How many of the Top 10 Banned Book have you read?Personal inspiration/rant

[Kerrytravelers]

There is a local private school in town that is in a battle to ban "To Kill A Mockingbird." Can you believe it? That was one of the first "grown-up" books I read as a kid. My mother gave it to me and told me to ask any questions when I read it. Then, we watched the movie together. I still read it, along with The Color Purple, once a year. It's my tradition. It keeps me humble. It keeps me connected to the sins of the past. And it makes me aware of historic injustices that directly affect the children that I work with every day.

Reading about the local stupidity got me thinking about the banning and censoring of books. When I taught junior high, I use to post the list of the Top 100 Banned Books by the ALA. I called it the suggested reading list and would happily accept any book reports from this list as extra credit. I did, however, require the kids to get parental permission just so the district wouldn't be on the wrong end of a lawsuit. I got quite the opposite reaction, however. The parents applauded my rebelling against the stupidity of banning thought.


This list is from the Pasadena Weekly. I have a hard copy. Didn't see the list on their website, so I scanned it and put it up here. The paper is a free weekly newspaper.




The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001
American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Blubber by Judy Blume
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
Carrie by Stephen King
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier





Here are my personal favorites:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
Blubber by Judy Blume
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel -------> Zindel was a MA prof of mine. He is hardly anti-family. :eyes:
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Carrie by Stephen King
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

[sproutster]

1. Actually this brought up a bittersweet memory! Thank god for Judy Blume

I had like the worst younger life, but anyhoo, my father and mother (step, but since baby, so mother) divorced and I had to go with my dad.

I was like 10 or 11 and Judy Blume's "Are You There God, It's Me Margret" was being passed around like wild fire on the down low. That's the ONLY way I even knew about puberty. LOL That book was my bible - I have no clue how I would have reacted without it.

I have been her loyalist since then, and read every book she has written.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. I recently wrote her a letter, telling her how much her books had meant

to me and, after all these years, how I still remember them. In fact, I recently reread "Are You There God, It's Me Margret". She promptly wrote me back a short note of thanks and appreciation.

[C_U_L8R]

2. What are these people ashamed of...

where are the book burnings ???


<extreme sarcasm>

[rwheeler31]

4. Wow what a list..

nt

[Cleita]

5. I sort of grew up with banned reading. In my mind it

wasn't a big deal because I was told that I wasn't old enough yet, but when I got old enough it would be available to me.

How old do I have to get to be able to read written words?

[rwheeler31]

8. Some Bookstores have a banned book table..

sush.

[Hekate]

30. A couple of our local bookstores put up window displays during Banned Book

Month. Independent booksellers do this, not the massive chains. Anyway, it's always fun to browse.

Hekate

[tocqueville]

6. The Catcher in the Rye is typical for an English class in Europe...

but I read mostly classics...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Flowers for Algernon
Brave New World
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

[LibDemAlways]

9. I don't know if it's read as widely in American

high schools these days, but Catcher In the Rye was required reading when I was in 10th grade in a Calif. public HS back in 1968. No one complained and it was no big deal.

[GRLMGC]

10. I read it in 11th grade in 2002 in CA public hs nt

[eppur_se_muova]

7. "Where's Waldo" is inappropriate for what reason?? Nude beach scene? nt

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. Johnny Got His Gun

is no longer on the list, I see. It would be one of the few books that have ever had its printing plates seized, melted and used to make bullets.

It is strongly anti-war. It is about a young man that goes to war and loses all four limbs, and has both a stomach wound and a facial wound. He survives and learns to communicate by taping morse code with his head.

Why is it that sex is so much more offensive to Americans than violence?

[Sgent]

12. Catcher in the Rye

was required reading for me my senior year ('93) in a public HS in Mississippi. A Time to Kill, Huck Fin and Of Mice & Men were all required reading at my HS (as well as some others I imagine).

