This post was written by Friday guest blogger Annie Reid.

And in the category of horrendously bad advice for young people, we have on one continent, another proud non-reader advising us to encourage reading in children by no longer requiring them to read, while on another, an author of books on jaunty nose-picking (not that I have anything against jaunty nose picking. In fact, despite the recent controversy, I stand by the veracity of my own memoir on this subject, A Million Little Pieces) suggests that bad books may actually be the route to future literacy. Considering today’s events, South Dakota may well have banned books altogether by now, I don’t know.