Thoughtful Thursday- Missouri Book Drop

Taking action against book banning. Missouri Book Drop is something Clare De Lune author Christine Johnson and I came up with after talking to Julie Kagawa & Saundra Mitchell in regards to this article

In voicing our complete shock and frustrations over this article we decided some sort of action needed to happen. That action is giving back and what better way to do this than donating books to those truly in need of them!

Our action: To give 25 classrooms, 10 sets of books in Missouri area schools who are in need of them. Why MO? We felt that would be the best place to give back, as that's where this article originated from. After compiling a huge list of area schools we got to work. We are truly touched by the generosity of some amazing YA authors who have already donated this to cause, which stemmed from our email here:

Banned Books Month has historically brought out the best and worst in people who care deeply about access to books - including those who feel that teens shouldn’t have access to certain books at all.

In the wake of the Wesley Scroggins brouhaha over Laurie Halse Anderson’s book, SPEAK, there has emerged a new and equally disturbing anti-book voice. Gregory Thompson was the “Voice of the Day” in the Springfield, Missouri newspaper, the Star-Leader on September 25th. In his article, Thompson defends Wesley Scroggins, insisting that public schools are putting “the souls of children at risk.” He also offers, in the same article, to provide 250 copies of “Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy,” free of charge, to help promote his agenda.

Those of us who love books of all shape, size, color and content want to raise our voices against his. The Mundie Moms and Christine Johnson, author of CLAIRE DE LUNE, have partnered together, heading a project - The Missouri Book Drop - to put 250 of our books into the Missouri schools that are being stripped of literary materials by Thompson and others. We want to show those public schools that we think they’re doing good work in spite of their often meager resources. The Missouri Book Drop is our way of doing it. Our goal is to collect enough books to create 25 classroom sets of 10 books each, to be donated to Missouri area schools in need.

If you’re able, we’re asking you to contribute some young adult books to help us create these classroom sets. Donations of five or more books would be the most helpful, but any contribution would be appreciated. If you’re unable to participate, we’d still be grateful to have your assistance with spreading the word about our book drop.

For more information, you can contact Christine at christine@christinejohnsonbooks.com or Katie at adminmundiemoms@gmail.com

Thank you for your time and attention.

Best,

Katie and Christine

If you're an author or publisher and would like to support our operation Missouri Book Drop by donating new releases, recently released titles or upcoming releases, please email us at MissouriBookDrop@hotmail.com for more information and our mailing address.

If you'd like to help spread the word or donate to cover shipping costs, please feel free to email us MissouriBookDrop@hotmail.com, which is also our paypal account. Thank you!