Celebrating Banned Books Week (September 25-October 2nd)

"Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities.People challenge books that they say are too sexual or too violent. They object to profanity and slang, and they protest against offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups--or positive portrayals of homosexuals. Their targets range from books that explore contemporary issues and controversies to classic and beloved works of American literature."

The ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009 reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

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

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

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

4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee *KB read*
Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age group

5. Twilight (series), by Stephanie Meyer *KB read*
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

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

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

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

9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker *KB read*
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

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

You can click here to see the top 100 band books from 2000-2009. The number 1 top banned book is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

I wonder how it feels for an author to have written a book that is too sexual or violent that some want banned in schools and in libraries? The latest author to be a victim of this, is the recent event with Laurie Halse Anderson and her 1999 book, Speak.

Judith F. Krug led the campaign by libraries against efforts to ban books, including helping found Banned Books Week, then fought laws and regulations to limit children’s access to the Internet.

From the NY Times:

"Ms. Krug fought the banning of books, including “Huckleberry Finn,” “Mein Kampf,” “Little Black Sambo,” “Catcher in the Rye” and sex manuals. In 1982, she helped found Banned Books Week, an annual event that includes authors reading from prohibited books."

And you have to love this...

"Ms. Krug credited her parents as inspiring her passion for free expression. In 2002, she told The Chicago Tribune about reading a sex-education book under the covers with a flashlight when she was 12.

“It was a hot book; I was just panting,” she said, when her mother suddenly threw back the bed covers and asked what she was doing. Judith timidly held up the book.

“She said, ‘For God’s sake, turn on your bedroom light so you don’t hurt your eyes.’ And that was that,” Ms. Krug said."

How can you celebrate Banned Books Week? Why not pick up a banned book and read it? Why not read a banned book with another and discuss together what you have read? Why not go to your local library and see if a banned book is on the shelf and take it out? Or perhaps donate either money or books to your local library (why not even donate a few banned books yourself?).

The New York Times has a great article posted in their Education section on 10 ways to celebrate banned books week.

Help stop the death of libraries and lend your support. Can you imagine a world without libraries?



"This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me. Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolics of any kind; and my industry in my business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary." - Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States who formed the first public lending library in America.

What's the most recent banned book you've read? Would you recommend it to another to read and why?