IP Picks🔎: A 'Da Vinci Code' Puzzler and 'Gossip Girl'-meets-'White Lotus' Murder
IP Picks🔎: A 'Da Vinci Code' Puzzler and 'Gossip Girl'-meets-'White Lotus' Murder
➕ journalism wars, then and now
Welcome to The Optionist! I'm always fascinated by the American Library Association's annual list of the 10 most challenged books, that is the titles that got the most complaints for inappropriate content and requests to be removed, which just dropped this week. The big picture is grim. According to the ALA, 2,571 different books were challenged last year, a 38 percent jump from last year and almost 5x the number pre-pandemic, when the ALA counted 566 different titles with challenges. The list reflects the organized nature of challenges now and how right-wing politicians and media figures have stoked fears; most of the challenges these days cite multiple titles at once versus previous years when most cited a single book.
The composition of the list has also changed. In the past, the list primarily included books with sophomoric bathroom humor aimed at young readers (Captain Underpants was a perennial), as well as ones that touched upon the racial debate in the country, either for being anti-racist (The Hate U Give) or perpetuating racial tropes (To Kill a Mockingbird for being a "white savior" story). Also on the list: books that engaged religion, ranging from the Harry Potter series for promoting witchcraft to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (for having a "religious viewpoint").
This year's list is all sex, all the time, particularly anything to do with the LGBTQIA+ community, which accounts for seven books on the list, including Maia Kobabe's memoir, Gender Queer, at No. 1, George Johnson's Black teen gay romance, All Boys Aren't Blue, at No. 2 and Flamer, Mike Curato's semi-autobiographical graphic novel about a 14-year-old biracial boy trying to figure out his sexuality one summer at Boy Scouts camp.
One thing that gives me hope about Hollywood is how many of these books have either been adapted for screen or optioned. Last year, I was going to do a post on the rights to these books, figuring that most would be available. But the opposite turned out to be true. Hollywood hasn’t shied away from books that deal with controversial subjects. Indeed, I think some these books (Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews) have seen their challenges increase because of the visibility of their adaptations. God knows, the business isn't perfect, but on this front, Hollywood stands tall.
One other quick note. Since many of you asked about company/group subs, we've got a link now to take you directly to a group subscription page. It's a perfect way for multiple people in the same organization to have The Optionist land in their own inboxes every Friday, and it includes custom memos and other perks.
On to this week’s picks, which are headlined by two highly adaptable books about journalism, one from a century ago and one from the 2010s. Both would make for totally entertaining shows. Here’s the full rundown:
A drama about the race for clicks on the internet and the competition between two of the most influential websites of the 2010s.
A drama about the race to discover the North Pole that mixes an adventure story with a business thriller about one of the great newspaper rivalries of all time.
A twisty thriller in the vein of The Da Vinci Code about a savant puzzle solver and a woman (maybe falsely) convicted of murder who team up to crack the “God Puzzle” to unlock mystical secrets.
A YA murder mystery thriller set in the world of NYC’s rich and privileged high schoolers and the elite society they all want to join.
