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Sex, Drugs And Gay Penguins: Banned Books Week Is Here
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Sep 26, 2011
Modified Sep 26, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Sep 26, 2011
Modified Sep 26, 2011
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, the annual event celebrating the freedom to read, is upon us. This year's Week started on September 24 and runs through October 1, and there are all sorts of censored books to choose from. Let's take a look at the biggest offenders, some of which may come as a surprise.
The top 10 most challenged titles of 2010 were:
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
*The Hunger Games (*series), by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Lush, by Natasha Friend
Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit
Twilight(series), by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
"A lot of us take for granted our ability to read whatever we want, whenever we want," Jenn Northington, a manager at Greenpoint bookstore WORD, told us. "There are challenges every year, many times for books I love to handsell. For example, I feel like someone tries to ban Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak once a year, every year—and that's a Printz Honor book. One reader's controversial subject matter is another reader's award-winner! People are always shocked to see books like To Kill a Mockingbird on these lists—what would they even try to ban it for? It's easy to lose perspective, and I think it's great to have a yearly reminder that books, even ones that make us uncomfortable, are important."
If you'd like to stick up for your First Amendment rights while having a good time, WORD is having a special "banned books" edition of Literary Karaoke this Thursday, in which people will read a passage from their banned book of choice. The American Library Association is also hosting a virtual "read-out", so people all over the world can submit videos of readings from a banned or challenged books.
Tagged
american library association
banned books
banned books week
word bookstore
Jamie Feldmar
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