Read a Banned Book!!

[CarolG]

September 21-28, 2002 is Banned Books Week. "Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read" is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

Many bookstores and libraries across the nation join in the celebration with displays and readings of books that have been banned or threatened throughout history. These include works ranging from the Bible and "Little Red Riding Hood" to John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

The following books were the most frequently challenged in 2001:

- Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, for its focus on wizardry and magic.

- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, for using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.

- The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (the "Most Challenged" fiction book of 1998), for using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.

- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, for sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.

- Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene for racism, offensive language and being sexually explicit.

- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger for offensive language and being unsuited to age group.

- Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, for being sexually explicit, using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.

- Go Ask Alice by Anonymous for being sexually explicit, for offensive language and drug use.

- Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, for offensive language and being unsuited to age group.

- Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause for being sexually explicit and unsuited to age group.

For more information, see the American Library Association's Banned Book Week site.

List of frequently challenged classics

The 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000 -- There are five Judy Blume books on this list; it even includes "Where's Waldo?" at number 88! (There's apparently a drawing of a woman on a beach wearing only the bottom half of a bathing suit; I can't even find Waldo.)

How many of these books have you already read?

(Sorry for the long post, Jason )

 

[oldkicker]

I've read quite a few of these...

 

[EROS]

Thanks, CAROL . The moderator-Webmaster censoring crew around here should just LOVE this thread .......

A censor is a censor is a censor .....

 

[Judy from Boise]

I followed the last link and of the 100 counted 33 books i have read that are on the list.
However i would argue that many of them do not belong in Public school libraries. ( the Anne rice series , and Nancy Friday especially )

 

[fklhou]

My DW has a tea shirt that says Read a Ban Book with a list of books that have been banned in the past. She is very proud of that shirt.

I am amazed at the number of attempts to ban books this year.

 

[PandyPaws]

22. Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne

 

[gina2000]

I've read quite a few and my son will also read them (and has read Harry Potter).


To err is human, to ban is a crime.....

 

[perdidobay]

Thanks for posting this...banned books are a pet peeve of mine...I've read 33 of the 100 listed... guess I need to read some more

 

[fklhou]

Here is a story that appeared in the Houston paper. See http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1582772 Evidently, 38 books were banned last year. I find this to be amazing in this day and age.

 

[CarolG]

Thanks for the article. If I'm interpreting it correctly, that was 38 books pulled from school libraries in Texas alone. Scary.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Thank you for the list. It is truly amazing the lengths to which some people will go in order to force their idea of "what's good to read" onto others.

I would stand by any library, public school or otherwise, that stocked any of these books. Parents that object can simply instruct their children to stay away from them. Taking away my options as a parent to allow my children to read books that I feel are appropriate is appalling IMO.

 

[Planogirl]

OK, some of the books may be questionable for young students but most of these are ridiculous! The Houston Chronicle article was interesting.

Other books challenged include Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I've heard that people fuss about Mark Twain's work but wasn't aware that the other two authors came under fire. Give me a break!

Thanks for the heads up. I think that I will buy a few banned books and speak with my pocketbook.

 

[Cindy B]

I've read 38 of the 100...

I must say something about the public school where I went ..

I read, The Outsiders, Flowers for Algernon, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mark Twains books, Brave New World (loved that one!) all in middle school/high school. (Outsiders/Flowers 7th 8 th grade all others high school)


Obviously I wouldn't want some in a public school library as well., but I will definetely read more of them...

 

[Wagamama]

I've read all the books you listed Cindy, and the majority of them were in school. I honestly don't see what is so offensive about them.

 

[Michelle]

Hey EROS, this Webmaster DOES love this thread!

I've read and loved many of these books as well. Thanks for the information, Carol!

 

[dancergirl]

I have read 18 of the books on the list, and im only in 10th grade! Alot of the ones on there I read at school! We are reading To Kill A Mockingbird now in lit. This is possibly my all time favorite book!! I dont see what is wrong with it, its not candy coated, but that doesnt mean it should be ban! I cant wait to tell my lit teacher, TKAM is one of his favs too, he will find this intresting im sure!!! Thanks for the links!

 

[Rajah]

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald -- in school
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck -- in school
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee -- in school (and loved it!)
Ulysses, James Joyce -- in school (though that was college)
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck -- in school
Charlotte's Web, EB White ?????? Why??
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley -- in school, and totally agree with the banning of this one -- YUCK!
Animal Farm, George Orwell -- in school
The Call of the Wild, Jack London -- in school
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien ??? Why??
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum ???Again, why??
Howard's End, EM Forster -- in school, or was this one college?
A Hithchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams -- ??? Did this have some explicit stuff in it? I don't remember, I just remember some of the humor
O Pioneers!, Willa Cather -- in school (ugh, I hated this book!)
The War of the Worlds, HG Wells -- in school, or at least an excerpt
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame -- ???


Oh, and reading that list again -- not all of them were banned. THat's the list of top 100 books of the 20th century, and only those in bold were banned/challenged. So Winnie the Pooh and Charolette's Web didn't get banned.

Now... from the other list, all of which *were* challenged or banned...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck -- in school
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle -- in school and on my own
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard -- I think I remember these...
Blubber by Judy Blume
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George -- WHAT???? I LOVE this book! What could there possibly be in this book to make it banned??? (I also read this one in school the first time I read it)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee -- in school
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein -- Huh???
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley -- in school (Yuck!)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl -- In school -- huh??
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford --

 

[KarenB]

What kind of mother am I??

On my childrens' bookshelves are about 25+ of the books of the 100 list!!!!!

.......and there are about 25 more I would like to read myself!!!

Karen


Rajah......my 12 year old DS is reading the Hitchhikers Guide right now...he loves it and I love to hear him LOL while he reads it!!!!

 

[lvs_eeyore]

Wow looking at that list I have myself read a ton of those books and most of them when I was in school. Right now we have at least 20 of them in the house in my sons bookshelf! I cant tell you how many of them are on his accelerated reading list also....JK Rowling, Dahl, Blume, etc....

 

[Jenzebelle]

I've read about 70 out of the 100.
Many of them were assigned books for English class in my Catholic schools!