Banned Book Week
It’s the tail end of Banned Book Week, and unfortunately I’ve been so busy that I didn’t get a chance to go to my university’s library and check out any of their events. Heck, I completely forgot to blog about it until just now. But the attempted censorship of books is something that’s very important to me not only because I’m studying a genre whose books are often challenged, but because… well, the idea that someone thinks they can wield enough power to prevent other people from reading a book really raises my hackles.
According to the American Library Association, out of 513 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2008, the 10 most challenged titles were:
- 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 Ziegesar
- Reasons: 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
According to the ALA, the list of the most challenged books in the 90s include Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Giver by Lois Lowry, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and many more books that frankly startle me. You can view lists of the top ten most challenged books per year here. Unsurprisingly, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series tops the list for a few years running.
I think that a few major problems that lead to many books being challenged are sheep mentality, anti-intellectualism, and… well, just not reading the book before going off half-cocked. Take the Potter books, for example. They are often challenged because they contain witchcraft. There is magic in the books, but some of the people trying to ban the series seem to believe that it actually indoctrinates children into the occult. You’d also find a lot of claims that Rowling is trying to initiate children into Wicca, an earth-based religion which, last I checked, has nothing to do with Satan or Harry Potter. Another thing you might run across is that many of the people who want to ban Harry Potter have never actually read the books. Here comes the sheep mentality. Someone else told them that Harry Potter is evil. A friend or a pastor, perhaps. But instead of actually reading the books for themselves and coming to their own conclusion, they take up the banner and perpetuate the ignorance.
I have no problem with parents who want to control what their children read. Well… intellectually I do have a problem with it, because I think that everyone should have the right and the opportunity to read whatever they want to read, analyze it, and make their own decision as to its personal value. But I am not arrogant enough to think that I have any right to tell anyone else what they or their children should or should not read.
[steps off of soapbox]
I hope that was coherent, because it felt pretty ranty for a while, heh. Looking up articles on people having histrionics over Harry Potter kind of gets my blood pressure up.
And now for the audience participation part of this post! What is your favorite banned book? Did you go to (or host) any events during Banned Books Week this year?
TDF Pamela
The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.
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The only time I ever step in on my daughter’s voracious reading, is when it’s something that I know it completely age inappropriate for her at the time. Doesn’t mean that I don’t want her to read it ever, just that maybe wait a few years on the maturity level. There are some books, however, that I think should be read; especially when they depict the gritty reality of life instead of painting an unrealistic picture for young adults as they grow up. I vividly remember reading Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous when I was younger. I still own the exact same copy that I did when I first read it and it will be something I will insist that my daughter reads when she’s a little older.
I think a lot of times parents want to protect their kids from the bad things in life, but if we do that, what the hell is going to happen when they do face something they’ve never been told about? I’m all for protecting – to a point, but there are times when you can be overprotective. Telling your kid what they can read is one of those things, especially from a parent who is just listening to the media about what their kid should and shouldn’t read instead of reading it themselves to form their own opinion.
Did you hear about how JK Rowling was not given the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her books promote witchcraft? It’s true!
I was surprised the “Kite Runner” was on the list. I don’t think it should be banned but it is an adult book that might be too much for a school kid. Although, I suppose it’s not worse than what’s on the news.
I do hate/love it when people try to ban Fahrenheit 451. I love that book but… it’s so ironic when you try to ban it, I just have to laugh… then cry.
Finn, I think that’s a great way for parents to get involved with their kids’ reading. It’s one thing to say, “This might be better when you’re a little older,” and like you said, that’s completely different from completely banning them from reading something. I’m always kind of amused when people want to ban books that contain profanity. Yeah, because your kids have NEVER heard naughty words before. Sheesh.
WereGeek, yes! And I completely forgot to include that in this post, d’oh! That’s… well, I’d say unbelievable, but I’d be lying. I completely believe that kind of attitude would have come from the Bush administration.
Emily, I think the concept of irony is way over a lot of these people’s heads. [facepalm]