Reaction to Banned Book: TTFN

I choose to read the banned book TTFN by Lauren Myracle. This book is about young teen girls that are 16 years old. It chronicles the stories of three best friends in their sophomore year in high school. It was a really interesting book because it is written in instant messaging style and I had originally read the prequel to this novel so I was really interested to read the second one. I love the stories that they tell because some of them had me thinking back to my own high school years.

 I think it is hilarious that people ban books because I feel as though that would spark a readers interest rather than steer them away from a novel. It really made me curious and more interested to read other novels on the list and I feel as though it would do the same for middle school students. With that being said, I do feel TTFN did contain material I feel would be inappropriate for middle school students.

The book contained: 

- explicit sexuality 

- foul language 

- adult situations 

- teacher student relations

I also believe that this book was banned because it discourages correct grammar and spelling. When  high school girls instant message throughout this book they do not write correctly. I am sure that some teachers and parents do not like that because it encourages their children that they can do the same. I think the content of this novel is really relatable for students in middle school at some points and at others is not appropriate for them. I do believe that readers should have a right to read what they want but I think there is a point where adults should step in when content is targeted for an older age. I believe this novel has very great and relatable stories but would be more appropriate for high school girls rather than middle school. This book would be entertaining for high school girls because they are going through the same situations in their lives. I would not have this book available in my lower grade middle school classroom but would not forbid students from reading it if they had it in my class. I plan to make as many books as I can available to my students but I do plan on making sure they are age appropriate.