An Open Letter to the Forest of Reading:
As Canadian authors and illustrators, we are deeply concerned about the issue of shadow banning in the Forest of Reading awards program.
Based on a number of screenshots we have received, it appears that the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has been restricting its students’ access to four Forest of Reading-nominated titles for a number of years, because those books “don’t align with the Family Life Curriculum”—ie. they include 2SLGBTQ+ characters. The screenshots we have received reflect a discussion via email, as well as meeting minutes, indicating that WCDSB librarians have been directed to segregate these titles from the other books on the list, moving them to a “Professional” section of the library that children can't access on their own. Unless a teacher chooses to pre-read the book and provide "the Catholic context" before reading the book to their students, the students will not be able to read these books.
The books affected are nominees for the Blue Spruce, Silver Birch Express, and Silver Birch Fiction Awards, and include Princess Pru and the Ogre on the Hill by Maureen Fergus and Danesh Mohiuddin; The Mystery of the Painted Fan by Linda Trinh; Salma Writes a Book by Danny Ramadan; and Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley.
Segregating and restricting access to 2SLGBTQ+ books is a form of book challenge or silent censorship sometimes called shadow-banning. Shadow-banning includes actions designed to limit a book’s readership by relocating it, restricting who can access it, or discouraging teachers from using the book in the classroom. These actions often target books by and for marginalized communities, as they do here, while allowing schools to avoid the backlash that might follow an outright ban. Shadowbans like the one currently being practiced by WCDSB hurt 2SLGBTQ+ children and those from 2SLGBTQ+ families, who will miss the opportunity to see their own identities and families represented on the page. It denies all students an opportunity to learn about the diversity of the world they live in.
Although these schools will be participating in Forest of Reading, their students will be voting without having equal access to these nominated titles. This practice also biases the Forest of Reading awards program against authors who write about 2SLGBTQ+ characters. If students from multiple schools can’t read their books--if they don’t even see their books on the shelves—they won’t vote for them.
The Forest of Reading is a much-loved program--by authors as well as schools! It’s an important pillar of our Canadian kidlit community and with book bans, censorship, and anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric escalating–and shadow bans becoming more and more prevalent- we all need to make sure that we protect the award and its integrity.
The program has now released a statement highlighting the rise in book challenges and addressing the importance of providing students with access to diverse books in response to this issue. In this statement, the Forest of Reading makes a number of important and valid statements. However, the impact of this statement is significantly weakened by this sentence:
“The Forest of Reading has created resources and activities to support running these programs, but recognize that each library professional, educator or family member’s program could look different since it is an optional program and not mandated at the government level.”
Our response to this is simple: optional, non-government mandated programs can still require participants to be inclusive and fair. The statement encourages organizations to be inclusive, but does not require it. That is not an effective way to ensure that all children are given access to all of the diverse selection of books that have been so carefully and expertly chosen by the Forest of Reading staff. Censoring books to avoid 2SLGBTQ+ content is never in the best interest of children. This practice harms students, some of whom might be struggling with their sexual orientation and gender identity. It tells 2SLGBTQ+ students that their identities are wrong, or shameful, or can’t be spoken about, instead of supporting them to feel free to be themselves in their own schools.
It is also not an effective way to ensure that all nominated titles are given an equal opportunity to compete in the program, and to find their intended audience. As authors and illustrators, we invest significant amounts of time, care, expertise, and love into our work. Being recognized by a program like the Forest of Reading–and then finding out our books are being hidden away because they include characters who in many cases share our own identities or have families that look like our own families–is a painful experience.
We appreciate the work, time, and energy that Ontario Library Association staff and volunteers put into this program. We understand that for many, it is a labour of love–for children, for books, for authors. We also empathize with the librarians and teachers who have been working hard on the front lines to navigate these book challenges. We feel strongly, however, that in order to resolve this situation and preserve the integrity and fairness of this much-loved children’s choice awards program, concrete action needs to be taken.
We are asking the Forest of Reading to take a strong stance against book banning and shadowbanning by requiring all participating organizations to sign an agreement that indicates they will provide equal access to all nominated titles, without segregation.
This is an important time for the Canadian kidlit community to stand up for 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, and to advocate for schools to continue to create a supportive environment for all their students. Please share widely.
Are you a writer, illustrator, librarian or an educator?
