While reading a Wikipedia article about the Lorax (see the Missouri Council's blog), I came across a tidbit about it being a banned book. The Lorax? A banned book...seriously? I clicked through to the link they provided to the Dixie State College Library website and was surprised, not to mention mildly amused, by the selections included in the list. Some of the reasons given are just downright silly, if not absurd. (Or in the case of Fahrenheit 451, painfully ironic)
This sent me on a tangent, and after a little webferreting, I thought I would share a few of my favourite banned books and the "explanations" of why they are banned.
Riddle me this: What is/are your favourite banned book(s) and why was it/they banned?
Enjoy.
From Dixie State College LibraryAnd while not one of my favourite books, per se, I find the irony overwhelming.
Fahrenheit 451
by: Ray Bradbury
Banned for being "dangerous", this book is set in the future, when all books are banned and people called 'firemen' enforce the laws against them. 451 degrees is the temperature that paper catches fire.
To Kill a Mockingbird
by: Harper Lee
Banned as recently as August 2001, in Oklahoma for "racially charged language."
James and the Giant Peach
by: Roald Dahl
A frequently banned author, this book was banned in a Florida elementary school because "it promotes the use of drugs, tobacco, and whiskey."
Of Mice and Men
by: John Steinbeck
Second most banned book in the U. S. in the 1990s. Banned for "racist language" in Florida and "vulgar language throughout" and "profanity" in Georgia.
A Wrinkle in Time
by: Madeline L'Engle
L'Engle is one of the 1990's most-challenged children's authors. This book was banned because it "challenges religious beliefs".
The Joy Luck Club
by: Amy Tan
Published in 1990, this book was banned because it "conflicted with the values of the community."
The Color Purple
by: Alice Walker
Banned from high schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the 1990s as "X-rated smut".
The Catcher in the Rye
by: J. D. Salinger
Banned because of "profanity, reference to suicide, vulgarity, disrespect, and anti-Christian sentiments" in 1991.
The Bridge to Terabithia
by: Katherine Paterson
Another Newbery Award winner, banned because of "anti-religion, language, and discussion of death."
From Forbidden Library
1984 . George Orwell. Harcourt. Challenged in the Jackson County, Fla. (1981) because the novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter." Big Brother doesn't want people reading such things.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank. Modern Library. Challenged in Wise County, Va. (1982) due to "sexually offensive" passages. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a "real downer."
The Color Purple. Alice Walker. Harcourt. Challenged as appropriate reading material for an Oakland, Calif. High School honors class (1984) due to the work's "sexual and social explicitness" and its "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality." This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was finally approved for use by the Oakland Board of Education after nine months of debate. Banned in the Souderton, Pa. Area School District (1992) as appropriate reading for tenth graders because it is "smut."Removed from the Jackson County, W.Va. school libraries (1997) along with sixteen other titles.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl. Bantam; Knopf; Penguin. Removed from a locked reference collection at the Boulder, Colo. Public Library (1988), where it had been placed because the librarian thought the book espoused a poor philosophy of life.
A Light in the Attic. Shel Silverstein. Harper. Challenged at the Cunningham Elementary School in Beloit, Wis. (1985) because the book "enourages children to break dishes so they won't have to dry them." Removed from Minot, N.Dak. Public School libraries when the superintendent found "suggestive illustrations." Challenged at the Big Bend Elementary School library in Mukwonago, Wis. (1986) because some of Silverstein's poems "glorified Satan, suicide and cannibalism, and also encouraged children to be disobedient."
My Friend Flicka. Mary O'Hara. Harper; Lippincott. Removed from fifth and sixth grade optional reading lists in Clay County, Fla. schools (1990) because the book uses the word "bitch" to refer to a female dog, as well as the word "damn."
Where the Sidewalk Ends. Shel Silverstein. Harper. Challenged at the West Allis-West Milwaukee, Wis. school libraries (1986) because the book "suggests drug use, the occult, suicide, death, violence, disrespect for truth, disrespect for legitimate authority, rebellion against parents." Challenged at the Central Columbia School District in Bloomsburg, Pa. (1993) because a poem titled "Dreadful" talks about how "someone ate the baby." On the other hand, this book does present the negative consequences of not taking the garbage out.
The Bible The holy book of Christianity, it was claimed in Minnesota that its "lewd, indecent and violent contents are hardly suitable for young students."
3 comments:
This is an interesting post. The Humanities Council SC is considering creating a "Banned Books" Let's Talk About It series. In a vote by the libraries who most use LTAI series, the theme of "Banned Books" received the second-highest vote--behind mysteries, I believe--for what our next new series should be.
Also, I like the word "webferreting."
Very enjoyable, Megan!
Glad to hear that their are programs out there that are bringing this issue out into the open. It really is a shame that so many children and teens will live their entire lives ignorant to a great number of wonderful books.
Re: webferreting. I got the nickname "webferret" will working as a grad assistant in my Univ's development/alumni relations office. Most of my co-workers were not well versed in the internet or internet research. The name stuck. :)
Thanks for the references, Megan. To think I've missed some of this hot stuff, like . . . The Talmud!
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