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(Posted to the SLIK-12 and IASL distribution lists) The ICCA committee wanted to
get out some information to you regarding one of the nominated titles on the 2009-10 list – Patience, Princess Catherine
from the Young Royals series by Carolyn Meyer. We were aware this was a title that would be more for the 5th/6th grade readers
but we weren’t aware of some specific content issues until after it was chosen for the list. Thank you to the teachers
and librarians who brought this to our attention.
The historical fiction book tells the story of the Spanish princess
Catherine, arranged to be married to the Prince of England, eventually marrying the future King Henry the 8th. Catherine is
portrayed as a strong woman who endured a difficult life. Specifically, there are two passages at issue:
Page 57,
following the wedding of Catherine and Arthur: "I know that!" Arthur replied fretfully. He stopped pacing. His face
was the color of ashes. "York, I am not sure about this - this bedding ceremony. I am not entirely clear on what is expected
of me.” Henry's eyes widened with surprise. "Has Buckingham not instructed you? It is really just another ceremony,
Arthur. Brandon has spoken to me of it. something to be gotten over with. Nothing to worry about." "Yes, I
know what is supposed to happen. But what if it does not, quite? What if she -?" Arthur's voice faltered and
failed. He sat down abruptly on a bench and covered his eyes with both hands. Henry regarded his older brother benevolently.
He even felt a little sorry for him. After a moment he tenderly grasped Arthur's hand and coaxed him to his feet. "Come,
my lord of Wales, let us go now to the bedchamber. Your bride awaits you. Brandon says that even if it does not go just
as you wish, all you need do is boast of it afterwards as though it did!"
Next chapter:
"Take
this with you, but conceal it well," she whispered. Thinking it some potion that I was to swallow, perhaps to put me
into a light slumber, I asked what it contained. "Sheep’s blood," she replied. "Before morning, make
certain to spill a few drops upon the linen sheet. When the lords wish to see proof that your virginity was taken by
the prince, this will be the evidence.”
Reviews were positive, but recommends it for sixth grade and up. Booklist
notes: “Though younger readers may be puzzled or disturbed by Catherine's reference to sprinkling sheep's
blood onto the sheets of her first marriage bed, this is a small part of the larger story.”
Some
background on the ICCA selection process: the titles considered for each list come exclusively from the third through
sixth grade students when they vote each year. Jenifer, one of the committee members ,collects these suggestions, checks them
for eligibilty (American author, published in the last 5 years, in print), then compiles a (very large) list for teachers
and librarians who volunteer to read the books during the summer and rate them for quality and appropriateness. We look at
the top 30 or so rated titles and narrow it down to a manageable list, trying to balance by age the interest and reading level.
As you can imagine, this is difficult. This year, six of the top-rated books (so rated highly by summer readers AND
suggested by the children in this age range) topped 300 pages! We only kept one, the Hugo Cabret book which is appropriate
as much of it is illustration.
An important piece of this is the number of summer reading volunteers. Jenifer reported
that the Young Royals title was rated very highly by the summer readers, but this was from only TWO readers. Jenifer
said there used to be over 30 teachers and teacher-librarians who volunteered as summer readers but now there are half that
many. I understand this completely - last summer I didn't even have time to rate the books unfortunately, the years I
did it there were more than 200 on the list. I fully know how busy people are. But the higher numbers of readers we could
get, the broader a range of opinions and best choices could be made. She can only trust that the ones who rate a book did
read the entire book but obviously can’t know that for sure. So any help we can get from all of you with this, the better.
If you’re interested, it’s not too late to be given the list for this summer – just contact Jenifer at jenkurt@cfu.net.
Back to the issue, it’s too late to remove this title from the list as far as our vendor, but we wanted you
all to just be aware about the issues of mature content. Some libraries are choosing to substitute another title into their
ICCA programs (such as The Truth Cookie, which was removed because it became unavailable and was from a non-American author,
if they had gotten a copy).
Since the program is voluntary, the situation in which there's a too-mature title
causes the most problem is in incentive programs like my own, in which there IS incentive to read ALL the titles on the list.
I don't require it, it's voluntary for my school as well, but there is a "prize" level if all are read.
I may count them all as read excluding Princess Catherine if it seems necessary with the particular group I have. I have the
luxury of knowing the kids parents in most cases and I can discuss it with the parents of those whose goal it is to read them
all. A fourth grade girl read this book for the video review that will be posted by fall on the website. I talked to her mom
before and her mother welcomed the opportunity to discuss it with her daughter in a way appropriate to her age. The video,
by the way, will have a note regarding the mature content as well.
Thank you for your attention – sorry this
post is too long, but it was an important enough issue we wanted to give you all the information we have. We appreciate your
comments, and many of you have been very appreciative of the program and said you’ve found the titles to be age-appropriate
with this exception. We have as much difficulty avoiding having too many “young” titles on the list in order to
keep the interest of the older students interested in the program. We’ll work to achieve the balance as much as possible,
with the help of the summer readers.
Sincerely,
Shalar Brown
ICCA Chair
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