top ten banned bookks in US

[bobbieinok]

http://www.talk2action.org/

The annual list of banned or challenged books run the gamut from Harry Potter to Huckleberry Finn and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The top ten most challenged books for 2010 were:

1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson; 2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie; 3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; 4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins; 5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins; 6) Lush, by Natasha Friend; 7) What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones; 8) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich; 9) Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie; 10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

edited to add text

[xxqqqzme]

1. No. 8

Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich

Seriously Nickel and Dimed? Love to hear the rhetoric behind that and who wanted it banned.

[Posteritatis]

10. Most likely some wingnuts claiming it's communist. (nt)

[JHB]

2. Interesting that 'Nickel and Dimed' is on the list

Not that it's ok for the others, but the efforts to ban can usually be relied on to revolve around sex or similar (I.e., non-economic) social issues. N&D looks to be on the list precisely because it is nonfiction about working poor.

[Exilednight]

3. I can't believe that Huxley is still on the list. Sadly, the people who want these books banned

probably never read them.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

37. Because it lies when it claims to be fiction?

:shrug:

[1monster]

4. I was in the classroom when an eighth grade teacher was reading

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie to her students. It made me want to go out and buy it. But, of course, I'd forgotten the name and the author when I got to the bookstore.

Thanks for the reminder.

[intheflow]

6. I loved The Absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian!

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from there:

I grabbed my book and opened it up.
I wanted to smell it.
Heck, I wanted to kiss it.
Yes, kiss it.
That's right. I am a book kisser.

[1monster]

17. That's a humdinger of a quote. My favorite of all time, though, belongs to

Thomas Jefferson: "I cannot live without books." (In a letter to John Adams)

I know exatly how he felt.

[knitter4democracy]

26. I read parts out loud to my students last year. Great book!

Hilarious! I laughed so hard during silent reading time that the kids demanded I read it out loud, so I did, and we did that for a couple of days.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich???????

Would be helpful to know who and where the banning/complaints were from.

[Lucian]

7. I'm guessing Walmart.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. LOL!!!

[Gormy Cuss]

9. "promoting economic fallacies" was the objection raised by one parent in Easton, PA.

There's a map of locations where books were challenged at the ALA's Banned Book Week page.

[newspeak]

13. "promoting economic fallacies?"

you got to be fekkin kidding? The author actually took those jobs and attempted to find lodging, food, etc... It's what we would have done if we had no one to support us or help us on our feet. What the hell? I'd say the one doing the complaining lives not in reality.

[Gormy Cuss]

23. There's no use trying to apply logic to closed minded ideologues. n/t

[Lucian]

14. I know firsthand that everything she said about Walmart is pure fact.

I worked there for three years and Walmart associates make 50 cents more than MN state minimum wage.

[spin]

12. Go to Amazon.com and read the reviews ...

especially the one star reviews ...
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/product-reviews/0805088385/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Many more people liked this book than disliked it. I can't see any reason even in the worst reviews to ban the book. In fact, I checked out the reviews to find if it might be an interesting and entertaining read. The concept is interesting but as I know a lot of people who are in a bad economic situation and my family has often tried to help them out. I probably know far more about the topic than the writer does having been there and done that, and I am far from rich today.

The people who disliked this book appear to be disagreeing with her method and approach to researching the plight of the poor but not her basic message.

Often books are banned because of language or religion. I didn't find any complaints that focused on this.

Of course, I don't believe in banning any books.

[xxqqqzme]

22. "than the writer does having been there and done that"

You do know the author actually took minimum/low wage jobs and tried to live on that alone.

[spin]

24. I've been there and done that...

Of course to be fair, that was many years ago.

[Gormy Cuss]

25. There's a vast gulf between playing poor for an experiment and actually living it.

While Ehrenreich wrote a book that explained working poverty in a way that was accessible to a vast audience,and she was scrupulous about trying to live as if she had no other means, the reality is that she knew full well that when her experiment was over she could go back to her much more secure life.

She tried to live as if there was nothing better ahead for her, but there was. That's a significant difference in her life as a low wage worker and the reality of many of her coworkers. They put up with the shitty conditions in part because they saw nothing better on the horizon.

