Category Archives: Human Rights Issues

Rift by Cait West: Christian Patriarchy

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

“This is a story of chaos, of fragmentation, hidden beneath the facade of a happy family. This is a story of escape and risk and making it all worth it. This is a story of psychological, emotional, financial, and spiritual abuse. This is my story of survival.“ Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, Cait West, family problems, fundamentalism (religion), memoir, parent-teen relationships, patriarchy, religion, religious hypocrisy, Rift, stay at home daughter movement | Leave a comment

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

The following is part of my post for this week over at “Be a Cactus” on Substack. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is not a YA book. However, it does have some teen characters, one of whom incites the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", banned books, censorship, Family Problems, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Humor | Tagged Adult books for teens, banned books, book banning, book reviews, books, censorship, family problems, libraries, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books | Leave a comment

Who are the Helpers, Anyway?

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

A review of “The Well-trained Wife” and book challenge/ban news A Well-trained Wife A Well-trained Wife details Levings’ descent from strict Baptist to Gothard woman (think the Duggars) to Calvinist following the model of Puritan Jonathan Edwards. Levings quotes “Sinners … Continue reading →

Posted in banned books, bullying, censorship, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Grief, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Non-fiction | Tagged A Well-trained Wife, book bans, book challenges, book reviews, Calvinism, fundamentalism (religion), Gothard women, librarians, libraries, religion, Tia Levings | Leave a comment

Book Challenge and Ban Updates

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

About half of my weekly Substack posts are on the latest news in book challenges and bans in the U.S. Please find the last two weeks at the links below and consider subscribing: https://victoriawaddle.substack.com/p/primed-to-be-cultish https://victoriawaddle.substack.com/p/sympathy-for-the-devil-oops-antagonist My Substack is called “Be … Continue reading →

Posted in banned books, censorship, Human Rights Issues | Tagged banned books, book banning, book reviews, censorship | Leave a comment

Book Bans Roundup

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

Links to articles I’ve written about libraries and librarians Over on Substack, I post weekly on topics of interest to readers and writers. Often, those posts are about my experience in the library. Pretty much every week, I also include … Continue reading →

Posted in banned books, censorship, Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book bans, book challenges, censorship, gay teens, LGBTQ | Leave a comment

No Place for Fairy Tales

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

By edd tello A transgender teen wants the quinceañera of her dreams No Place for Fairy Tales is a short novel in verse that will appeal to a diverse group of readers. I picked it up in my ongoing efforts … Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, bullying, child-parent relationships, coming of age, family problems, friendship, gay teens, hi-low reading, high school students, LGBTQ, parent-teen relationships, reluctant readers, Teen Issues, YA fiction | 1 Comment

Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Victoria Waddle

Five years after she graduated from high school, Kathy Leissner Whitman was stabbed to death by her husband Charles Whitman after he killed his mother and before he committed a mass shooting from the tower at the University of Texas, Austin. Unheard Witness is the story of how Kathy became a victim of domestic violence and then murder. Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, bullying, Family Problems, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, Charles Whitman, domestic abuse, Jo Scott Coe, Kathy Leissner Whitman, Unheard Witness, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas tower shootings | Leave a comment

My Experiences in Book Banning

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Victoria Waddle

Removing library books from the shelf for later review is essentially banning them, no matter what the censors say. My experience with book challenges and removal are here on my Substack “Be a Cactus.”. I’ve moved to Substack for most of my … Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged banned books, book banning, Norma Klein, school librarians, school libraries, That’s My Baby | 1 Comment

FREE: “Beyond Magenta” and “Loveless”

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Victoria Waddle

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out is free through this coming Wednesday, June 28. Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", Biography/Memoir, bullying, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction, Young Adult Literature | Tagged Alice Oseman, AudioFile, Beyond Magenta, free audiobooks, Loveless, Sync Audiobooks for Teens, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Censoring Empathy: Let’s Challenge Erasure

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Victoria Waddle

Book censorship is far more threatening than it was ten years ago because it erases anyone who doesn’t look or think like the censor. Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", Controversial Issue/Debate, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged banned books, book challenges, book reviews, censorship, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | 4 Comments