Banned Books Week

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September 28 – October 3 is Banned Books Week in North America [I know, I know, it's practically over.  My site exploded, gimme a break!]. It’s a great time to reflect on the reasons great literature is attacked and what it says about us as a society. There are at least 400 challenges made to literature every year, largely by parents (57%) and against schools (70%), most of them for language and “age inappropriateness” (fun charts here).

The official 2009 tallies aren’t in yet, but here’s the list of challenged books from 2008 and the reasons for their status:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group)
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman (political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence)
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle (offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group)
4. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz (occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence)
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya (occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence)
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group)
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar (offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group)
8. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen (homosexuality and unsuited to age group)
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group)
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper (sexually explicit and unsuited to age group)

If you’re not familiar with those challenged titles, perhaps you’re familiar with some of these, all of which have either been challenged or outright banned at various points throughout history:

• The Great Gatsby
• A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Lolita
• Charlotte’s Web
• Brave New World
• Winnie the Pooh
• The Old Man and the Sea
• The Lord of the Rings (series)
• A Separate Peace
• 1984
• War of the Worlds

Ban attempts get librarians, academics, and booklovers hotter than anything else (and not in a good way) because it reflects the willful ignorance of a society and its attempts to put blinders on our children. We want to “protect” people from “harmful” ideas. Which is a total crock of horseshit.

My mother has a button that she would wear to school when she taught middle school English. It proudly encouraged others to “READ BANNED BOOKS”. Do you, have you, will you?

Take a look at this list of the most commonly challenged books of the 20th century and see how many you’ve read [I’ve read 18 of them]. Aren’t you glad you did?