At least 3 of my HS English teachers (out of 4) gave us extra credit for reading any of the books on the ALA banned list for our book reports.

The Jr. High level might be a little young for some of the books on the list (The Joy of Sex, etc...), especially if read in a vaccum. That being said, I have a bigger problem with the idea of book burning than I do sex, so...

[Kerrytravelers]

14. Well, yeah, I didn't include those on my list. What would the report be

like? I did a bit on censoring myself, I guess, in that way. I kept the literature on the list.

And I did take off Captain Underpants since I didn't want my junior hugh school kids reading about diaper drinks and peepee sandwiches and other bodily functions as some sort of literature. I absolutely hate Captain Underpants... but to ban it and take the choice away from parents? No way!

I should have been clearer in my OP.

[uppityperson]

13. Captain Underpants is banned? hahahahaha

good booklist there. (how to eat fried worms is banned? why?) Judy Bloom, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, etc, oh my, good book list.

[NMMNG]

15. When I worked in bookstores,

Our annual "Banned Books" promotion was always my favorite. I insisted on being the one to set it up and maintain it. The idea of banning and/or burning books is deplorable IMO. It speaks of fear born of ignorance, typically chosen ignorance, and the desire for control over others.

[Minnesota Libra]

16. Huckleberry Finn, Mice and Men, etc were required reading in school.......

.....how stupid are these people anyway?:freak:

edited to add: Where can these books especially the Anarchist Cookbook be bought. Anyone know??

[deadparrot]

17. Of the top ten, I've only read Catcher in the Rye.

My younger brother loves the Captain Underpants books, though.

From the top 100, I've read:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Blubber by Judy Blume
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blumee
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

[Kerrytravelers]

18. We've read a lot of the same. Do you feel corrupted?

:eyes: These ban books people are just plain nuts in my book! (Hahaha, what a pun!) :crazy:

[deadparrot]

20. Well, I'm a liberal...

In some circles, that would make me corrupt. :D

[Kerrytravelers]

26. You corrupt, dirty, filthy liberal. Pleased to meet 'ya! Moi aussi!

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Hell, I need to update my reading list

that top 10 is a good start (only read one: Catcher in the Rye)

[Neil Lisst]

21. what a list!

This list of books I pulled from your list would be a good reading list for anyone in their teens.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Dead Zone by Stephen King

[TheBaldyMan]

22. Animal Farm or 1984 aren't there ...

these philistines have no taste. The Homophobes will have a fit if they ever read the Illiad.

It's interesting to see which authors pop up again and again.

[cynatnite]

23. How can we be protected by ignorance?

I loved everything by Judy Blume. Of Mice and Men is a favorite, anything by Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison. My oldest daughter read Goosebump books like crazy when she was in school. We couldn't buy them fast enough for her. The youngest daughter is a big Harry Potter fan and now has all the books.

I'm amazed, I tell you. I really am. The first time I saw this list, my jaw dropped open. I couldn't believe they'd want to ban so many wonderful books. Many of these I haven't read, but those I have, I absolutely loved.

This is still something so hard to comprehend. Why would they not want me or my kids to read these books? I know what they say, but understanding this just isn't there.

[Kerrytravelers]

25. What I love is those who hate Potter often love Disney.

Hello! Mary Poppins? Total witch. Any of the fairy tales have witches, sorcerer, magic spells, etc. What is up with the complete hypoceracy? :eyes:

Oh, wait, never mind. Fundy fruitcakes. Hyprocicy is their middle name... along with bigot, ignorant and a whole host of words I don't have enough strength to type because it's getting late! :eyes:


P.S. I"m sure there are a ton of spelling errors. Spell check didn't recognize some of my terrible spellings (no, I'm not a freeper troll!) and I"m too tired to concentrate right now! I only got 4 hours of sleep and now I'm wired on coffee! AAGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bliss_eternal]

24. I read all of Judy Blume before I was twelve--

I'm surprised that Deenie by Judy Blume didn't make the list. :eyes:

[bliss_eternal]

27. ...just for shits and giggles

I just went to amazon.com to check on a book that helped teach me the facts of life as a kid, called Where Did I Come From. There's a companion book by the same authors called What's Happening to Me about puberty.

