"The most civilized countries are the coldest ones," he told us many times. "too much heat addles the brain."

It's a quote from a book I read once because it was on a 10th grade summer reading list for Stephen. It was called "Dreaming in Cuban" and I enjoyed most of it, but there were parts that I thought inappropriate for a 14 year old boy. So I suggested that he choose something else from the list. This came to mind when I discovered that this week is banned books week. I subtly censored Stephen’s reading back then. While freedom of expression is essential, discretion in what you consume is also important. Steve will probably read this blog entry and go check it out of the library now. That’s ok – he’s 22. The kids were always supposed to choose quotes from the books to discuss later. This one would have been mine. I am still waiting for fall to come to Dallas.

But back to books. When my kids were in high school, I read many of the books that they were assigned to read, especially if they were unfamiliar to me. I wanted to know what they were being taught and to be able to discuss the books with them. I discovered some new favorites this way, like “The Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmer Bradley, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury and “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. I had a look at the list of 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000 here and discovered that I have read at least 30-35 of them. Some of them are among the books I read aloud to my kids when they were younger. I always enjoyed reading to my kids. Sometimes I wish they were small again – those were some good times. My husband usually falls asleep when I try to read to him. I was in London once and bought a copy of Little Black Sambo. I remembered it from my long ago childhood and I knew I would never be able to find it here! If I can manage the time, I’ll stop by my library to see whether they are celebrating banned books. Maybe I’ll even pick one up to read.