Australian author Craig Silvey, known for his bestselling books Jasper Jones, Honeybee and Runt, has pleaded guilty<\/a> to possessing and distributing child exploitation material. Two further charges were dropped, including allegations he produced child exploitation material.<\/p>\n Silvey is yet to be sentenced \u2013 but what we do with his books will be decided outside the court of law. Families, libraries, schools and bookshops may be struggling to know how to proceed. Is it possible to separate the art from the artist? <\/p>\n The recent cancellation of First Nations children\u2019s book Bila<\/a> by University of Queensland Press \u2013 scrapped because of statements made by its illustrator, not anything in the book itself \u2013 is a reminder that destroying books is always problematic. <\/p>\n But sitting with the discomfort of keeping Silvey\u2019s books in circulation is genuinely hard when children have been harmed. What do we tell a young person who asks why their favourite book has disappeared from the shelf \u2013 or why it hasn\u2019t?<\/p>\n A generation of Australians has grown up with Jasper Jones, a fixture on school reading lists \u2013 along with its popular stage adaptation<\/a> and film<\/a>. For the many who continue to feel deeply attached to the texts they study in high school, Silvey\u2019s conviction may feel like a personal betrayal. <\/p>\n On TikTok, one young woman<\/a> is throwing her copies of Honeybee and Jasper Jones in the bin, with the caption \u201cone of my favourite authors \u2026 no longer\u201d. <\/p>\n My own gender fluid kids are acutely aware of J.K. Rowling\u2019s critical views on trans people<\/a>. They won\u2019t watch the new Harry Potter adaptations, but have not thrown out their books. Young people have different ways of sitting with such tensions \u2013 and that\u2019s OK. <\/p>\n Parents may no longer feel comfortable keeping Silvey\u2019s books, or may be reluctant to remove a child\u2019s favourite book, especially amid a global downturn<\/a> in children reading for pleasure. Deciding what to do together with the books could be a way to help a young person process their feelings. <\/p>\n Gentle, age-appropriate honesty will be important in these difficult conversations. For younger children, that might mean something simple and direct: \u201cCraig Silvey looked at pictures and videos of children being hurt, and shared them with others. That is against the law, and it harmed real children.\u201d No young person should be made to feel ashamed for having loved these books.<\/p>\n Jasper Jones<\/a> (2009) sold nearly a million copies<\/a> worldwide. It was voted one of ABC Radio National\u2019s 100 Best Books of the 21st century<\/a>. So was Silvey\u2019s controversial<\/a> novel about a troubled trans teenager, Honeybee (2020), winner of the 2021 Australian Indie Book Award. His award-winning illustrated novel Runt<\/a> (2022) attracted a younger audience, spurning a sequel and a feature film.<\/p>\n <\/a> In Jasper Jones, which defined Silvey\u2019s career, 13-year-old Charlie is drawn into the aftermath of a young woman\u2019s death by Indigenous character Jasper, who knows he will be blamed for it. Charlie helps him hide Laura\u2019s body. In the novel\u2019s denouement, we discover she was the victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by her own father; she died by suicide.<\/p>\n Jasper Jones was published in Australia as adult literary fiction. But in the United States, it was published as young adult fiction, making the American Library Association\u2019s 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults<\/a> list. It was then repackaged as young adult in Australia.<\/p>\n While I don\u2019t advocate censorship, I\u2019ve long found the novel\u2019s presence on school text lists troubling: Laura\u2019s sexual abuse and death by suicide exist primarily to catalyse the growth of a young male protagonist. I have always felt the original decision to publish Jasper Jones as adult fiction \u2013 which would have driven editorial decisions, including its (bleak) ending \u2013 was correct.<\/p>\n Following Silvey\u2019s arrest in January 2026, his Australian publishers Allen & Unwin<\/a> and Fremantle Press<\/a> halted promotion of his work. Major booksellers pulled his titles. Australian state education departments removed his books from curricula. The Belvoir Theatre Company announced<\/a> it would indefinitely pause the stage adaptation of Runt it had scheduled for this August. <\/p>\n Has Silvey been \u201ccancelled\u201d? As acclaimed novelist Rebecca Makkai wrote about author Alice Munro<\/a>, after it was revealed Munro turned a blind eye to her second husband\u2019s abuse of her daughter, it\u2019s not that simple.<\/p>\n \u201cCanceled\u201d implies that something, collectively, has been done to the author, rather than that individual people are making choices to relinquish, perhaps with great pain and mourning, the work of a writer they once loved. Or to relinquish some of it. Or to look at it quite differently.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/a> You may still be able to find Silvey\u2019s books in your local library. Libraries have collection policies to help guide decisions in situations like this. Most Australian public libraries operate under policies aligned with the Australian Library and Information Association\u2019s free access to information principles<\/a>, which explicitly resist the removal of material on moral or reputational grounds.<\/p>\n Unless a title is legally prohibited, a library has limited grounds to remove a book simply because its author has been convicted of an offence. To do otherwise risks setting a precedent that could lead to censorship. <\/p>\n That said, many librarians will likely be quietly reconsidering how prominently Silvey\u2019s titles are displayed.<\/p>\n Months before his arrest, Silvey toured Australian schools<\/a> to promote the sequel to Runt. There is no direct link between his crime and his books or public appearances \u2013 unlike the case of Sydney children\u2019s author Oliver Phommavanh, sentenced to jail in February<\/a> for sending sexually explicit messages to three underage students. (Two had contacted him after he visited their schools.)<\/p>\n However, Silvey\u2019s access to children through his public standing must be unsettling for the many organisations who have hosted him. And cases like these risk unbalancing the fragile trust between schools and children\u2019s authors.<\/p>\n As a children\u2019s author myself, I once relied on school visits as a source of income and a way to connect with my readers. Most children\u2019s authors are good, kind people, passionate about books. School visits and assigned texts by living authors can help inspire a lifelong love of reading.<\/p>\n Today, I\u2019m thinking of the collaborators who were involved in producing Silvey\u2019s books and their adaptations \u2013 and dedicated years to bringing his stories to life. I\u2019m thinking of the parents, grandparents, booksellers, librarians and teachers who have put these books in young people\u2019s hands. And of the children and young adults who love his books.<\/p>\n But most importantly, behind Silvey\u2019s guilty plea are children who were exploited and abused. Concerns about his art, its legacy, or the shockwaves in Australian children\u2019s literature are worth thinking about \u2013 but shouldn\u2019t obscure that fact.<\/p>\n If this article has raised issues for you, or if you\u2019re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nA personal betrayal<\/h2>\n
A problem with Jasper Jones<\/h2>\n
![\"book](\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/734157\/original\/file-20260505-57-r9b4ez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip\")
<\/div>\nAre we \u2018cancelling\u2019 Silvey?<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/734153\/original\/file-20260505-57-kqs8rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip\")
<\/div>\n
\n Rex Martinich\/AAP<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSo much at stake<\/h2>\n