http://www.bannedbooksweek.org
Think for yourself and let others do the same.
Celebrate your freedom to read.
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“Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”
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The most frequently challenged book of 2012 is Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants. You can find the entire top ten here or just read on . . .
- Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group - Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
- Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit - And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group - The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit - Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group - Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence - The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit - Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
How strongly do I feel that books should not be banned? I just added a link to Fifty Shades of Grey to my blog. *Shudder*
As for me, I’ll be donning my banned books bracelet all this week to remind me of the importance of our freedom to read. Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in time, Howl, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Go Ask Alice, Huckleberry Finn, The Color Purple, Annie On My Mind, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are among a few of the books that have been banned.
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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BANNED BOOK???
VR BARKOWSKI 
Some books are just in bad taste. But banning only brings them attention and support that they would not get otherwise.
Very true, Roland. I only hope banning isn’t the marketing wave of the future. Companies that now provide paid reviews but are losing ground because of the copious amount fraud on Amazon and Goodreads can always switch to submitting challenge forms to the Office of Intellectual Freedom requesting books be banned.
Sigh. I really must do something about this cynicism. 🙂
I can see where some books are unsuitable for certain ages and I might find some books offensive, but I would never want to see any book ban. While we may not agree with the language in some of these books, they do represent a time in our history when life was much like that. To ban books is to stop the mind from learning. BTW, love the bracelet.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Exactly, Mason. Banning books will never replace parenting. And censorship, as with Mark Twain & Huck Finn, is unconscionable. We learn from the past. To “erase” history’s mistakes only means we’re destined to repeat them. We don’t have to agree with everything we read. Books can help us understand those who think differently from us, and frankly, that’s more important than having our own beliefs reinforced.
Some can be offensive to everyone, but then people just need to ignore them. Simple as that. Freedom to write what one wants should be out there. Unless they are factually writing out how they are going to blow up the world or something haha
The implicit message in banning is that we’re not intelligent enough to understand the ideas/stories presented to us and to make rational choices. It’s more than a little bit insulting. Makes me want to blow up something. 😉
My favourite banned book, though there are so many to choose from, is Margaret Lawrence’s Stone Angel.
The Stone Angel (1964)l is consistently listed as one of the greatest Canadian novels ever written.] It has also been banned by some school boards and high schools, usually following complaints from fundamentalist Christian groups labeling the book blasphemous and obscene. Although The Stone Angel has been banned from some schools and public libraries; it is studied at the grade 12 university level in other schools.
During my peer learning Banned Books class a few years ago, one of the women told a wonderful story about Margaret. The woman in my class, and her husband, were both professors at the university here. One stormy night (lol) but it was snow, Mary, my classmate, met Margaret by the front door of one of the buildings as they were both waiting for rides. Margaret waited for a cab to take her back to the hotel and Mary waited for her husband to pick her up and take her home, a short distance away. Mary told Margaret no way would a taxi be coming (really bad blizzard) and invited her to stay over at Mary’s home. Which Margaret gracefully accepted
That evening Mary went to bed and left her husband, also a literature professor, and Margaret sipping brandy by the fire and talking about censorship etc
I just love that story. I could go on about Margaret Lawrence and banned books, but it’s your blog not mine.
What a great story, Sue. I haven’t read the Stone Angel, but I’ve certainly heard of it and it’s now on my TBR list—assuming I ever actually get back to R’ing anything from my TBR list. 🙂
Frankly I’m surprised you’ve heard of it…. and I did try reading it again a few years ago but it seemed dated….
A few years back on Canada Day, a Canadian blogger (can’t remember who, maybe Just Jemi?) asked commenters to list their favorite Canadian writers/books. Mine was Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, but a couple folks listed Stone Angel.
Now, why can I remember that, but can’t remember what happened 15 minutes ago???!
I honestly don’t see much difference between banning and burning books. Both are an attempt to repress certain ideas, but if you truly feel you stand on intellectual and moral high ground those competing ideas should not feel threatening whatsoever.
Very true, Steven. A book which incorporates ideas opposed to our own could open our minds to understanding someone else’s point of view, and we all know how dangerous that can be…
I’m always amazed by Captain Underpants when it makes this list. I know a young person who hated to read until she started reading those books. Now she loves it. I think we should ban censorship.
Guess I need to look into Captain Underpants—poor choice of words, but you know what I mean—I’m not familiar with the series. Anything that gets a child reading is a win, because once you start reading, it’s nearly impossible to stop.
Captain Underpants? Really? I guess I should read it to see what all the fuss is about. I see middle schoolers reading those all the time.
Me too, Liz. I’m particularly curious about what its detractors mean by “offensive language.”
Whoosh, I had a hard time logging in!
Anyway, Captain Underpants is awesome.
I’m really going to have to investigate Captain Underpants. Lol. I see why kids might like it. It’s tough to write a sentence using the words “Captain Underpants” and not smile.
We never told our kids they couldn’t read or watch anything, no matter the language or whatever. Wish someone would ban one of my books. 🙂
I know, Polly. We may be onto something with this get your book banned approach to marketing. 🙂
Go Ask Alice is on my TBR list. My 15 year old son read it and he says it was an informative, tragic read. He doesn’t read much. I imagine the scenes of drugs and sexual activity were especially attractive to him, but he did look beyond into the deeper meaning of the book.
………dhole
Like your son, I read Go Ask Alice when I was around 15. It made a definite impression. At the time it was still being marketed as non-fiction, although I did question a few things even back then. I’ve considered re-reading the book knowing what I know now (being old and all). It would be an interesting exercise.
One of the coolest things my parents did for me as a kid was to give me complete freedom to read whatever I wanted to read. I devoured a lot of books probably considered “too mature” for my chronological age at the time, but the idea of banning or censoring any book is as abhorent to me as it was to my mother. If someone finds a book unacceptable, fine, she doesn’t have to read it… and she can certainly tell her own children not to read it, but she does NOT have the right to dictate reading material for the whole rest of society.
My favorite banned book? Probably “Huckleberry Finn”. Twain wrote another book that was banned, too. It’s called “Eve’s Diary”, and as soon as I heard about it, I downloaded it through Amazon (free!) but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.
I don’t recall my parents restricting my reading either. I don’t think it ever occurred to them that I might read something I shouldn’t. I did on occasion, but not often—I was a pretty good kid. 🙂