Are Kids Being Forced To Read This Thing?

Did we get this upset here in the U.S. over the publication of Tender Morsels, and I either slept through it or was out in the kitchen getting something to eat?

As I said before, I do believe that parents have a right to keep up on what their young ones are reading. I would even go so far as to say they have a responsibility to make themselves aware of what's being read by their offspring in their own homes. But that's in your own homes, people, not the whole country! Can you believe that a woman in England who wanted to read a book to her nine-year-old niece managed to get Random House to remove a "four-letter word" from it? That's got to be an urban legend, don't you think?

Describing Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging as "grim lit" seems a little over the top to me, too.

Taking responsibility for what your kids are reading means that you take responsibility for what your kids are reading. You let them know you object to it and why. You don't get the publishing industry to do it for you.