Meg Cabot Gets Her Wish

Meg Cabot's Diary reports that among other places, The Princess Diaries have been banned from North Joshua Elementary School in Texas. The books were cited for sexual content and found inappropriate for grades pre-kindergarten through 6th grade.

Says Cabot,

Have you ever had a secret—or even not-so-secret—dream?

A dream that maybe you wished upon a star would come true?

Or prayed for on bended knee?

A dream that everyone told you was totally unrealistic…would never come true…to just give up on…that, yeah, okay, might happen for other people, but was never going to happen for you?

This post is for all you dreamers out there. Keep on dreaming, dreamers.

Because dreams? They really can come true, if you hang in there, and believe in them long enough.

Because my dream? It finally came true. Through hard work, perseverance, and many, many references to French kissing.

Yes, people. It finally happened:

I’ve been banned.

YEAH, BABY!!!!!

A Long Way to Go

According to Meg Cabot's Web Page, she dreams one day of being banned.

According to Cabot,

I even have a whole speech written up in case it ever happens, so I can remember to thank the people who helped get me banned (my publisher; editor; friends; husband; parents who raised me with no idea that the stuff we regularly talked about in my house could get you banned if you put it in a book). I mean, I wouldn't want to leave anyone out, like Hillary Swank did when she forgot to thank her husband the first time she won an Oscar (and look how that turned out).

Tongue in cheek, she talks about how it is all about getting banned to be in such company as Judy Blume, R.L. Stine, Toni Morrison, Sonya Sones, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and Hikaru Hayashi & Kimiko Morimoto.

Unfortunately, the mention of spermicide and french kissing in The Princess Diaries wasn't enough to rate banning. It just resulted in letters from irate parents.

In a subsequent entry, Cabot mentions that sympathetic readers pointed out that Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, an anthology which she participated in, was challenged in Texas. However, she points out that her story was not the one that got the collection banned and the book was restricted, not banned outright.

Apparently she was banned from speaking at a school in Ireland. I'm not sure of the circumstances but it seems a little strange. She jokes,"...my being banned from speaking WAS glorious, as it meant I got to go on the Irish news and have a lovely Irish lunch out with my then UK publicist, Alyx. I enjoyed every minute of it."

Having just finished reading How to Be Popular, which is a very sweet book, I would say she has a long way to go. In fact, we decided to move it from Adult to Young Adult after I read it. It is all about first love, a first kiss, and good values. Wait -- "good values!?" -- often books that teach good values end up on the banned book list.

Meg, you might have a chance yet. Add a school board and an irate parent and you might have a formula for banning.

Check out the Meg Cabot Book Club especially if you like reading Chick Lit.