Signed By:
- Danny Ramadan
- Maureen Fergus
- Ronnie Riley
- Linda Trinh
- Robin Stevenson
- Sal Sawler
- Cherie Dimaline
- David A. Robertson
- Lawrence Hill
- Ivan Coyote
- Nita Prose
- Stephanie Cooke
- K.R. Byggdin
- Laurie Elmquist
- Anita Daher
- Star Spider
- Curtis Campbell
- Caroline Fernandez
- Regan McDonell
- Teresa Toten
- Larry Verstraete
- andrew larsen
- Margaret DeRosia
- Jennifer Lanthier
- Cory Lavender
- Chad Lucas
- Christie Williamson
- Oksanna Crawley
- Sandra Dumais
- Andrew Katz
- Juliana Léveillé-Trudel
- Lee Fodi
- Mireille Messier
- Arushi Raina
- Daniel Miguez
- Sara Cassidy
- Anna Bron
- Tanya Boteju
- Sennah Yee
- Hope Dalvay
- Tash McMillan
- Lea Beddia
- Ken Setterington
Wendy Wayling
Jeff Ross
Colleen Nelson
Hasan Namir
Leanne Baugh
Sara Davidson
Jean Pendziwol
Annick MacAskill
- Barb Pepin
- Erin Bow
- Shelley Pomerance
- Robin Grant
- Nicola Davison
- Linh S. Nguyễn
- Markus Harwood-Jones
- Salma Hussain
- Ray Fernandes
- Jack Wong
- Tom Ryan
- Richard Levangie
- Carol Matas
- Leonarda Carranza
- Maureen Bush
- Karen Krossing
- Sheryl McFarlane
- Mahak Jain
- Marsha Skrypuch
- Marty Chan
- Heather O'Connor
- Shannon McFerran
- Melanie Siebert
- Dave Atkinson
- Joanne Levy
- Elise Moser
- Kari Jones
- Theresa Sanchez
- Harriet Zaidman
- Bev Katz Rosenbaum
- Jodi Carmichael
- Shari Green
- Anthony Nerada
- Rebecca Sky
Nic Brewer
Kevin Chong
Erin Wunker
Laura Kenins
Brandi Bartok
Alice Burdick
Kristen Butcher
Carol Bruneau
Zoe Whittall
Janet Barkhouse
Lana Crossman
Heather Jessup
Jenna Lyn Albert
Cyril Rouhana
Mahtab Narsimhan
Carol Bruneau
Helen Brown
Jodi Carmichael
Kirby
Kevin Shaw
Kimberly Fyke
Trystab Warnock-Juteau
Todd Stewart
Rowan McCandless
Sandra Rodrigues
Julie Mannell
Natalie Walder
Nanci Lee
Kate Jenks Landry
Erica Shopland
Amanda Hope
Sita MacDonald
Ellen Chang-Richardson
Michelle Falardeau
Kim Edwards
Jane Baird Warren
Bruce Simpson
Lori Sebastianutti
May Q Wong
Jonelle St Aubyn
- Sara O’Leary
- Lea Grießbach
- Sonja Boon
- SJ Sindu
- Paige McGeorge
- Nan Forler
- Raiven Creid
- Joy Jumphol
- Laurie Patterson
- Heather Camlot
- Kim Fahner
- Seyward Goodhand
- Kevin White
- Hannah White
- Casey Lyall
- Rebecca Upjohn
- E.K. Johnston
- Patricia McCowan
- Kellie Kiakas
- Andrea Kerr
- Spencer Miller
- Amelinda Berube
- Jennifer Harris
- Tas Mukanik
- Susan Juby
- Tegan Thuss
- Winter Jay Kiakas
- John Degen
- Jesmeen Kaur Deo
- Ria Voros
- Nicholas Selig
- Jon-Erik Lappano
- Laurie Lascos
- Janette Fecteau
- Oriana Duinker
- Stephanie Tudor
- Julia Crocker
- Rosiee Thor
- Luciana Erregue
- Jennifer Phelan
- Pat Bourke
- Jessica Westhead
- Amanda Merpaw
- Jan Thornhill
- Sandy Welbergen
- Rebecca Salazar
- S Faruqi
- Jaymie Heilman
Angela Misri
Thea Lim
- Robert Bittner
- Hadley Dyer
- Melanie Fishbane
- Jessica Vitalis
- Brooke Carter
- Skot Caldwell
- Christine Haladay
- Kavita Verma
- Jocelyn Harrison
- Diana Richardson
- Ann Douglas
- Faiza Anam
- T COSE
- Katie Cameron
- Julia Floros
- Susin Nielsen
- Zain Bandali
- Jenny heijun Wills
- Micaela Clarke
- Deborah Hodge
- Pamela Roberts Griffith
- Koreen Duckhorn
- Laura Alary
- Jules Wilson
- Jelena Milojevic
- Alexis Kienlen
- Christie Vella
- Nicola Maher
- Triny Finlay
- Ben Gallagher
- Mark Pierce
- Lindsay Wong
- Thera Issawi
- Kate Tuff
- Carey Sookocheff
- Elaine Burgess
- Charlotte Dunnell
- Lily Smith
- Diana Will Stork
- Richard Beaudry
- Roseanne Luscombe
- Jamie Ly
- Jennifer Jack
- Paul Schedlich
- Alayne Crossman
- Anne Barbier
- Catherine McGregor
- M-E Girard
- Celine McDonald
- Kara Hiltz
- Alex Zumpino
- Harold Semenuk
- Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
- Gordon Nore
- Arthur Slade
- Orla McGinnis
- L. E. Carmichael
- Danielle Younge-Ullman
- Ishta Mercurio
- kc dyer
- Jennifer Brown
- Christopher Hunt (Teacher-Librarian)
- Lana Cullis
- Erin Alladin
- Brenda Young
- Cherysh Furberg
- Art Smith
- Yilin Wang
- Tanya Kyi
- Nolan Pike
- Stephanie Sawyer
- C Stephenson
- Zoe Imani Sharpe