Speak Loudly and Win a Copy of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson!

By now I'm sure most YA bloggers out there have heard about the guy who wants to ban Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK, and how he wrote an article likening rape to pornography. If you haven't yet heard about it, you can read what Laurie herself has to say here on her blog.

Now I don't usually blog about things like this. Not because things don't bother me, but because people say everything so much better than me. However, I feel the need to join in this time, because what this man said was disgusting and plain wrong. Rape is not pornography. It's anything but. Rape is a crime, an attack, an abuse.

I'm a firm believer that books should never be banned, no matter what people say about them. Banning books is not a good thing to do: what will kids turn to then? What will help them get through day-to-day life? Without the freedom to read, what do we have left?

If you're on Twitter, follow the #SpeakLoudly hashtag. People all over the world are speaking up for SPEAK, and rightly so. If you haven't seen it already, here's a video of Laurie Halse Anderson reading Listen, a poem she wrote that's made up of letters and emails from readers of her book.




I know it's not a huge help, and it won't make an impact in the grand scheme of things, but I'm doing it anyway: I'm giving away a copy of SPEAK. If The Book Depository will ship to your country, you're eligible to enter. I'm paying -- they're shipping. Closing date is September 27th. Just leave your name and email address below, and you're good to go.

Don't forget to Speak Loudly for SPEAK!