ALA Banned Book Week
Posted: September 23, 2011 Filed under: Journal | Tags: ALA, American Library Assoication, banned books, censorship, challenged books, covs97, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, Great Gatsby, Harry Potter, Hemingway, JR.R. Tolkien, liberty, school libraries, Twilight Leave a comment
by Covs97 on Flckr
It’s time to gear up for the annual American Library Association (ALA) banned book week. Starting September 24 through October 1 libraries across the country remind us that book challenging and banning still scars our present.
According to the ALA the past 10 years has seen 4,660 books challenged in American libraries. These books are often bestsellers like the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling(2001-2003), the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collens(2010), or even the Twilight saga by Stephanie Meyers (2009-2010).
Classics are also continuously challenged even when so many are the cornerstone of schools’ curriculum’s; The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (2001, 2005), and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (2001, 2003,2004) are heart wrenching examples.
Some publishers will go as far as to published censored versions of books to appease more conservative audience. Logical would suggest readers to avoid books that would displease them the same way you would if the book was uninteresting to you.
Lend your support to public libraries that stand as an institution of protection for literature while providing for readers with various interests without judgement.
So, in the spirit of this week read a banned book with a wicked smile on your face. It’s scandalously saucy to be curled up with such sensational books.
Here are the banned books I’ve read so far:
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Twilight saga by Stephanie Meyers
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Terra Recycled 