This story is like the Energizer Bunny.  It keeps going and going and going.  Here is the timeline:

May 2009 – Karin won the Ellen Hopkins Author Visit

Summer 2009 – Schedule the Author Visit for Sept. 22nd

Early September – Karin started preparing the 8th graders for the Ellen Hopkins Author Visit by talking a little about each book, sharing some of her poetry, and selling CRANK, GLASS, and IMPULSE for autographing.

Monday, September  14th – ALL books sold.

Tuesday, September 15th – Complaint lodged about the book and author visit.  Big meeting, big meeting, big meeting.  Book officially under review as per district policy, author visit cancelled.  Karin freaks and tries to figure out what to do.

Wednesday, September 16th – Thanks to a wonderful friend, Karin gets another location for Ellen Hopkins’ visit.  Karin emails Ellen to tell her what is going on and ask if she is willing to change locations.  Luckily, she agrees.  Ellen posts about the situation on her blog and news starts spreading on the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter.

Monday, September 21st – Ellen Hopkins arrives in Oklahoma City.

Tuesday, September 22nd – Ellen Hopkins signs stock at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Hastings.  Ellen speaks at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College.  The Oklahoman publishes an article.  KFOR, Channel 9, does a news story about the situation.  Ellen’s presentation goes great.

Wednesday, September 23rd – The Oklahoman publishes a second article about the presentation.  Kelly Ogle, a long time news personality in Oklahoma City, shares his opinion in a segment he calls “My 2 Cents.”

Thursday, September 24th – The Norman Transcript publishes an article about the situation.  Hopefully, Kelly Ogle will do a “Your 2 Cents” segment with comments from the community about his report from the previous night.  If he does, I’ll post the link here when it is available.

From here, who knows.  It is crazy!  I am totally okay with the book being reviewed through the district’s reconsideration policy.  I just don’t know why the author visit was canceled.

So, what do you guys think?  I’ve thought about it so much that I’m dizzy.  Do you think CRANK AND GLASS are appropriate for 8th graders to read, but more importantly, do you think Ellen should have been allowed to speak to the 8th graders?

I’ll leave you with Ellen Hopkins MANIFESTO, which she wrote for Banned Book Week.  Enjoy!