Skip to main content

Exercise your right to read!

September 27 through October 3 is Banned Books Week, a yearly event sponsored by the American Library Association to call attention to the still ongoing effort in some quarters to censor our reading material.

 These days, it seems that the main push to ban books comes through school libraries, usually middle school libraries. Parents and/or teachers express concerns about allowing children access to certain ideas. Usually, these are ideas with which the adults disagree but there is really no evidence that they would damage young minds.

 A major objection to books in recent years, for example, are those which depict gay marriage or other non-traditional family situations. There are also sometimes objections to having women characters who are strong and independent and pursue "unfeminine" professions.

 This is a list of the ten most challenged books during the past year and the reasons for their being challenged:
  1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, anti-family, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depiction of bullying. 
  2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, graphic depictions.
  3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell: Homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, homosexuality, unsuited for age group, "promotes the homosexual agenda."
  4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, "contains controversial issues."
  5. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
  6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples: Anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group.
  7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Offensive language, violence, and unsuited for age group.
  8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Homosexuality, sexuality explicit, offensive language, "date rape and masturbation," drugs/alcohol/smoking.
  9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit.
  10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier: Sexually explicit.
These books join an honor roll of books from our history that have actually been banned when first published, including The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Ulysses, Beloved, The Lord of the Flies, 1984, Lolita, just to name a few.

So, exercise your right to read this week, maybe by reading one of these "banned" books. Most importantly, don't ever let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't read or enjoy reading.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
19 comments
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters!  Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...
6 comments
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
24 comments
Read more