These books have animated pictures and are so cute and sweet. You should see some of the comments about them on amazon. :eyes:

[bliss_eternal]

28. ...just for shits and giggles

I just went to amazon.com to check on a book that helped teach me the facts of life as a kid, called Where Did I Come From. There's a companion book by the same authors called What's Happening to Me about puberty.

These books have animated pictures and are so cute and sweet. You should see some of the comments about them on amazon. :eyes:

[Hekate]

29. My Mom used to let me read anything in the house...

...though sometimes she would tell me that something wasn't quite at my age/experience level. I'm sure there were books she *didn't* leave in the living room, but I do remember trying out something by Doris Lessing when I was under 10, and it scared me so I quit. She encouraged me and my sibs to talk about what we read, and we did.

For the life of me I cannot figure out what some people find objectionable with most of the banned books. They must have terribly stunted minds and no imagination.

I missed out on Judy Blume, but I'm sure my daughter has read her.

Little Black Sambo was considered children's lit when I was a child, and "beautiful purple shoes with crimson soles and crimson linings" became part of my family's language (rude racial epithets did not, however). My own kids did *not* experience the book. I was pleased when a new version came out called Little Baba-ji -- someone who loved the story as much as I did some research (and examined the evidence of the text itself) and realized the entire thing was based on the author's life in colonial India, made changes to the names, new pictures -- sigh of relief, I was able to get the book and hang on to it for future grandchildren.

Anything at all that was fantasy and science fiction was in my parent's home and mine. And again -- what's wrong with people who would ban it?

I'm a great Harry Potter fan, like the rest of my extended family, regardless of age. I think the series teaches wonderful "values," quite aside from entertainment.

Madonna's book was shared with me by a librarian friend when it came out. She said the public library had to keep it behind the counter for one reason: it was so badly designed that it fell apart with normal handling. Patrons could check it out, though. I thought the contents were tacky, too.

I read Native Son in high school English class -- my Mom said that when she wanted to check it out of her town's library when she was a teen, the librarian sternly asked her "Does your mother know you are reading this book?"

Judging by the selection of the Top 100 for the decade, I imagine I've read widely among the Top 100 for other decades as well.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

Hekate

[tocqueville]

31. how about Fahrenheit 451 (yes you read right)

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) is a dystopian fiction novel by Ray Bradbury. It is set in a world where books are banned and critical thought is suppressed; the central character, Guy Montag, is employed as a "fireman" (which, in this case, means "book burner"). 451 degrees Fahrenheit (about 233°C) is stated as "the temperature at which book-paper catches fire, and burns ...". It was originally published as a shorter novella The Fireman in the February 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It was made in to a movie in 1966 by François Truffaut.

The novel reflects several major concerns of the time of its writing: the censorship and suppression of thoughts and ideas exercised in the United States in the 1950s as the result of McCarthyism; the burnings of books in Nazi Germany starting in 1933; and the horrible consequences of an explosion of a nuclear weapon.

One particularly ironic circumstance is that unbeknownst to Bradbury his publisher released a censored edition in 1967 that eliminated the words "damn" and "hell" for distribution to schools. Later editions with all words restored include a "Coda" from the author describing this event and further thoughts on censorship and "well-meaning" revisionism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451

aren't we there already ?

[Reader Rabbit]

32. Whale Talk

If you haven't read it, you definitely should.

Sadly, by being classified as a "young adult" or "teen" book, it's not getting the attention it deserves. I seriously consider it one of the best books I've read in the last ten years, and that includes adult fiction. It is tremendously moving and thought-provoking. I recommend it to any and all of my students who ask for suggestions about reading material. Hell, I recommend it to all my friends!

Read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.