National Banned Books Week

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff

now THERE'S a controversial one!!

Must be because it has all of those nasty 'words' in it that people don't want to know about!

[mybackpages 0]

In the same vein of thought- this is a conservative list of the 10 most harmful books of the 19-20th century-

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=7591

Nothing really suprising if you look at the list of judges.

and not sure what it says aboutme that I some of them in myhome library and have read all or parts of most

[godsavethequeen 0]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Never been interested in reading these kids books but now I might.

...and I agree with charlesandnessa for the first time ever. Ban The Bible,

one of my all-time favourite Sci-Fi books - Farenheit 451 is about book burning but not on the list

[almaty 19]

when i was young,..my mom found a few banned books under my bed...hmm, i guess magazines are not on the list...

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

when i was young,..my mom found a few banned books under my bed...hmm, i guess magazines are not on the list...

[Mirorgate 0]

when i was young,..my mom found a few banned books under my bed...hmm, i guess magazines are not on the list...

Teachers Eager Beaver... quite the uh.. interesting book.

[almaty 19]

when i was young,..my mom found a few banned books under my bed...hmm, i guess magazines are not on the list...

Teachers Eager Beaver... quite the uh.. interesting book.

excellent read and naughty schoolgirls...

[moondancer627 0]

Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Blubber by Judy Blume

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Carrie by Stephen King

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Christine by Stephen King

Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Cujo by Stephen King

Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen

Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite

Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Decameron by Boccaccio

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Fallen Angels by Walter Myers

Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland

Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Forever by Judy Blume

Grendel by John Champlin Gardner

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Have to Go by Robert Munsch

Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Impressions edited by Jack Booth

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein

Lysistrata by Aristophanes

More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

My House by Nikki Giovanni

My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara

Night Chills by Dean Koontz

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Ordinary People by Judith Guest

Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective

Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz

Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Separate Peace by John Knowles

Silas Marner by George Eliot

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The ####### by John Jakes

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth

The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder

The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks

The Living Bible by William C. Bower

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman

The Pigman by Paul Zindel

The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders

The Shining by Stephen King

The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder

Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff

Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

As usual the big, bad witch's are getting picked on, and Christians you thought you had it bad.

[peejay 327]

Some of these "bannings" need to be put into perspective. There is a time and a place for everything.

After all...should Hustler magazine be available at elementary school libraries? I'm sure there are some folks that think it should...but I don't. Likewise for "Heather Has Two Mommies".

There is a big difference between "community standards" and outright censorship. It is not always so "cut and dry".

Granted on Hustler, but for "Heather Has Two Mommies?" For what reason?

How about leaving it up to the individual parents? For so-called controversial books, have them kept behind the librarian counter and require that students get written consent from their parents in order to check the book out from the library.

The Hustler analogy was a bit of sarcasm. As far as "Heather Has Two Mommies"...I don't have any problem with the book or any book on the list for that matter. I do have a problem with adults forcing personal adult agendas on young impressionable children with books specifically targeting them. And then introducing said books into elementary school libraries or into the classroom in an effort to promote their personal agendas.

If you wish to purchase this book and explain its contents to your children it is your personal choice to do so. It is none of my business if this is your choice.

However, introducing this type of book en mass to other people's young children in an effort to indoctinate them to a certain agenda is rather bogus in my opinion. Hence...the reason for the ban.

As I said...there is a huge difference between "banning" a book in certain situations and outright censorship that infringes on freedom. I think posting a list of "banned" books without expanding on the reasons for the bans is kind of vague. What is the reason for posting a list of "books banned in the USA"? To show how f*cked up and unenlightened Americans are? I don't get it.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Some of these "bannings" need to be put into perspective. There is a time and a place for everything.

After all...should Hustler magazine be available at elementary school libraries? I'm sure there are some folks that think it should...but I don't. Likewise for "Heather Has Two Mommies".

There is a big difference between "community standards" and outright censorship. It is not always so "cut and dry".

Granted on Hustler, but for "Heather Has Two Mommies?" For what reason?

How about leaving it up to the individual parents? For so-called controversial books, have them kept behind the librarian counter and require that students get written consent from their parents in order to check the book out from the library.

The Hustler analogy was a bit of sarcasm. As far as "Heather Has Two Mommies"...I don't have any problem with the book or any book on the list for that matter. I do have a problem with adults forcing personal adult agendas on young impressionable children with books specifically targeting them. And then introducing said books into elementary school libraries or into the classroom in an effort to promote their personal agendas.

If you wish to purchase this book and explain its contents to your children it is your personal choice to do so. It is none of my business if this is your choice.

