ttyl is . . . not a bad book

Last December I wrote about the controversy which ensued when the superintendent of the Round Rock School District pulled popular novel ttyl from the shelves of middle school libraries and relocated it to the high schools. The parents cried out that the book was vulgar and pornographic. The author cried out that her book was being censored. At the time, I argued that not making a book available in a library did not amount to censorship and also argued in favor of the free speech rights of the parents to complain about the book. However, I reserved judgment on the merits of the book itself because I had not read it. Now I have read it and I don't think it's a bad book at all; it just covers some mature subjects.

Here is the high level view. No way is the book pornographic. One definition of pornography that I found on dictionary.com is: "creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire." That is pretty close to the Supreme Court definition of obscenity, so I will go with that. Under this definition, ttyl is not pornographic at all because it is not intended to stimulate sexual desire and has significant literary and artistic value. While the primary conflicts in the book involve sexually charged situations, they are used as a plot device to show the dangers of seeking validation from outside sources and to show the importance of friends watching out for each other. Or to put it another way, the book is a great big flashing sign saying WATCH OUT!!!!

Confused? Let me start with some background. ttyl is the story of three 15 year old girls starting 10th grade. It is told entirely through instant messages between the girls in which they talk about their hopes and fears and the activities in their lives. While the girls have been best friends since seventh grade, they each have a trait which causes them to seek approval outside of their group and frequently puts the girls at odds with each other.

Spoiler Alert: The summary below reveals some key plot twists.

Angela is the boy-crazy one. She seeks validation from boys and fantasizes about having a sexual relationship with a boy she has just met who she is convinced is THE ONE, much to her friends' concern. When another girl poaches her boyfriend, she becomes the psycho ex-girlfriend, stalking the boy so that they can "just talk."

Maddie is constantly down on herself and craves approval from the mean queen bee cheerleader. When she ditches her friends on Halloween to go to a college party with her new "friend," she ends up drunk and dancing for the college boys; a hangover and incriminating pictures ensue.

Zoe is the studious good girl with ultra-strict parents. She craves the approval of her teacher, who just happens to be a 24 year old single man. When her teacher invites her to Christian fellowship events and to church,her parents approve. However, the teacher, whether innocently or not, develops an inappropriate interest in his pupil. Zoe and her speedo-clad teacher end up in a hot tub together, where she must be rescued by her friends (in one of the more comic scenes of the book).

In the end, the girls are there for each other and the most serious consequences are averted. Along the way, the girls' friendship is tested. At any given moment, one of the girls is caught in the middle of an argument between the other two.

From a moral standpoint, the book is a good cautionary tale. The story's focus necessarily results in mature subjects being discussed. The presentation of the story is mature as well. The girls talk frankly among themselves, often using exaggeration to make a point, and they cuss a lot. I could have done without as much salty language (where is the episode of Spongbob that talks about sentence enhancers when you need it?). However, as a sometime soccer coach for high school girls, I remember very well the struggle to keep the conversation G-rated. If that is how they talk around adults, I can imagine how they talk in private.

I don't think that the fact that the girls in the book talk about body parts, desires and dangerous situations makes the book pornographic. My younger daughter attends middle school religious ed classes which include discussion of sexual predators and how to protect yourself. There is a sort of parallel to the subject matter of ttyl, except that the book's lessons are intuitive rather than direct.

I can see where some Christians would be offended by this book. One of the main subplots is about a teacher who talks a good game about faith and spiritual things, but uses church as a means to try to get closer to a young girl. The religion as seduction theme could be very discomforting. However, I don't think that the book is anti-Christian. In order for the teacher to get close to Zoe, he has to be an authority figure who her parents will trust. While the author could have chosen someone other than a Christian to play this role, the choice is a legitimate one. If I am being too subtle here, the point is that just because a Christian character falls for and tries to seduce an underage girl does not mean that the author is claiming that all Christians are hypocritical perverts.

The IM format and language (full of shorthand notations) takes a bit of getting used to. I had trouble getting into the book at first, especially when the author was introducing the characters and the plot had not really started to unfold. I asked my daughters about this. My 16 year old daughter rolled her eyes and told me that the book should have written in text messages, since no one IM's anymore. My 14 year old daughter (who loves Shakespeare) thought it read like a play.

I would not have a problem with either one of my daughters reading the book. I can see where it would be a bit too mature for sixth graders. However, I have a hard time drawing the line between too mature and too late. Girls grow up pretty fast between sixth and eighth grade. I don't have a problem with the fact that ttyl is in my daughter's middle school library. Perhaps it would be appropriate to restrict the book from sixth graders, but keeping out of the library altogether seems a bit much (although I totally support the right of someone who disagrees with me to express their opinion).