Mom Checks Out Gossip Girl Books for Three Years to Keep Them Away from Tweens

[Honey]

Tina Harden, a Florida mom, says the books on which the Gossip Girl and It Girl series' are based are inappropriate for teens. Credit: Jacob Langston, Orlando Sentinel / MCT


Tina Harden's teenage daughter checked out four books from Seminole County's Northwest Branch library in Lake Mary, Fla. in 2008 -- one from the "Gossip Girl" series by Cecily von Ziegesar, and three from a spin-off series called "It Girl" -- and she turned library scofflaw rather than return the books to the shelves.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Harden owes $85 in fines for the overdue books, which she holds hostage in a closet in her Longwood, Fla. home. The mom of three says she doesn't care about being dunned by bill collectors for the fees -- all she wants is for the library to put a warning label on the four titles in question, all of which chronicle the life of "Gossip Girl" fictional character Jenny Humphrey.
Harden is adamant that young tweens and teens not be introduced to the nefarious world of "Gossip Girl," which is also a popular TV show on the CW Television Network. The show is populated by wealthy, outrageously attractive New York teens who engage in sex, crime and, of course, gossip.

ParentDish

[Sundance]

These books don't need warning labels & she's not the community mommy deciding what's acceptable for everyone's kids. If she thinks these books are "racy" I'm guessing she hasn't been laid in a long loooong time.

[twitchy2.0]

Only $85 after two years of having the books? What kind of lame fines are those?

[MontanaMama]

I'm really over the mollycoddling. This Olive Oyl lookalike sucks.

[greysfang]

So who elected her mother of the town?

[Brookie]

Righteous indignation does not care who it affects.

[yoyoma]

Yah, like they have not read it already....

[AliceInWonderland]

hilarious

[badgers!]

Now I want to check them out. Are they any good? Any time someone gets all up in arms over a work of fiction, it generates more interest in it than if they just left it alone. Like when church groups thought Harry Potter was going to make their kids "turn to witchcraft". Lame.

[Doctora Pepper]

I guess none of her kids watch any 'racy' shows on tv or stream them on the internet.

[Sundance]

Funny how Mrs. Self-Righteous doesn't have a problem with being a thief. Not setting a very good example for the children.

[Popsicle]

This is the type of wack parent that oppresses their kid so much by living a plain life the child goes batshit in the mid teens and does drugs/gets preggo out of rebellion.

I'd laugh my ass of at that Mom if I ever met her, what must she think teenage girls talk to each other about My Little Ponies and Nail Polish, please..

[Little Goon]

So like, what, does this idiot woman read so little that she doesn't realize that there are places to find books other then this ONE library that she has stolen four books from?
Way to fight the power, dipwad.

[Cali]

Now I want to check them out. Are they any good? Any time someone gets all up in arms over a work of fiction, it generates more interest in it than if they just left it alone. Like when church groups thought Harry Potter was going to make their kids "turn to witchcraft". Lame.

They are just mindless fluff. Pretty similar to the TV show actually. Like junk food for your brain really. Just gossipy, saucy light reading.

Here's an interview with this batty woman. Its funny, I guess she never read Shakespeare, many of his plays are downright bawdy too. But does she want warning labels on them too? Of course not.

Fla. Mom Wages Futile War Against "Gossip Girl"
Mom keeps library books for two years to keep them out of hands of teens

Tina Harden learned the hard way that you can't stop "Gossip Girl," you can can't even hope to contain it.

The Central Florida mom has been waging a nearly two-year war against the series of tween books, refusing to return them to the public library in the hopes of keeping them out of the hands of impressionable youngsters like her daughter.

Harden said she couldn't believe the content she read in the books, which inspired the hit WB TV show of the same name, when her daughter brought one home.

Sex, drugs, dirty language, all too much for the Seminole County mom.

"I was just shocked that this was in the young adult section of the library," Harden told WESH.

Harden decided to take action. She checked out three "Gossip Girl" books as well as a book from the "It Girl" series in 2008, refusing to return them. She has racked up over $85 in fines while keeping the books for the past two years.
"I am not a book burner, I am not a censor," she insisted. Harden suggested the library restrict access of the books to teens or put a warning label on the books.

The library declined, since restricting access would be censorship. They capitulated slightly, however, and moved the books from the young adult section to adult fiction.

Harden's book hijacking efforts did little to stem the tide of "Gossip Girl" indulgence, as the library carried multiple copies of the series. One of the books, "Notorious," was checked out 129 times in the last five months.

Harden finally returned the books Thursday, but has no plans to pay back the $85 dollar fine.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/weird/F...-93076569.html

[Sundance]

They should go after her for the money. She owes it. Period. And the dumbass probably has no clue how many of the the "children" she has tried to "protect" will now want to read the book because of her. Idiot.