Read Banned Books and Celebrate—Banned Books Write-Off
Sep 18 '06 (Updated Sep 20 '07)
The Bottom Line Either for the fun of it, or for the awareness and celebration of individual rights, start reading and writing!!
Banned Book Week September 23-30
Books are the meat of what we do. We love having the freedom to read incredible books, books that make us sit up and pay attention, books that help us look at the world from different perspectives, books that surprise us. We love books that leave us thinking about the world in ways we might not have considered. We read books we hate because they encourage us to question why we hated the topic. I often realize that it wasn’t the book so much as a topic that made me feel uncomfortable eventually questioning the motivation behind the discomfort.
Because you do what you do, I'm inviting you to my Banned Books Write-Off.
As an adult I find controversial books stimulating, as a child I completely loved them. I devoured each, page by page, and currently feel that by having the opportunity to read a diverse range of books, I grew up receptive to many issues.
Unfortunately, books are banned everywhere, for a variety of reasons and often good intentions. Judy Blume says, “It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
September 23 is rapidly approaching and I thought that a write-off would be an excellent opportunity to explore frequently banned books. The American Library Association has a list of the 100 most frequently banned books. I’ve provided 30 of those books (with Epinions links). I found the list interesting, some have been covered with 30 or more reviews while a few have never been reviewed and two or three are not in the database (well, they might be but cannot be found through normal searches).
What is This Write-Off All About?
The Banned-Books Write-Off is dedicated to banned books. For this review there are hundreds of possibilities. Review one of the books on the ALA list (I suspect there are other lists). Identify it as a banned book, and if you know why, address that logic somewhere in your review. Do you agree with the reason? If you wish to comment on that, please do so, it's not necessary, we can decide the reason for ourselves. Read one that has been banned and review it honestly.
You might find one of your favorite books on this list and wonder why. I honestly never understood what there was about “Witches” or “Of Mice and Men” or “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that warranted banning. Have fun and find yourself something interesting to read.
Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Harry Potter, or Huckleberry Finn, what's your favorite book? Someone has probably tried to ban it. Celebrate your freedom to read (and review) during Banned Books Week, September 23 to 30, 2006.
The following list is 30 of the 100 most frequently banned books; the remainder of the list can be viewed at the American Library Association’s link provided at the end of this list.
Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna (Not in the Epinions database)
Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein (Not in the Epinions database)
Anastasia Krupnik(Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
The list of 100 banned books: www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm
Deadline for Submission
Entries to this write-off should be submitted before the end of September, but can continue into early October. I plan to submit my review by September 23, the first day of Banned Books Week.
How do I Post my Entry?
When your entry is complete and you are ready to share it, return to this invitation and post a link in my comment section or email me your link (pestyside@gmail.com). I’m in the midst of changing jobs and have been a little busy recently so I’m generally visiting my site once a day. I’ll post your review links at the bottom of this invitation as well as on my profile page. If you could include a link to this invitation at the bottom of your review it might encourage others to contribute.
Final Thoughts
Libraries were one of the first institutions that opened their doors to all. People of all ethnicities were given free access to libraries and books. Through the ALA’s efforts, libraries actively defend constitutional rights of all individuals. They respect the individual’s rights and recognize that their collections can contribute to a future “that values freedom of speech in a world that celebrates both our similarities and our differences.” Either for the fun of it, or for the awareness and celebration of individual rights, start reading and writing!! I look forward to reading your contributions.
Patsy
Participants in Banned Books Week! Thank you each for your wonderful contributions!!
American Psycho from dramastef
Cujo from phungus
A Light in the Attic from pestyside
The Giver from popsrocks
In the Night Kitchen from pestyside
The Terrorist from jankp
Running Loose from scmrak
Bridge to Terabithia from befus
It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health from jeavinl
Slaughterhouse-Five: Or the Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death from Stephen Murray
Battle of the Books: Literary Censorship in the Public Schools 1950-1985 from sleeper
Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus from captaind
The following contribution isn't a banned book, but I agree, it fits.
Teaching Banned Books: 12 Guides for Young Readers from jeavinl
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