In defense of Wake by Lisa McMann

I turned on the Internet this evening, fully intending to write one of the many reviews I've got backed up in my brain.  This post is not one of those reviews - I will get to them eventually, I swear! - because I discovered this: Wake by Lisa McMann is being challenged at Oliver Middle School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  If you remember, I reviewed the book earlier this year and it had a HUGE impact on me.  Definitely bigger even than what I said in the review.  I don't feel like I've ever had such a personal stake in a book banning before, so I wrote to the principal of the middle school using the contact information Lisa McMann put in her blog post, and here's what I said:

Dear Mr. Officer,

My name is Maggie Desmond-O'Brien, I'm a 16-year-old book blogger, and I found out today that the novel Wake by Lisa McMann is being challenged at your school.  I don't know what your school district is like and what challenges your students face, but if it is anything like mine, I think Wake could do more good in your schools than could possibly be achieved by removing it.

Wake's protagonist, Janie, faces a low-income situation living with an absent father and an alcoholic mother.  She gets called white trash and lives on the wrong side of the tracks, but still works hard to achieve her goal of getting a good education and going to college.  It is very unlike the bulk of teen novels that feature a glitzy protagonist with a glamorous party lifestyle.  When it does feature sex and drugs, it does so in a very real manner, and makes the consequences of these things clear - again, unlike many teen novels.  Also, it's profanity is never excessive or used for shock value - it is simply the way real teenagers and middle schoolers speak, especially those from bad situations.

I frequently speak out against book banning, but I can honestly say that I've rarely had such a personal stake in one.  Reading Wake made me feel so much less alone, as I have also been dismissed as "white trash," despite my educational goals (I would like to double major in English and International Studies with a minor in Sociology).  I read it at a time I was really struggling and despairing about ever going to college, and after my initial devouring proceeded to carry it around with me everywhere and re-read it because I found it so inspiring.  I'm currently attending a local college full time working towards my associate's degree through a state program, and I don't know if I would have had the courage to do that without this book.  The realization that authors can write about teenagers like me instead of only Gossip Girl-style characters or fantasy heroes also fueled my goal to write for a living.

To conclude, while I feel middle and high schoolers are smart and capable of distinguishing fiction from reality and should never have books banned from their schools and libraries, I would especially object to the removal of a book that could help so many like it helped me.  I hope this email will make a difference in your decision.

Respectfully,

Maggie Desmond-O'Brien

Even re-reading it for this blog post I can think of a lot of things I left out, so if you agree with me and feel like adding your voice to the debate, please write to Mr. Officer (the principal of the school) at mrofficer@baschools.org.