Newbery Winner Spawns Controversy

Susan Patron’s use of correct term for part of dog’s anatomy leads some librarians to pull book from shelves

Susan Patron’s new book possesses what appears to be exponential power to inspire angst among librarians, especially school librarians. The Higher Power of Lucky (Atheneum/Richard Jackson), winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal for children’s literature, has drawn a great deal of comment from all quarters—attackers and defenders alike—for Patron’s use of the word scrotum on the first page. Patron, who was the juvenile collections manager for the Los Angeles Public Library when she was awarded the medal, has recently retired.

Lucky is a 10-year-old girl in Hard Pan, California, (population 43) who has an inquisitive nature and aspires to be a scientist. Her curiosity leads her to eavesdrop on the “anonymous people” who meet in the town’s Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. They tell tales of how they hit “rock bottom,” whether in the throes of alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, or overeating, before they turned their lives around with the help of a Higher Power. The “scrotum” in question belongs to Roy, a dog owned by Short Sammy who recounts how a rattlesnake bit Roy on that particular portion of his anatomy, which eventually leads to an epiphany of sorts for Sammy.

Lucky sorely needs a Higher Power of her own: Her mother is dead and her father removed from her life. She has a Guardian, though—her father’s first wife Brigitte, whom Lucky suspects of plotting to abandon her and return to France. The rest of the story is gently amusing, quietly sophisticated, and peopled with interesting characters including Brigitte, Short Sammy (who lives in an old water tank), Lincoln (a knot “artist”), her dog HMS Beagle (neither a ship nor a beagle), and Miles (a 5-year-old cookie moocher).

It’s a wonderful book, and the controversy surrounding it a little surprising. Major media outlets have weighed in on it and listservs have poked and prodded, raising hackles and reaffirming that the issue of censorship is alive and well. Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia, added to its entry on scrotum, noting that there is a “children’s book controversy” over the word on the first page of The Higher Power of Lucky and that the book has been removed by a few school librarians.

When Patron learned about the Wikipedia entry, she burst out laughing, saying, “It seems to me strange and quite funny to have achieved a level of fame (or notoriety, depending on your viewpoint) over this word.”

Reading Today asked Susan Patron about the book and the controversy.

Q. How does the controversy make you feel? Do you have any misgivings about what you wrote, i.e., if you had to do it over, would you still say “scrotum”?

A. The controversy has made me realize on a personal level that certain librarians, teachers, and parents want to believe that books—and especially Newbery books—are safe for children. By safe I mean books without words or concepts that will make readers ask potentially uncomfortable questions. Our world is filled with appalling acts, images, and events from which we would like to shield children, but this is not possible because children live in the same world we do. Books are powerful tools that let children peer into the heart; stories help them figure out what it means to be human. Books don’t harm readers; they arm them. Yes, I’d use the word scrotum if I were writing the book again. It was chosen deliberately and carefully.

Q. Can you remember any other award-winning children’s book generating such controversy—especially because you have been a member of committees appointed to select award-winning books?

A. The awards always generate a lot of discussion, which is good. William Steig got into hot water with Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, in which he drew policemen as pigs. This was apparently no laughing matter to some schools, which banned the book in 1970 when it won the Caldecott. And Sendak’s monsters in Where the Wild Things Are were thought by many to be too frightening. I love the way children tell us over time, as with these classics, what books speak to them and are important. And how adults sometimes SO overreact.

Q. In the editing process, did scrotum generate discussion and was it seen at all as a taboo word? The word comes up again at the end of the book when Lucky finally finds the higher power of love/comfort/caring with Brigitte—someone she isn’t afraid to ask about the word—so obviously it wasn’t gratuitously inserted. Had you ever thought of using another word?

A. My wonderful editor, Richard Jackson, trusts that I respect readers and will not talk down to them. Scrotum seemed to both of us the ideal word, and the only word, to use for the dog’s scrotum.

Q. This is your sixth book, and you are at work on Lincoln’s Knot. Do you think you will be intimidated now by what happened with Lucky? Will the book include Lucky, or will it focus on Lincoln and his adventures?

A. Yes, Lincoln’s Knot is my next (seventh) book, and it’s a companion to Lucky. Fortunately, it is three-quarters complete. It’s told from Lucky’s perspective, but this time Lincoln has a larger role in the story—he saves the day. The real problem for me is finding time to write. Richard Peck has said that winning the Newbery means losing a book, because it’s so hard to write during that momentous year.

Q. The setting for the story—in the desert in California—was unusual. Have you ever lived in such a place with such an odd assortment of characters, many of whom have “issues”? Was the setting intentionally unusual so it would almost seem surreal?

A. The setting is fairly typical for rural former mining towns in the West, I believe. Low income level, minimal resources, problems engendered by poverty and scarcity of jobs...and drawn to this are some eccentric folks who seek out these locations for their isolation, natural beauty, and relaxed government. Having said that, I feel that deep down the residents of Hard Pan, as unusual as they may seem, are in many ways us: people who are struggling to get by, to live with integrity, to find love.

Q. Another point of controversy that you mentioned in your letter on PublishersWeekly.com was the inclusion of 12-step programs in the story. Have you had any reaction from the “anonymous people”—either official or unofficial?

A. No, there has been no response from anyone in a 12-step program.

Q. The sophistication of Brigitte is juxtaposed with the small-town atmosphere of Hard Pan. Does that reflect any of your own upbringing?

A. I’m married to a Frenchman, and we have hosted many visits from our French relatives and friends. Every single one of them loves the California desert, which is of course very exotic and beautiful to them. Brigitte’s character contains aspects of these friends and relatives from France, and her bony feet are my husband’s.

Q. Have you heard yet from any kids who have read the book? Or their parents?

A. Yes, I’m hearing from kids and parents, and their notes are extremely heartening. Kids, not surprisingly, read for the story—the use of the word scrotum seems to be a nonissue from their perspective. Kids want to know what happens. A private school librarian in Washington, DC, wrote about using the book with her father–son book discussion club, and how all the boys loved it.

Q. It seems this book could be an interesting movie. Have you started writing the screenplay yet?

A. I had a 15-minute imaginary career as a screenwriter before I gave it up, for a variety of reasons. In the hands of a sensitive director, I think Lucky could make a wonderful film—that medium is perfect both for sweeping desert vistas and intimate interior thoughts.

Q. Anything else you would like to share?

A. With the firestorm and controversy surrounding The Higher Power of Lucky, I am more than ever confirmed in my belief that librarianship is a noble profession, essential to free speech and free access for children. I’m grateful to have spent 35 years promoting children’s books. It’s work you can look back on and know you made a difference in the world, and as clichéd as that sounds I believe it profoundly. To teachers and librarians who take risks using books that may occasion objections or challenges, bravo. Bravo and thank you.

Newbery winner spawns controversy. (June 2007). Reading Today, 24(6), 28.