I remember reading I Love You, Stupid! in high school. The two weird things about reading the book, neither of which have to do with the book at all, are:
- That my mom checked it out for me. I have no idea whether (or how much) she knew of the contents, but the fact that she selected the book for me took a bit of the zing out of reading it.
- That it was available in the public library at all. I’ve gone on before about Arlington, TX, but suffice it to say that Southern Baptists and Pentecostals held great sway there.
When I was in 7th grade I read Imperial 109 which most certainly wasn’t written for kids or young adults. The story included a rather detailed sexual assault, the author’s depiction of which was both titillating and brutal. I remember feeling confused about this and walked around the rest of the afternoon in a stupor.
Just remembered that same year, I read Robert Shea’s Shike. I borrowed this from a teacher’s library (i.e. a bookshelf he’d set up from which his students could borrow books), not the actual school library (see above re: Arlington). I wasn’t sure whether he’d read it himself or not… I just returned the book when I was finished, without saying anything to him or anyone else.
