Banned Books Part 1
I was surfing around the Internet last night looking for new books to read and came across a reference to books that were frequently banned. I’ve heard of such things of course but when I saw the list I couldn’t believe it! Some of my favorite books are in the list of 100. What are people thinking? Now I can’t speak for all of the books listed below but there are a few I’m sure shouldn’t be banned. (Of course I don’t understand why you would ban a book for any reason in the first place).
The Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged books of 1990-2000
1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- What is this about? This is a great book by a woman who is one of the greatest American authors of our time! Who would ban this? I get that there are graphic parts of the book but it is autobiographical and life isn’t always pretty. Especially the life of a black woman during the 60s. Hmmm…maybe we should just pretend that all of history has been pleasant?
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Are there ideas and terms about race that are offensive, sure. Does it matter, not really. First, you aren’t going to read anything you don’t hear daily from music, television, movies, and games. Second, it isn’t as if the book is promoting that behavior and even if it was what good is it going to do to keep children (young adults/ high school students) from reading it? Is the purpose to pretend that race relations in the South are and have always been great? Because that would be a lie.
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
- Ok. Magic. I get it. Magic = non Christian = bad, right? Wrong. It is fantasy. One of the things we have to teach children is the difference between fantasy and reality, if we start taking away all fantasy how are we going to teach them the difference? Above and beyond that children LOVE the series. I saw kids who hated to read get drawn into the world of Harry Potter and read books that were hundreds and hundreds of pages long. They’d get done and ask me if there were other books out there like Harry Potter. Why, yes there are! Here let me introduce you to Lord of the Rings. These books made an entire generation find the joy in reading. No way should they be banned.
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
I suppose I keep coming back to the argument of if you don’t like it don’t read it but let others read in peace. I cannot fathom how anyone could try and tell me or my child what they are or are not allowed to read…in America. Freedom of speech and all that. Banning books is one step towards revoking the right to speak or think freely.
What do you think? Do you think there are books that should be banned? If so why and which books? If not, why?
Related Posts
Banned Books Part 3Banned Books Part 2Stories to Read with Your Child
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Robin,
As an avid reader I agree with your views. Of course, there are books that children should not be allowed to read. But, as adults, we should have the freedom of choice when it comes to our reading material. There will always be a banned book list. Why? As the saying goes… ‘ you can’t please all of the people all of the time’.
Merry Strong
I don’t believe in book bans at all but I did get the giggles when I saw FOREVER by Judy Blume. I borrowed it from a friend in high school. My Mom found it and threw it in the fireplace! LOL. I was devastated and had to explain it to my friend and she assured me it was okay… that was not allowed to have it anyway! Memories…….
Merry is right though, I am afraid. There will always be a list and it will never make sense to us.
Merry,
I agree you can’t please all of the people all of the time and I’m actually glad there are so many opposing view points on what makes for good literature. I also agree that there are books that children shouldn’t read but I think that is a prarental choice and not one that should be imposed by other people/organizations/goverments.
Yay freedom of choice!
Cin,
Now I have to go out and read the Judy Blume book just to see why it would inspire someone to burn it!
You are on a roll for suggesting books I haven’t read. As for there ‘always being a list” I refuse to believe it! I’ll talk every single person in the world into being open minded. Yup. My new goal in life 
I disagree with the intimation that disallowing a particular distribution channel of a book is censorship or banning someone from reading it. There is no law that says you and your child can’t read any of the books above. There are only rules that say public dollars aren’t going to be spent distributing them to children in an environment without their parental guidance. I don’t have a problem with my daughter reading most of those works, but I want her to wait until she’s older to read some of the other titles.
Jason, I understand your point of view. However, as you say these are public dollars and as such the way they are spent should not be limited by a particular group of people. As for parental guidance, I would think parents would be able to control what books their child was checking out of a library
I completely agree that some of the books on the list are not appropriate for all ages but if you remove them from a library then they aren’t available for any age.
I totally agree that banning books is SO wrong! It’s called freedom of speech, people! Just because someone thinks the subject matter of a book is offensive doesn’t mean all people will or that we can’t learn something about ourselves as human beings by reading those books. A great example of this is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yes it’s about race but if we don’t teach our children about history (the good and the bad) we’re doomed to repeat it.
BTW I also had to laugh because of the Forever by Judy Blume book. I read it as a kid as well and when my mom found out what was in it she threw a hissy and tossed it in the garbage.
Yes, I was too young to be reading a book about that subject matter but that’s why it’s a parent’s duty to know what your kids are reading and help them make appropriate choices–not ban a book because you dropped the ball.
I completely agree, Cindy! Hmmm, now I have two people telling me there was a book that got a parent all worked up. I am definately reading it as soon as possible