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?