Personal Statement
Personal Statement Regarding the Shadow Banning of
JUDE SAVES THE WORLD
For those who may not know, JUDE SAVES THE WORLD (Scholastic, 2023) was nominated for the Forest of Reading’s Silver Birch program – a program that encourages students across Ontario to read a minimum of five of the ten nominated books in an age category, then vote on their favourite book. An award is then given to the book with the most votes.
This was such a great honour, only to be tarnished by the fact that it has now been leaked that JUDE SAVES THE WORLD, along with three other books, has been shadow-banned by the Waterloo Catholic District School Board in Ontario, Canada. The only thing these books have in common is the fact that they portray queer characters and stories.
The Ontario Library Association and Forest of Reading program have made a joint statement regarding this (which can be found here).
This is my personal statement regarding the shadow ban of PRINCESS PRU AND THE OGRE ON THE HILL by Maureen Fergus, THE MYSTERY OF THE PAINTED FAN by Linda Trinh, SALMA WRITES A BOOK by Danny Ramadan, and finally, my book, JUDE SAVES THE WORLD.
It is heartbreaking to see these books being restricted by the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. The school board has created a process where these books will be restricted, and able to be read only by students who are brave and courageous enough to ask for them. Then, a teacher or librarian will have to discuss the ‘Family Life curriculum’ with the student before they can read the book. Not only will this hurt queer kids by putting a target on their back, but this will hurt other kids who simply wish to read a good story. Stories like JUDE SAVES THE WORLD have been written for the purpose of teaching kids compassion, empathy, and other valuable lessons.
JUDE SAVES THE WORLD is about a nonbinary kid who creates a safe space at their local library. They see a gap in their community and work together with friends and trusted adults to build a space where people are allowed to show up as themselves, to be celebrated and supported.
Because that is the world I wish to live in.
A world where we can show up as ourselves, be celebrated, be supported, and be loved and cherished.
By making books like JUDE SAVES THE WORLD inaccessible to children, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board is telling kids that it is not okay to be who you are, that it is not okay to learn about others’ identities and experiences, that it is not okay to be queer.
Shadow-banning these books hurts kids.
We owe it to them, to ourselves, to our younger selves, to build a better, brighter future for the kids of today.
I implore the Waterloo Catholic District School Board to change this practice and allow kids equal access to all of the books in the Forest of Reading program, and to any other age-appropriate books they may have restricted in their libraries and classrooms. I implore the Ontario Library Association and the Forest of Reading program to make it a requirement that kids have free access to all books on future nomination lists, and to not tolerate this censorship.
And I ask you, dear reader, to make your voice heard. Do not let this go down in history without a fight. Don’t let this set a precedent for the future.
I beg you to not let down the children who are affected by this. Give them the opportunity for a future where they are celebrated for their differences, for their similarities, for simply being themselves. Give them the opportunity to learn more about themselves, to become better, compassionate, empathetic people, and to fully embrace whoever they are.
Signed,
Ronnie Riley, author of JUDE SAVES THE WORLD
Forest of Reading: Silver Birch nominee
