Prudish librarians are pushing to ban young adult book The Higher Power of Lucky because of a reference to a rattlesnake-bitten dog ballsack on the first page. And yesterday's front-page Times article about the Newbery award-winning book's controversial use of the word 'scrotum' has lit bloggers more keyed up than they've been since J. K. Rowling last uttered a gnomic death-threat to Harry Potter. The author defends her word choice thusly: "The word is just so delicious." Yummy!

Well, Galleycat's Ron Hogan thinks so:

I also got a good laugh out of the elementary school librarian who declared, "You won't find men's genitalia in quality literature." Au contraire; you'll find it in Balzac.* (*I debated whether to go with that line or a The Sun Also Rises reference, before deciding that the show tune allusion would be more fabulous.)

Oh ho! While Hogan focused on literary testicle jokes and outraged denials of Howard Sterny intent from YA authors, January Magazine had a different take on that opening, pointing out that Associated Content's story on the nutty scandal, which came out a day earlier than the Times article, also cited the fact that the word is rarely heard in 'polite conversation.' Long story short: don't expect this scandal to die down anytime soon. It's sort of these people's Anna Nicole.

With One Word, Children's Book Sets Off Uproar [NYT]
Librarians Squirm At Cite of Scrotum [Galleycat]
Kicked Right In The Tiddlywinks [January Magazine]
[Photo: from Nothin' Butt Dogs Contests]