However, introducing this type of book en mass to other people's young children in an effort to indoctinate them to a certain agenda is rather bogus in my opinion. Hence...the reason for the ban.

As I said...there is a huge difference between "banning" a book in certain situations and outright censorship that infringes on freedom. I think posting a list of "banned" books without expanding on the reasons for the bans is kind of vague. What is the reason for posting a list of "books banned in the USA"? To show how f*cked up and unenlightened Americans are? I don't get it.

http://banned-books.com/bblista-i.html

Try that link...it has explanations as to why the books were banned.

I agree that some subject matter is not appropriate for children and I support such things as the MPA for movie ratings. However, instead of flat out banning books that contain controversial subject matter such as homosexuality, why not let school boards, together with parents and teachers establish guidelines for what kind of material should be prohibited from the library? To ban a book that has any reference to something such as homosexuality is censorship of the worst kind. When you talk about indoctrinating children with an agenda, what you're really saying is you don't want your child to be exposed to other viewpoints and that is censorship. If you want isolate your child from opposing viewpoints, that's your perogative, but don't force your rigid views onto everyone else's child. You're the parent so tell your children what you will allow them to read or view or listen to.

Here's an example...

1. The Drowning of Stephan Jones

by Bette Greene

2. The Education of Harriet Hatfield

by May Sarton

3. Maurice

by E. M. Forster

All three of these books, which treat homosexuality in various ways, were removed from a regional high school. The novels' purchase was financed by a grant that teacher Penny Culliton received and was approved by the school superintendent and principal. However, shortly after a local newspaper reported that Culliton was involved with a lesbian and gay support group for young people, the books were found unsuitable and were banned. Maurice and The Education of Harriet Hatfield were seized from the students while they were reading the novels in class. Personal attacks on the teacher and demands for her dismissal have been so vehement that her job is now in jeopardy.

Edited September 26, 2006 by Steven_and_Jinky

[peejay 327]

Since when is homosexuality a part of the 3 R's (reading, 'riting, & 'rithmetic)? If you get to teach young impressionable kids about your pet agenda of promoting homosexuality, why not let others pitch their religious or social beliefs in the public classroom too? How about the Karma Sutra to study other cultures? The ridiculousness could stretch into infinity. This is hardly censorship. I just don't see it.

Why not let kids be kids? They have plenty of time later in their lives to learn about the big bad beautiful world at large and form their own opinions when they are old enough to comprehend. That is my objection to books like "Heather's Two Mommies" that target young children with adult agendas.

If you want to add it to your kids summer reading lineup...party on. I ain't saying you can't (nor is anyone else). That is not censorship. That is your freedom of personal choice.

America is f*cked up and unenlightened? I wonder if the Arabic and Farsi editions of "Heather's Two Mommies" is a brisk seller and a "must read" in their school libraries? Ditto for the Spanish, Romanian, Ukranian, etc. editions. Maybe they are unenlightened too?

I'm not picking on "Heather's Two Mommies" or homosexuals or the above mentioned countries...I'm just saying that there is a time and a place for certain stuff. You have to put these bannings into context and not use them as examples of a "fascist" America or to bash America. Even though I have no idea of your intentions for posting the list. Maybe you just wanted a lively discussion?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Since when is homosexuality a part of the 3 R's (reading, 'riting, & 'rithmetic)? If you get to teach young impressionable kids about your pet agenda of promoting homosexuality, why not let others pitch their religious or social beliefs in the public classroom too? How about the Karma Sutra to study other cultures? The ridiculousness could stretch into infinity. This is hardly censorship. I just don't see it.

Why not let kids be kids? They have plenty of time later in their lives to learn about the big bad beautiful world at large and form their own opinions when they are old enough to comprehend. That is my objection to books like "Heather's Two Mommies" that target young children with adult agendas.

If you want to add it to your kids summer reading lineup...party on. I ain't saying you can't (nor is anyone else). That is not censorship. That is your freedom of personal choice.

America is f*cked up and unenlightened? I wonder if the Arabic and Farsi editions of "Heather's Two Mommies" is a brisk seller and a "must read" in their school libraries? Ditto for the Spanish, Romanian, Ukranian, etc. editions. Maybe they are unenlightened too?

I'm not picking on "Heather's Two Mommies" or homosexuals or the above mentioned countries...I'm just saying that there is a time and a place for certain stuff. You have to put these bannings into context and not use them as examples of a "fascist" America or to bash America. Even though I have no idea of your intentions for posting the list. Maybe you just wanted a lively discussion?

