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Big Wins: 3 Titles Moved and 1 Title Ordered!
The results from the challenges are in, and a title to balance the gender books has been ordered. Read on to find out more.
God Made Boys and Girls, helping children understand the gift of gender by Marty Machowski is coming to a Montgomery County Library near you.
Last week, I got a call from Commissioner Walker’s office letting me know that this book is being ordered by the county. Commissioner Walker would have gladly purchased this book on his own, but I am thankful that he asked the county to purchase them (as respectfully requested), especially since this is the most important book to balance the many gender books that were certainly purchased with our tax dollars. His office has so many pressing responsibilities, and I am so thankful he took the time to ensure this important book would be placed in our libraries. We will be checking the catalog and will let you know as soon as the book becomes available!
Please consider sending Commissioner Walker a thank you note for taking an interest in making sure the alternate gender ideology books have balance.
Montgomery County Commissioner Precinct 1
Office of Commissioner Robert Walker
510 Hwy 75 N.
Willis, TX 77378
What happened to the challenges?
Congratulations and a big thank you to all who submitted reconsideration forms; the results are in! Excellent work! The two books that were challenged were moved, and another book was quietly moved that wasn’t even challenged. Read on to find out more.
Pink, Blue and You! by Elise Gravel and Mykaell Blais has been moved to Adult Non-Fiction.
This picture book is now cataloged as an adult book, just as the commissioners requested for all the gender books on July 11th. If you don’t remember, this picture book teaches children about gender fluidity and pronouns. You can see some of the example pages below, and here is a link to the reconsideration review:
Interestingly enough though, when we submitted that reconsideration form there was only one copy of Pink, Blue, and You in our libraries. Two copies were on order, but when I shared this, the orders disappeared. One of the books on order showed back up as “in processing” later, so now we have two copies of this book in our libraries. One copy is at Mitchell - West Woodlands, and the other is at Central - Conroe. After they are processed, however, they will now reside in the adult section.
The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey has been moved to Young Adult Fiction.
This children’s chapter book is now in YA fiction, not exactly what the commissioners asked for, but still a big win. This book is about a little girl living as a boy who medically transitions. If you recently joined us, you can find more information about this book in this older post:
The decision to move this book to the young adult section instead of the adult section was a little surprising since medical transition is illegal for minors, but I will take it. This is a BIG win.
When this book was submitted for reconsideration, there was only one copy that resided in the Stewart Library in Montgomery. Now there are two copies. The second copy, recently ordered and placed, is at Central Library in Conroe. I do not know for sure if the second copy was to replace the first copy, but that would make sense since the first copy has been damaged. Time will tell.
The first copy being located in conservative small-town Montgomery was rather interesting. Did a local resident REQUEST that this book be placed in this library for their child? Perhaps, although unlikely. How was the decision made to place this book in this library, a small library with limited shelf space?
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart has been moved to Young Adult Fiction.
Lily and Dunkin was quietly moved to the YA fiction section between August 21 and August 23.
In Harris County, this book was already cataloged as a YA book. I assume this was because of the mature nature of the book. Interestingly this book was in the children’s section in Montgomery County for a long time. Since this book has not been reviewed on this substack, here is a mini review:
Lily’s given name is Tim, who is born a boy, but feels like a girl inside. Much of the book explores this transition. Tim’s transition is medical (puberty blockers) and social.
Dunkin’s given name is Norbert. He isn’t transitioning; he just doesn’t like his name because it’s Norbert. Dunkin’s father committed suicide before he moved to town, but the reader doesn’t learn this until later because Dunkin has not accepted that his father is gone yet and chooses to believe his father is in a psychiatric treatment center.
This book is A LOT for a young child to pick up. I am surprised it was ever in the children’s section. At one point in the book Dunkin is Baker Acted (arrested and taken to a psychiatric hospital) after he has a break at a school basketball game.
Here I will share just a few of the most concerning quotes:
Well, good thing this book is in the YA section now where only children as young as 13 can find it. In all seriousness, though, I am very glad it was moved out of the children’s section, where much younger kids could pick it up.
Where do we go from here?
I think we submit some more reconsideration forms! Please be on the lookout in the coming weeks for some more recommendations for reconsideration. I think it’s wise to submit more than two books, but at the same time, we do not want to overwhelm the committee. Remember that each book can only be reconsidered ONE TIME per year, so please don’t submit extra books. By submitting reconsideration requests together, we give everyone, who wants a voice, the opportunity to share their unique concerns with the committee.
Please be on the lookout in the coming weeks for recommendations. If you have thoughts about which books or if you have run across any new books, please reach out.