Some days bring despair

For many of us who have spent years trying to bring books and reading to children our calling has become almost a religion. We encourage each other with stories about how children's lives are enriched by the books we introduce them to and the stories they enjoy in our libraries. Now along comes the scandal of Three Cups of Tea the "true story" of a man who devoted years of his life to raising money for schools in Afghanistan. A "60 Minutes" broadcase recently revealed this as not quite the story we thought it was. The schools were not enriched by all the money spent on the book--the author was. A dedicated blogger in Publishers Weekly has expressed the feeling that many of us had when hearing this story. As Barbaara Vey points out, not only were adults fooled by this book, but they bought numerous copies of it for children's collections and school libraries. Many teachers assigned it to their classes (many of whom, according to Vey, found it boring) and now all this pushing of the book only reveals the naivete of adults. Children forced to read it are learning not compassion for third world peoples, but scorn for the adults who can't distinguish between truth and fiction. That's a sure way to turn young readers away from books. We stand revealed as false guides in the world of truth and education. It's enough to make us weep. Let's hope it is also enough to make publishing companies push a little harder to determine the accuracy of what they are publishing, and reviewers to be a little more sceptical of do-gooders who write "memorirs" of their good deeds. We owe it to our children and to the future.