Banned Books Week

Since I just started this blog, I'm a week late in talking about Banned Books Week, but I thought I'd put up a post anyhow, for those of you who might be interested. Banned Books Week is the week we celebrate the freedom to read. It's an annual event that supports the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The books featured during Banned Books weeks have been targets of attempted banning, a total of 3,736 over the past 8 years. And while some books have been banned, efforts made by many, including teachers, librarians and booksellers, have kept others safely on the shelves. This is a week when many come together to teach the First Amendment and the power of literature in an effort to keep these books available.

As a lover and teacher of literature, I celebrate banned books week. Many pieces, when read, taught or discussed at the appropriate time can enhance learning, stimulate thinking and help readers to consider other possibilities and challenges. Though they may be uncomfortable to examine at first, I find that many of these novels force readers to consider themselves and the world in light of the themes presented in such novels.

So, curious to know which books have been challenged/banned? Here is the list of the top ten challenged this year:

And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint,and unsuited to age group


His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence


TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group

Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence

Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint,sexually explicit, and violence

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

Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von ZiegesarReasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group

Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group

Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group

Personally, I've read two on the list (His Dark Materials Trilogy and The Kite Runner) both of which I enjoyed immensely. Others that have been challenged include classics which I've taught in class - Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and others that I've loved (The Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, Gone with the Wind). So, even though it's after the fact, celebrate Banned Books by reading a banned book yourself. For a list of the top 100 Challenged/Banned Books and why click here.