[treestar]

11. If you want someone to read a book

Talk about banning it.

The very definition of stupid would be people who try to keep others from being exposed to books, etc. That's admitting the information in them is worthy and can't be countered.

[spin]

15. Very true. I have been checking these books out hoping to find ...

one that I have not read that might be interesting. Unfortunately, most seen to for younger readers.

My daughter who is approaching 40 tried to read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and found it so boring she gave up on it. When she was much younger, she feel in love with the Anne Rice vampire books that started with Interview with the Vampire.

[angstlessk]

20. In fact I had never heard of 'the absolutely true diary of a part time indian'

Which I am going to either purchase as a book or I prefer an audio....but...I LOVE banned books!

[salin]

30. true. As a freshman in hs a round of book banning took place.

In my college-town the books weren't banned, but taken off the shelf and required parent permission to check out. That's how I got my freshman reading list: In Cold Blood, Dracula, Frankenstein... etc.

[LWolf]

16. There are some good books on that list.

I've read about half. Of those, only one of them lands on my "worst books to hit the best seller list." "Twilight" is poorly written, with a tiresomely stupid protagonist and an inexplicably juvenile 100 yo bad boy. Of course, it's written to appeal to juveniles, so it certainly hits its audience, even if I think it could have done so in a more elegant fashion.

I see "The Hunger Games" made the list. It's certainly hot with the ya set right now, AND it's well written.

[knitter4democracy]

27. Hunger Games is absolutely amazing! So is Alexie's book.

I freakin' loved his book.

The good ones always get banned for some stupid reason.

[LWolf]

28. Anything that makes us think, or question the status quo,

is ripe for banning. :(

[roguevalley]

18. never read any of them, won't either. But I loathe banning books

my mother was a fearless librarian and I was a librarian too for a bit. Cowards ban books.

[MisterP]

19. interestingly, one fundie church we know condemns Harry Potter

for its witchery--and are huge Twilight fans

[Shandris]

21. Didn't you get the memo? Casting spells = bad...

...getting screwed and eaten by a sparkling vampire = something Christ would do.

:silly: :hi:

[David Sky]

36. James Hagee.... on video.... condemning Harry Potter!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIbFx-C6NMI

"Hagee: Harry Potter, Paganism Corrupting Kids"

Disgusting human being!

[Selatius]

29. I'm surprised frankly that George Orwells 1984 isn't on there.

The book appears to authoritarians as a blueprint for corporate propaganda and the subverting of political parties to serve the "Corporate Party." For reasonable people, the book acts as a warning against the creeping encroachment of totalitarianism in the name of national security or some blind ideology.

[Sirveri]

31. Fishy list, no catcher in the rye, but has Brave New World and Twilight on it.

And Twilight, really? It should be banned for being a horrid piece of scribbled on paper if for nothing else, but I find it hard to believe anyone would actually desire to ban it for content.

[Neurotica]

33. Not "fishy"; this is just top 10 for 2010 and challenges vary by year

You'd be surprised at some of the reasons why people challenge books. Without doing any research, I would guess Twilight would be challenged because of the vampire angle. Organizations such as the American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship track reasons why specific books are challenged.

You might find this interesting:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm

[Sirveri]

34. Fair enough, just seems 'odd' to me.

[Neurotica]

35. FYI, many challenges don't get reported

There is no national reporting mechanism that organizations such as the ALA and NCAC can use. They compile their lists using media reports, plus information from teachers and librarians.

In addition, some people challenge books, and the librarian/principal/superintendent agrees to move the book to a higher level (e.g., middle school to high school). This does not usually get reported, although the school system may track these types of challenges and resulting actions.

[Neurotica]

32. Lots of donations to our libraries after "And Tango Makes Three" was removed!

Now there are more copies than before!

A couple years ago our superintendent removed the book from elementary school library shelves after someone complained. I think he was trying to avoid "controversy" but his actions resulted in a big controversy that made the editorial page of several major newspapers. Parents and local residents worked together and we helped to overturn the decision, albeit on a technicality. It turns out the complainant did not have standing to make the challenge.