Friday, October 06, 2006

Banned Books

I just stole this post from Trinamick (who stole it from dreadmouse (see below):

http://trinamick.blogspot.com

Get The Lighters

"I am shamelessly stealing from dreadmouse here, because he was talking about missing out on Banned Books Week. I too had somehow missed this on my radar. There's a list of the top 100 books challenged over the last decade or so. So I am now going to copy him."

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

"Clearly, I've got some serious reading to do. Now as I commented on his blog, I'm of the opinion that banning books is a big ole crock. Sure, there are going to be books I find offensive. I choose not to read them. But who gets to decide which books should be banned? Everyone finds something different offensive. Before long, there won't be any books left. Personally, I think all stupid books should be banned. But stupid books are actually written by stupid people. So instead, I think stupid people should be banned. Who's with me?"

The books I have read are starred. I have some serious reading to do also - maybe you do too. I have only read 21 of the banned books and I'd like to up that number considerably!

Edit: I came back to say that I have NO IDEA why any of the books I have read were banned.














15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Judy. Michele sent me.

I loved this list. A number of those books are my favorites; the Judy Blume books were my constant reads as a teen and Mark Twain is a literary geneous. Yes, some of those I would choose to not read, but I wouldn't ban them. Funny, I kept expecting to see the Bible on that list, considering how often it is banned from schools....

Oh, and on a personal note, I've been meaning to drop by for a week now to thank you for your comment on my T13 from last week! I am so glad that you enjoyed my songs list and your comment made me smile and has been keeping me smiling all week . Thanks again!

Sandy said...

I stopped readign the list when I got to Shel Silverstein. How in the world does someone move to ban that book?

Thanks for the great reminder. I've read more banned books than I ever realized, but I have so many more to go.

Followed you back here from Michele's. Glad I did.

-E said...

What does it say about the schooling I had growing up if at least half of those were required reading before I got to high school?

Personally, I think the only thing putting a book on the banned list does is give the book more publicity and more readers. I've never understood making a stink about something you don't like that it becomes the issue that is talked about. Seems counter-productive.

Michele sent me and I hope you have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

I read 51 out of the hundred, and some of them I just have to shake my head in amazement as to WHY they're on the list. Where's Waldo? What's with that one?

Here from Michele.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

The banning of books always makes me think of Germany in the thirties...How scary that there is someone compiling a list of books "unfit to read". Very Very scary...And some of the books on this list are classics! OY!

carmilevy said...

I think we live in a society that's afraid to admit that it periodically allows itself to be hijacked by a bunch of small-minded ultra-conservatives who have nothing better to do. They feel that by using religious as their sword, they can somehow justify the suppression of freedoms that are supposed to be inviolable.

They're wrong, of course. But the strength of their voice is frightening.

Read on, Judy. I'll do the same. That's the best way to fight these goons.

pissed off patricia said...

Wonder why the Left Behind books aren't on there?

No book should ever be banned. Not as long as this is still America.

Carmi got it exactly right.

Mamacita (The REAL one) said...

Judy dear, every time I visit your bog, I leave loving you even more.

A book is not a crime. Banning it from one's own home isn't, either. But it's one thing to prevent your own children from reading something, and quite another to try to prevent someone else's child from reading it just because YOU don't approve of it.

I don't approve of a lot of things, but most of them are none of my business. :)

But books? Books are for everyone who is capable of comprehending them. And even those who can't completely comprehend can still learn something.

You tell 'em!!!!

srp said...

Start with The Giver by Lois Lowry.
It is absolutely mesmerizing. About a third of the way through it will suddenly click, the light bulb goes off and you realize for the first time that this is not the world you know.

BTW it is considered a middle to high school level book, not too long. It made me want to read more of her work.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't aware that many of these books had been banned.
By whom? I'd say most are readily available, so it really makes no sense.
And I give a resounding NO on banning ANY book....if you don't want to read it, don't. But don't tell ME that I can't.
PS...bad person that I am, (I guess) I've also read many of the books on this list.

rennratt said...

I, too, have some serious reading to do. I have read 23 of them.

"How to Eat Fried Worms" is now on the recommended reading list for 2nd graders at our local school!

Shephard said...

What a list. I've read about as many as you, tho some different, several in college. Surprised more Stephen King and Ann Rice books didn't end up on there. The one that truly baffles me: James and the Giant Peach.

~S

Tracie Nall said...

Where's Waldo???? What could possibly be objectional in that book? Crazy! Like you, I couldn't think of a reason why most of the books on that list that I have read would be banned. Crazy!

utenzi said...

I've read 11 out of the 100, Judy. As for Tracie's question--I'd guess it's because of the wizard that you're looking for on the pages.

Anonymous said...

I picked two from this list to read as my way of "honoring" those who fight against the banning of books. The first was 'The Chocolate Wars'. The second, the one I'm reading now, is 'Flowers for Algernon'. I can't for the life of me figure out why these books would be challenged.