Ellen Hagan’s debut poetry collection, Crowned, effectively merges the pulse of city life with the rhythm of the Kentucky countryside to create a body of work that is earthly and compassionate. Hagan takes her readers on a journey into womanhood, delving right into the heart of her personal experiences with childhood, puberty, and maturation. Crowned brings together issues of love and loss to deliver an honest portrayal of what it takes to truly transcend life’s heartaches.

According to Hagan, an integral part of growing up is forming an identity. In “Questions,” Hagan writes of the difficulty in figuring out who you are when there are so many factors to consider: How whole am I with all these separate parts? In “Puberty – With Capital Letters,” Hagan describes the rollercoaster from adolescence into adulthood as being characterized by Regret. Pure Bliss./ Uncovering. Feeling not good enough. Cockiness. Joy. The collection of poems moves further along the process of female development in “Plan B,” when Hagan speaks as a thirteen-year-old girl who has gotten pregnant and thinks of Sixteen ways to kill [herself], and maybe two ways to kill him. Towards the end of the book, Hagan’s growth takes place in the areas of work, technology, politics, and family. She writes honestly in several poems about the struggles of her students at P.S. 315. In “PS Education,” Hagan wants to Take all the metal detectors apart and build imaginary cities with them so that her 7th graders can build a utopia and walk around in it. Hagan’s collection is pure and tainted, beautiful and ugly, allowing her poetry to truly capture the essence of growing up.

John Murillo’s debut poetry collection, Up Jump the Boogie, reveals an honest portrayal of urban life littered with genuine violence, inevitable downfalls, and lost love. Murillo doesn’t shy away from the facts of painful reality, but delves deep into the heart of these controversial issues to craft sincere and relatable poetry. The four-part collection comments on the importance of culture in relation to Murillo’s African American and Chicano roots.

In “Renegades of Funk,” Murillo recognizes that it is his culture’s nature to fight for freedom and fight to survive because they are machete wielding silhouettes who Reject the fetters, come together still. In his book, Murillo draws a distinction between cinematic violence and city violence, claiming that his lifestyle is a product of the latter. In his poem “Enter the Dragon,” Murillo remembers watching as his father – this John Henry of a man – / Hides his hammer. He notes that genuine violence doesn’t always involve pistol shots and bloodshed, but rather silent suppression.

Murillo writes several poems that capture the inescapable fate of individuals dwelling in a toxic urban environment. “The Corner” deals candidly with the dangers of relying on the streets for sustenance and comes to the conclusion that once you are exposed to that lifestyle, there is no escaping it: How it begins, ends, and begins again here./ On the corner. When read collectively, Murillo’s poems form a gateway into a shockingly truthful world – a world stripped of euphemisms and pleasantries – a world some call reality.

Okay, quick poll! Raise your hand if you know what the last week of September is. Anyone? Well, allow me to inform you. The week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 was Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of people’s freedom to read and the significance of our First Amendment right to free speech. Big deal, you think, I don’t read anyway. Right?

Wrong. According to the book Media and Culture, the book remains the oldest (and most effective) mass medium, whether you read often or never pick up a book. Relatively easy to mass produce and accessible to everyone regardless of your race, gender, or social class, everyone has the chance to be exposed to the ideas of countless writers around the world. Yet books continue to be challenged and banned in schools and elsewhere in the United States (not only in other nations). For those of you who might say these bans only occur in certain regions, such as the Bible Belt of the Midwest, think again- visit the American Library Association’s website at www.ala.org and you will be directed to a map that shows where bans or challenges (where someone requests a book be taken off a shelf or restricted) have occurred.  A large majority of them occur along the East Coast, as well as the upper Midwest, South, and parts of the West Coast. And that’s not even a complete list: only those that have been documented.

So why and how is a book challenged or banned? According to the ALA website, a well-meaning person may challenge a book in order to protect others, usually children, from its ideas and images. The subject material may be everyday life situations for many of us; however some may find it too controversial or subversive for consumption. There are formal processes that either a school or library may have in order to make this possible.

Among the titles that have been frequently challenged or banned are Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. According to the challengers, the books contain crude racial slurs, sexual content, violent images, and swear words among other material “not suitable” for reading. And the list does not stop here: Google the words “banned books list” and millions of hits pop up, referring to lists as well as articles.

Personally, I have read all of the books listed above, as well as many others on various lists, and while yes, some of the words and images are graphic and disturbing, it does not mean they are not good literature. As a writer myself, I know that sometimes one has to make a decision on whether or not to include a word, or a scene, in a story to make it credible. For instance, if Holden Caulfield had his potty mouth turned into cheesy phrases such as “Gosh darn” and “for Pete’s sake,” Salinger would have had a much harder time conveying a message of angst and rebellion. Also, many of the people who have challenged or pushed for books to be banned have likely never even read the book in its entirety. Certain branches of the NAACP have called for Huckleberry Finn to be banned because of its use of the N-word, but do they realize that Twain’s objective was to preach against slavery? In fact, the good slave Jim was the most compassionate character in the book, whereas Huck’s father was the least.

All of that aside, the purpose of this week from September to October is to celebrate the freedom to read what we choose to, and to exercise our right to free speech. Although people have the choice of what to read and what to avoid, they should not be allowed to make that choice for anyone else. Everyone should be allowed to be exposed to different situations and cultures, and books are a wonderful medium to be able to do that. No one should be able to take that away. So go out and celebrate your freedom to make that choice. While you’re at it, check out the ALA website for a list of banned books and links, and read one. It might change the way you think.

Editor’s note: Didn’t get the chance to read a book during Banned Books Week? Read one anytime and tell us about it! Email ChargerBulletin@newhaven.edu and let us know if YOU think it should be banned or not!

What: The University of New Haven (UNH) will feature Greg Melville, author of the best-selling title, “Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fast Food Fueled Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future,” during Convocation exercises, as another record-setting freshman class is welcomed to campus on Move-in Day. “Greasy Rider” was selected as the 2009 Common Read selection thanks to inspiration from the University’s “Go Green” sustainability campaign. After considering over 40 titles nominated by UNH faculty, students and staff, the Common Read 2009 Committee chose Melville’s witty and informative tale of life on the road while going green. The Common Read program provides a common topic for discussion, intellectually engaging the UNH community of learners.

When: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Bixler-Botwinik quad, UNH campus

Details: “Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fast Food Fueled Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future” is the chronicle of two friends who drive cross country with the goal of not stopping at a gas pump. Outfitted  with a 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon –  with its engine converted to run on vegetable oil –  Melville, and his college friend Iggy, stopped at  the solar-powered Google headquarters; the wind turbines of southwestern Minnesota; one of the first houses to receive platinum certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED); and a so-called “eco-friendly” Wal-Mart.

Melville is a freelance journalist, and former newspaper reporter and editor at Men’s Journal. He graduated from Kenyon College in 1992, and has written for such publications as The New York Times, National Geographic Adventure, Skiing, Popular Mechanics, Outside, Reader’s Digest and Money. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.