As an early 1970s grade-schooler, I found a copy of “Valley of the Dolls” in my parents’ bedroom, just laying there on a table, and I wanted to read it because I thought it was a story about toys.
I don’t remember how far I got into it before I got caught reading it, probably not more than a few pages, and was told that it was a book for grown-ups. I did eventually see the movie, and while it wasn’t great cinema, IMNSHO it wasn’t a complete bomb either like some reviewers said it was.
It is the book where they chant"we must, we must increase our bust" and I tossed the book at that point because I thought that was the stupidest thing ever.
Naturally I ended up big busted and still think that was the stupidest thing.
I was probably around that age when I read Shōgun, likely even a tad younger. I had already been exposed to some somewhat spicy stuff by twelve or so as a result of dumpster-diving behind a bookstore for stripped books back in the day. Science-fiction was what I was mostly searching for, but I came across all sorts of mass market trash. Didn’t scar me all that badly (involuntary twitch). Never did read King Rat though - I stopped with Clavell at Tai-Pan. Maybe I should give it a shot, although my to-read stack keeps backing up on me these days.
I was actually introduced to Judy Blume by my mother giving me It’s Not the End of the World when my folks finally definitively split and we moved to a different city around 5th grade. Both age and era appropriate ( I mean, I’m in my 50’s - 5th grade was a very long time ago) even if I was a guy. While I don’t recall it actually helping me process the divorce any better, I do remember liking the book 
.
As far as Judy Blume’s books go, I recall reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when I was in the fourth grade, which made it memorable (besides it being a good book, of course). I’d have probably read more of her work if I hadn’t developed a lifelong focus on science fiction & fantasy.
As far as “kids reading difficult works” go, the second earliest for-adults books I recall reading was Roger Zelazny’s Creatures of Light and Darkness. Which took me all summer and left me confused, but I still enjoyed it. I think it’s good for kids to try reading things somewhat beyond their comprehension level, it’s a good way for them to increase it.
I accidentally read Portnoy’s Complaint when I was like 12 or 13. I was on a camping trip, I was desperate for a book, and the little camp store had a tiny selection of battered used paperbacks. I chose PC more or less at random.
It was … eye opening.
I have no objections to my kids reading basically anything they (a) want to, and (b) believe they can handle. My door is open for questions.
That’s really a good attitude, my parents were the same. From age ten on, their books were fair game to me, and they had (still have) a lot of books.
Same here. My mother let me read all of her book collection I was interested in (Dad wasn’t much of a reader), and helped me check out books from the public library too.
This is why I took my then-13-year-old son to see the film.
Yeah, it was really stupid! Didn’t work at all. 
That was one part that really didn’t resonate with me.
I mean, in reality, since I was a C cup by 4th grade and started my period at 9 years old, I spent very little time wishing for a period, or boobs. By the time I found Blume’s books, there was no mystery there for me, and reaching that stage early really made me a target of bullying more than something to be proud of. But I can imagine girls who started later in adolescence might be eager to get on with it.
I don’t remember that book too well but it was the religious identity thing I found most compelling.
This, and in general I take a radical honesty approach with my kid. I figure if he’s old enough to ask the question, he’s old enough to hear the answer.
Ditto for my parents… except for a copy of Fanny Hill I found snooping through a night stand. It was… opaque.
I thought the actual chant was stupid (but I guess it did stick with me! it’s one of the first things that comes to mind with that book, decades later) and definitely did not wish for a period or breasts myself (in fact, I correctly thought a period would be kind of obnoxious), but what really resonated with me was how Margaret sort of goes along with all these things that she can half-see are in fact pretty nonsensical and that she doesn’t really want to do, but feels like she has to because her friends are doing it. I don’t think I could have articulated that at the time, but I found that very relatable, and I think it continues to be relatable to teenagers.
It definitely was for me. When I was around 12 (and a boy) I read a couple of Blume’s books, including Are You There God. It was very informative and very likely shaped my understanding of girls and women. It was good to know what they were going through.
This was the attitude my parents held as well! Many enlightening conversations were held at our dining room table. I had no idea at the time how fortunate I was.
I wonder if this really does make kids more interested in these books? As a child, I had no concept of book bans, but I follow the issue very closely as an adult (and even use those lists to build my own reading list).
In my experience, yes. Although if a book gets to the point of being banned it’s already popular in most cases. Most of my library career has been spent in bubbles (Brooklyn and DC), and the subject only started coming up with kids I worked with in recent years. Earlier this school year my daughter was subbing for a school librarian, and the lesson was about banned books. She said the students had very strong opinions about the subject.
Every year, during Banned Book Week, my high school librarian put up a display called “Read a banned book.”
She displayed a number of books the were already in the library’s collection, but had been banned somewhere, at sometime. Each book was displayed with a short summary of its banning story.
There were a few that had been banned in history (ancient or medieval times), and a couple banned by the Nazis, some banned in the Middle East, etc., but more than half would be books banned somewhere in the US-- some currently banned by other school systems.
You could also get a full list of books banned in the US in the 20th century, somewhere, with an asterisk by the ones that had been disallowed or removed from our school’s library (none recently, FWIW).
If a parent had a question, the principal always stood by her.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was always displayed, and freshmen, seeing the display the first time, were scratching their heads at seeing it, and saying “I read that.”
Nice. That does make sense.
Wow! Very impressive that she had backup too.
We had the same thing at my high school as well as my university library. I get the impression it’s not uncommon in California 
My mother worked for a small independent bookstore. During Banned Book Week, she would do much the same. She filled the front windows with books that had been banned somewhere, with a sign urging customers to read a banned book.