Category: teacher librarians

I’ve checked the final text of Destroying Avalon. The notorious ‘f-word’ appears 5 times.

5 TIMES!!!!!

Do you get that? In a novel of 56 393 words, 5 of them are that bad word! Reason enough to ban it? I guess so, for some schools that’s obviously five times too many. I get it. But what about what those other 56 388 words are doing? What about the impact those words deliver?

The messages in Destroying Avalon (I think- and so does my editor and publisher- and my Mum) are important. It’s about cyber bullying- something so terrible and soul destroying we need to deal with it. It’s a book for kids who are alone, who feel they can’t take it anymore, who need to reach out. And maybe Destroying Avalon will encourage them to take that first step.

It’s a book for kids who maybe engaging in that behaviour without realising the ramifications of their actions. Maybe reading Destroying Avalon will remind them of the fundamental human kindness they so eaily shed when they hide behind the anonymity of the web.

It’s for parents who are giving their kids 15 inch LCD monitors, high speed broadband access and a passoport into the cyber world- without knowing where their kids are actually going.

It’s a book that is meant to send a timely reminder to us all. We live in a fantastic, technologically advanced world that provides us so much more than ever before. But let’s not blind ourselves to the dark side because it’s an inconvenient truth (thanks Al Gore!)

So it’s official Destroying Avalon has the f-word (in the most crucial pages of the novel) appearing five times. Do you think that should be reason enough to ban it???