In Which I Rant about The Wall Street Journal's YA Book Review

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html?mod=e2tw#articleTabs%3Darticle

This article has been causing some major uproar, and now that I've read it I can see why.  All you have to do is turn on the TV and you will find some sort of story that horrifies you beyond imagination.  If you think the world is a great place you are sadly mistaken, but just because there is evil in it doesn't mean there isn't light.  If you don't want your child, or your sister, or your brother to read about something, then tell them, but the first amendment is freedom of speech, and with that includes freedom of press, and the idea that anything can be published for the world to see.  With all of the shit we have out there, all of the problems the world is facing we're attacking books, YA books none the less, which aren't only enjoyed just by teens, but adults and tweens as well.  If you have a problem with something, don't read it, but everything is out there for a reason.  All those sexy vampires and werewolves are there for fun, because even adults love to indulge in the idea that paranormal creatures might be real, and that if they are they aren't out to kill us.  All those books that talk about serious subjects, they're not out there to scare you, but to show you that there are people like you out there, or that there is help.  The point is that just because you don't like something doesn't mean you have the right to bash it, nor does it mean you have the right to stop it from getting out into the world.  We read for fun, we read to learn, and we read to escape.  If any one of those books that is out there right now is taken off the shelf because of a protest we might as well be those countries that we are trying so desperately to "save", because America was built on the idea that everyone is equal, and all ideas have merit.  Books are ideas too, and although you may not respect all the books that are out there if you take them away we are no longer the great country we claim to be.  YA SAVES!