Since when did HS libraries restrict subject matter to the 3R's? You do realize youre being selective with what your regard as appropriate?....which is my point. I'm a parent also - I have 2 high schooler's, and I have no problems with them reading a book that discusses or has characters that are homosexual. I'm not afraid that some piece of fiction is going to turn my kids into gay people, regardless of what my views are about homosexuality. So again, if you want to restrict what your kids read, be the parent and you tell them. But don't interfere with my kid's education by telling the school librarian to pull any books that contain references to homosexuality. I want them to be exposed to different viewpoints and ideas. That's what a true education is all about, IMO.

As to why I posted it...this happens to be National Banned Books Week. I Read about it in the local Arizona Republic. I had no idea there was such a thing, but I thinks it's a cool idea. Books have long been regarded in societies that aren't free as 'dangerous'. While I do agree that we monitor what our children read, I'm for leaving that parenting up to the parents.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Granted on Hustler, but for "Heather Has Two Mommies?" For what reason?

Because having two mommies is evil. EEE-VIL!

No, it's not; kids have grown up with several mommies throughout history or whenever all the men happened to die in wars, leaving behing women who banded together to raise their kids.

Reading books about people different from yourself is an important part of growing up and enables kids to become democratic citizens. If we keep kids from reading about people outside their communities they will lose their curiosity and fail to learn the art of adaptation.

Oh no... my attempt at sarcasm has gone horribly awry I don't actually think it's evil; not at all.

Oops, sorry. But this is a red flag issue for me. Sarcasm, what's that?? :lol:

[Fischkoepfin 1]

In the same vein of thought- this is a conservative list of the 10 most harmful books of the 19-20th century-

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=7591

Nothing really suprising if you look at the list of judges.

and not sure what it says aboutme that I some of them in myhome library and have read all or parts of most

Thanks for the link. That list is about the funniest thing I've read all day.

My personal favorite: The multiple misspellings of the name Friedrich as Freidrich. While spelling errors happen they feel somewhat out-of-place on a site professing to rely on educated judges...

Since when is homosexuality a part of the 3 R's (reading, 'riting, & 'rithmetic)? If you get to teach young impressionable kids about your pet agenda of promoting homosexuality, why not let others pitch their religious or social beliefs in the public classroom too? How about the Karma Sutra to study other cultures? The ridiculousness could stretch into infinity. This is hardly censorship. I just don't see it.

Why not let kids be kids? They have plenty of time later in their lives to learn about the big bad beautiful world at large and form their own opinions when they are old enough to comprehend. That is my objection to books like "Heather's Two Mommies" that target young children with adult agendas.

If you want to add it to your kids summer reading lineup...party on. I ain't saying you can't (nor is anyone else). That is not censorship. That is your freedom of personal choice.

America is f*cked up and unenlightened? I wonder if the Arabic and Farsi editions of "Heather's Two Mommies" is a brisk seller and a "must read" in their school libraries? Ditto for the Spanish, Romanian, Ukranian, etc. editions. Maybe they are unenlightened too?

I'm not picking on "Heather's Two Mommies" or homosexuals or the above mentioned countries...I'm just saying that there is a time and a place for certain stuff. You have to put these bannings into context and not use them as examples of a "fascist" America or to bash America. Even though I have no idea of your intentions for posting the list. Maybe you just wanted a lively discussion?

Since when did HS libraries restrict subject matter to the 3R's? You do realize youre being selective with what your regard as appropriate?....which is my point. I'm a parent also - I have 2 high schooler's, and I have no problems with them reading a book that discusses or has characters that are homosexual. I'm not afraid that some piece of fiction is going to turn my kids into gay people, regardless of what my views are about homosexuality. So again, if you want to restrict what your kids read, be the parent and you tell them. But don't interfere with my kid's education by telling the school librarian to pull any books that contain references to homosexuality. I want them to be exposed to different viewpoints and ideas. That's what a true education is all about, IMO.

As to why I posted it...this happens to be National Banned Books Week. I Read about it in the local Arizona Republic. I had no idea there was such a thing, but I thinks it's a cool idea. Books have long been regarded in societies that aren't free as 'dangerous'. While I do agree that we monitor what our children read, I'm for leaving that parenting up to the parents.

Exposing children to different ideas is actually good for kids who learn to judge people for their "otherness" early enough in life. Also, it's not like they are kept innocent throughout their education but are inculcated with all sorts of propaganda and garbage concerning their society before they make it into middle school.

[pedroh 21]

why would homosexual books have to 'promote homosexuality'.. do all gay books have an agenda to turn kids gay? zomg! gay propaganda..

I don't think any controversial book out there has an agenda, or is trying to promote something