In libris, libertas

Have you read a Banned Book lately?

As in previous years, I'm celebrating Banned Books Week by whipping out my soapbox to suggest that you should.

I sincerely hope that I'm preaching to the choir on this one, but I still think a lot of people would be surprised to see some of the books that are on the American Library Association's Most Challenged list.

Even more disturbing is the fact that, most of the time, challenges to books are not reported.

The offending tomes are just quietly shuffled off of the shelves of your public library or your kid's school and you are none the wiser that someone has substituted their judgment for your own.

I can think of no reason to ever ban a book. If you don't like the content of a particular book (or, for that matter, a TV show or a movie or a radio show or a blog or any other kind of media) - then don't read (or watch or listen to) it. But you may not presume to take that choice away from others.

The only form of "censorship" should be personal choice. The bottom line is that we all "vote" for specific media content with our dollars and our participation. If there is no audience for specific content, then that content will not be mass produced. If there is an audience - even if you find that particular content abhorrent - then no government entity or private organization should have the right to prevent another from accessing it.

"When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives." ~ Robert Heinlein

Here are a few of MY favorite Challenged Books:

• Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
• Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
• To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee`
• A Time To Kill - John Grisham
• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
• Earth’s Children Series - Jean M. Auel
• A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
• The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
• Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• How to Eat Fried Worms - Thomas Rockwell
• James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
• A Light in the Attic - Shel Silverstein

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin - more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world and the glory of man. " ~ Bertrand Russell 

And the ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009:

1. ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
   Reasons: Homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide
4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
   Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
   Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
   Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
   Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
   Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
9. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
   Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
    Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Seven titles were dropped from the list, including: 

• His Dark Materials Trilogy (Series) by Philip Pullman (Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint, Violence);
• Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz (Occult/Satanism, Religious Viewpoint, Violence); 
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Violence); 
• Gossip Girl (Series) by Cecily von Ziegesar (Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group); 
• Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen (Homosexuality, Unsuited to Age Group); 
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group); and 
• Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper (Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group)

Also new this year is an updated list of the top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the Decade (2000 – 2009). Topping the list is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, frequently challenged for various issues including occult/Satanism and anti-family theme.

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Truthfully, for that last fact alone, I would pull out my virtual soapbox. I love the Harry Potter books and I think it's criminal that someone would, if allowed, deny me and my children the right to enjoy them.

Free people read freely.

ex libris,
Zen