Skip to main content

Banned Books Week 2010

It's that time of year again. Banned Books Week is upon us. This is one of my favorite and least favorite weeks of the year, because it reminds me of the importance of our freedom to read what we want in this country and it reminds me that a small, but vocal group of people who would like to take that freedom away. Makes me downright crabby is what it does. Here is the ALA's list of the top ten most challenged books of 2009:

   ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, drugs,
   and unsuited to age group


   And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
    Reasons: homosexuality


   The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually
   explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group


   To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age group





 Twilight (series), by Stephanie Meyer
 Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group



  Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
   Reasons: sexaully explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group



  
                   
  My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
   Reasons: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide, violence


     
  The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn  Mackler
   Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group



      
   The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
   Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group



                             
   The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
   Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group



Happily, I've read just over half of them. I'd like to read more. I'll be doing my special Banned Books Edition of Retro Friday this week and, in the meantime, why don't you check out this map and see which books are being challenged in your state and what you can do about it. And here is my favorite post on the subject so far this week, from Greenwillow editor Martha Mihalick.

Last of all--two of my favorite quotes on censorship, by men who would know. Chris Crutcher had this to say to the question, "What would you like youth to know about books that have been challenged or banned?":
That they aren't really banned. They can get them at the library or the bookstore or Amazon.com. This is America.
And Stephen King:
Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you'll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.
As my six-year-old boy would say, "Haroo-ya!"
Labels:

Comments

  1. Melissa (i swim for oceans)11:52 AM

    Some of the banned books are just absurd...Twilight is sexually explicit? Now, I dislike the series, but I thought I preached abstinence...colour me crazy. So strange!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janicu12:41 PM

    I like that quote too.. "they aren't really banned"... it's very comforting.

    The banner up there is pretty. All in red. I like that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. April (BooksandWine)1:45 PM

    I've read 7 of them. YAY! Also, Stephen King, how I want to make out with you for that statement even though he's old. Le sigh.

    Seriously, I would trade a gun for some books.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Liviania3:57 PM

    Those are great quotes.

    And I'm always surprised by some of the books that get banned - they'd probably fade into obscurity if people didn't insist on challenging them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Katy7:21 PM

    To Kill A Mockingbird and The Perks of Being A Wallflower are two of my all time favorite books!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1:12 AM

    Twilight is sexually explicit and has a religious viewpoint? Did they read the book? They must be thinking of a different Twilight. That's the only way that makes sense.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Melissa3:24 PM

    Oh, I LOVE the Stephen King quote. Mind if I borrow it?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Angiegirl7:22 PM

    Melissa, lol. I thought so, too.

    Janice, it is comforting, isn't it? Made me happy.

    April, well done you! And I know how you feel re: King and that comment. So great.

    Livi, yeah, it's amazing how long some of them have consistently made the top ten.

    Caitlin, oh yeah. CATCHER is one of mine a well.

    Tiah, truly. I honestly don't think many of the challengers actually read the books at all. Losers.

    Melissa, borrow away! It is awesome and it should be shared. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Read the Book5:52 PM

    It makes me so sad that To Kill a Mockingbird is so consistently challenged. It is a classic example of a book being looked at in tiny, fragmented pieces rather than as a beatiful whole.

    And I must say, if my 10th grade students can understand why Lee does what she does and why she uses the language she does, then why can't the adults challenging the novel?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, Review + Giveaway!

It seems a long time ago now that I first read Shiver -- the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. But looking back I started it on the plane ride to BEA and finished it there in the conference center, fingers gripping the cover tightly, while sitting on the floor in one of the many autograph lines. And now it's May again and BEA is right around the corner and I emerge from my recent and nasty reading slump stupor to find a copy of Linger sitting in my mailbox like a glove thrown down in the dirt. "I will be the one to pull you out," it whispers to me slyly. "Just open me up and take a sip. I promise--one sip is all it will take." And I look at it with fear and longing written all over my face. "You promise?" I ask  intently. "Because it's been a long walk in the cold and I'm not sure I can take another disappointment." "Just open me up," it says, confidence written all over its cover. And so I do. And everythin...
161 comments
Read more

Interview with Sarah Rees Brennan + Giveaway!

You are all quite familiar by now with my obsession with The Demon's Lexicon trilogy (you can read my reviews of the first two books  here  and  here ).  I discovered book one at the end of last year and went absolutely wild with delight over the darkly twisting combination of work-their-way-under-your-skin characters and the sinister magical underbelly of the world they live in. It instantly went on my best of the year list and I eagerly awaited the sequel. Today is release day for book two-- The Demon's Covenant --and I can tell you right now it is an incredibly awesome read. To celebrate its release, Sarah Rees Brennan agreed to drop in and answer a few of my questions. I think you'll enjoy the results...  First things first: Hot brothers. We love them. We love you for creating such good ones. Do you have any brothers? Where did the basis for Alan and Nick’s incredibly complex relationship come from? I too love hot brothers, Angie. Not mine. I mean...
93 comments
Read more

Interview with April Lindner + Jane Giveaway!

I'm very excited about today's interviewee. As you know, I had been looking forward to the publication of Jane for months when a review copy happened in my lap and I let out a gasp of joy. Being a modernized retelling of Jane Eyre with a rock star-ized Mr. Rochester named Nico and a cover that hits every last one of my aesthetic buttons, it was sort of made to order for this reader. Needless to say, it more than lived up to my not inconsiderable expectations and I have been recommending it on a pretty much daily basis to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors . . . you get the picture. It's now just under a month until the book is out and, in anticipation of the release, I invited  April Lindner over to dish about all things Jane. She kindly accepted. Please welcome April! First things first: The Cover. I am in deep smit with that cover. Did you have any input and what was your reaction upon seeing it for the first time? I adore the cover too, and was blown away the...
76 comments
Read more