By: Shannon Riggs
This book was a story about a girl who is being sexually abused, and decides at the end to confide in her teacher. It really bothers me and I would even go as far as to say that it offends me when books are controversial simply because the topic is a “tough topic” to talk about. I think that is a cop out on the part of the teacher to not want to talk about tough issues with kids. The fact is, you do not know where your students are coming from or what they might be going through, and the classroom needs to be a safe place. In my opinion, the classroom should be an agent of conversation and change that breaks certain taboos in terms of what we talk about and don’t talk about. Not talking about something just because it is uncomfortable is perpetuating the taboo. This book was not too upfront about sexual abuse, however, it brings up the topic in a meaningful way and sends a message that it is okay to break the silence. Having said that, I don’t think that I would pick up this book and read it haphazardly to my class, or have it lying around during free reading, but it would be good to keep in mind if I suspected a student in my class was struggling, or if we were doing another unit on safety
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