a star for speaking out about misleading book reviews.  When the usual suspects (ALA, ACLU, NCAC, etc.) being to flood your community with the same false information as they do nationwide, don't back down.  Take heart from other school superintendents like Daniel Freeman who actually commented in my blog post and engaged with several authors here: "Kentucky School Superintendent Exposes False Cries of Censorship; Removes Educationally Unsuitable Books from Curriculum Despite Being on ALA's List for Reluctant Readers."  What a coincidence!  Lush is also on that list for "reluctant readers," from the same anything goes ALA!  Why not give Daniel Freeman a call?

Enjoy!  And do contact me when the ALA/ACLU/NCAC propaganda campaign begins.  Send me a copy of the letters or threats you will receive.  I will help you cut through the false information.


NOTE ADDED 22 APRIL 2012:

It appears the problem still exists in another schools:

But do research your YA books beyond just the reviewing tools that fail IMHO almost every time to tell us the amount of promiscuity, profanity, and violence included in a book.

I agree it is difficult to know every title in your library.  I know very few librarians who say the [sic] read cover to cover every book that goes on the shelf.  We rely on reviews and word of mouth quite a bit. 

Source:

• "Middle School Librarian – Closet Censor?," by Cathy Jo Nelson, Cathy Nelson's Professional Thoughts, 21 April 2012.

(Also, I removed a YouTube video from a defunct account that I had linked above.)

.