STELLER AND SCHOOL BUSINESS PARTNER TITLE WAVE CELEBRATE BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2008

Autumn was definitely in the air with its crispness and bounty of harvest on the first Thursday of October. As the sun sliced through fall afternoon air, Steller students and staff reaped the rewards of a free society as they publicly and passionately read books—to an enrapt, captivated audience!

Camera crews rolled as one by one they approached the microphone to share with an attentive audience their freedom to read. Acclaimed local author Andromeda Romano-Lax also joined Steller students and staff at Title Wave Books in honor of the 27th annual celebration of Banned Books Week 2008.

The American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week aims to remind our country of its freedom to read by focusing special attention on those books, many of which are contemporary classics, which have been banned or threatened throughout United States history.

During Steller’s Banned Book Read Out at Title Wave on October 2, all those that participated publicly read passages from their favorite banned and challenged books in front of a packed house:
Francis B. – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Dieter B. – 1984; Chris J. – Fahrenheit 451; Gary J. – The Subtle Knife; Max J. – Fahrenheit 451; Nile M. – The Color Purple; Hayley H. – Lolita; Shannon Herda – Banned Book quotes; Ken Varee – Huckleberry Finn; Linda Samorajski – Bringing Down the House; Andromeda Romano-Lax – The Golden Compass; Katie S. – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Sakae W. – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; and Kaylin Z. – Deenie.

Thank you to all teachers who encouraged both their students and advisees to participate in this worthwhile project. A HUGE thank you to Title Wave Books, our incredible school business partner, for hosting this event. Finally, one more HUGE thank you to everyone that participated and attended, including students, parents and staff. Title Wave staff commended Steller students for their poise, articulation, and choice of selections.

Steller demonstrated to our community once again that its uniquely indomitable and intrepid school spirit is alive, thriving and well. As Playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.” Likewise, author Katherine Paterson was once quoted as saying,

“All of us can think of a book…that we hope none of our children or any other children have taken off the shelf. But if I have the right to remove that book from the shelf – that work I abhor – then you also have exactly the same right and so does everyone else. And then we have no books left on the shelf for any of us.”

Linda Samorajski
School Counselor and School Business Partnership Coordinator