Banned Books Part 2
Robin on May 4th, 2008
A few weeks ago I did my first post on banned books. I thought it was time do the next ten and include my comments on each. From that first list several of you mentioned a Judy Blume book that is now on my Amazon wish list. I’ll be reading it after I finish the Robert Jordan books I’m currently reading (may be awhile).
These are books 11-20 from the
ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000
- Not at all sure why this one would be banned. I thought it was excellent and went on to read every other book of hers I could find. It was in my classroom library and always very popular. I found this link that details some of the challenges it has received. I won’t go into my "freedom of speech campaign" again but I will say most of those made me want to scream.
- I’ve read several R.L. Stine books and have enjoyed them all. These were also very popular in my classroom library. CNN has this to say about one group that was trying to ban the books in their school. I have no problem with parents not wanting their child to read scary books. I probably won’t want my child to read scary books. Does this mean the book should be banned…no.
- A powerful book. Again, I’m not saying let your thirteen year old read it but it certainly shouldn’t be banned from a high school honors class.
- Well. This one pushes my tolerance levels a bit. I can’t see a reason for it to be in a school library but I have no problem with it being in a public library.
- Love this series. Lots of great information about the way anthropologists think ‘cave men’ lived. Excellent. Again, if it were my child, I’d rather they be in high school.
I’d love to hear which of these books has a special meaning to you and any that you think I should definitely check out.
The Books Photo Credit: Faeryan from Flickr, Creative Commons License
Related Posts
Banned Books Part 3Banned Books Part 1Stories to Read with Your Child
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I guess I would like the definition of banned, meaning, banned from where? Are these books allowed in Public Libraries.
I was reading some of the comments from the other post and while I think one commentor had somewhat of a valid point about public dollars going for certain books, or maybe the books would be questionable in a school setting, I do think all books should be allowed in a public library.
As a parent, Christian or not, it is my duty to know what my child is reading anyway. I find it a perfect opportunity if my child brought home any book to go over it with her and have a discussion. I don’t think banning books is going to cure the human condition.
You had also brought up a valid point to one commenter about “maybe we should just pretend that all of history has been pleasant.” Unfortunately it is happening in school text books as we speak.
In Europe, the UK I believe, they are removing information about the horrors of WWII because it offends Muslims. What does that mean to us Americans, should we ban reference to Hitler because he was offensive?
I will be following your series as I find it informative.
The ALA list is for books that have been challenged anywhere, however, most of them are from schools. I’ll put in specific links so you can see the data in my next banned book post. Also, banned is a bit misleading as these are actually the books that have most frequently been requested to be banned. They are not always banned. The ALA also says that their list is by no means comprehensive. They estimate as many as four to five additional books are challenged for every one that is reported.
I agree that it is a great opportunity to open up a discussion when children bring new books home.
It is sad that much of history has been rewritten. It is not limited to modern history, unfortunately. I had a professor tell me once that history is written by the winners so it is very hard to know what the losers thought.
I’m glad you are enjoying the series and look forward to hearing from you again!