A lot of you know that I’m a wannabee librarian, I love libraries (although I hate giving books back), and I generally think that librarians rock.
So of course I “celebrate” Banned Books Week. Celebrate is such a strange word, isn’t it? But I think that recognizing the ongoing challenges to young people’s freedom to read and learn to think for themselves is important. It’s one of the many valuable services that librarians and libraries provide to our communities.
These were the 10 books most frequently challenged in 2006: (I bold italicized the ones I’ve read.)
- “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
- “Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
- “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
- “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
- “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
- “Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language;
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
- “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; and
- “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.
And these are the 10 most frequently challenged authors, from 1990 – 2004.
- Alvin Schwartz
- Judy Blume
- Robert Cormier
- J.K. Rowling
- Michael Willhoite
- Katherine Paterson
- Stephen King
- Maya Angelou
- R.L. Stine
- John Steinbeck
Here’s the thing: I respect the right of a parent to decide what is appropriate, or not, for their own children to read and view. Trying to limit that hugely seems like a waste of effort to me, and a good way to get your kids to sneak around, but that’s each of our individual business/problem as parents. And frankly, if your repressive parenting makes your kid sneak away to the library…that’s actually a pretty good silver lining.
But that’s not what challenges to books are about. These are parents (mostly) who want to prevent EVERYONE from reading the books they don’t want their children to read.
And that is unacceptable.
You may not want your child to learn about loss or death from a book like Bridge to Terabithia, or the Harry Potter series, and I respect your right to make that choice. But I don’t agree with it.
I think fiction is a wonderfully safe learning tool, allowing all of us as human beings to imagine things we’ve never experienced, including some things we hope never to experience.
Reasonable minds may differ as to when a child is mature enough to read this or that. In the context of Banned Books Week, that’s one of the many valuable roles a librarian can play. Without preventing a young person from reading something they want to read, a librarian can help them select appropriate material.
I’m not going to go into my personal opinions about these books and authors, except to say that some I love, some I am just not a fan of, and some don’t interest me.
That, I think, is precisely the point.
If you don’t want to read something, there’s a very simple way to do it. Close the book and walk away from it. If you want to have the huge fight with your child about not reading something, go right ahead. But leave my child out of it.
A tip of the pixel to Clare and Polly, for reminding me to blog about this.
I’m pleased to say that we have books 1, 3, 6 & 10 in the collection at my school library.
And in a timely fashion, I had today for the first time ever students bring a book to me because they thought it was inappropriate (having the words “shitty” and some lesser curse in it). I hadn’t read it and was surprised, but did talk to them about the ideas of artistic merit, author’s choice, and the fact that our library serves a wide range of ages and reading interests. I’m not sure they got it, but I hope so. And I hope I don’t get a call from the parents.
Do you remember when I was in 3rd Grade and wanted to take “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret”, out of the school library and they told me I had to have a note from Mom and Dad? And Mom and Dad got really upset with the school and wrote a “change your policy or face the wrath of 2 card carrying ACLU members/parents?” Then I got the book the next day.
That was neat.
But the librarian pretty much hated me after that.
Anna, I don’t remember that at all! Do you remember that when I was in 6th grade, they pulled “Daddy Longlegs” from my middle school library? Similar results!
What an interesting topic. It surprised me to see Judy Blume on the list. Dude, I wouldn’t know anything about my body if it weren’t for her.
Very interesting article. You know, as a kid the best part of reading was sometimes you’d come across a cuss word and think it was the coolest thing.