Banned books

So it's Banned Books week, and as a card-carrying librarian, it's my duty to commemorate it somehow. I know I'm very lucky to live in a liberal-ish section of the Bible Belt, where even the public library's computers are left unfiltered, and I've had many lively and heated (and FUN!) online Blackboard discussions during library school about what our role should be in censorship. I am very passionate about leaving books free to be read, but I do think the line should be crossed somewhere; i.e., I don't know how I'd feel if a book on how exactly to commit murder and get away with it was a part of the collection. But also...it's important that librarians don't let their feelings get in the way. A conservative Collection Development librarian can't let his views prevent him from ordering Heather Has Two Mommies, and a liberal librarian in a different library should order that Tucker Carlson book along with the Molly Ivins.

So I always revert to this philosophy: If it's something the community would visit the library for, it's fair game.

In that spirit...here's the American Library Association's 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-2000. I'll italicize the ones I've read, and bold the ones I want to read. And, of course, there will be commentary.

[Just as an intro here...I don't like scary, and I don't like sad. So that'll be the reason I haven't and don't care to read some of these. Also, I have sat through many uncomfortable junior-high sex-ed sessions, so I'm pretty well covered on the basics, so the kiddie sex-ed books probably won't be selected. Not that I have anything against them.]

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz (Steve had some of these, I think. I may have read two or three before asking myself why I was committing self-torture.)

Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (audiobooked this one recently. It was just okay.)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ("Rivah...in the rain...." ooh, chills!)

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (We discussed this before, remember? Can't handle it!)

Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling (Oh, PLEASE. Don't tell me this promotes witchcraft when they don't ban freakin' fairy tales.)

Forever by Judy Blume ("Ralph" was such an odd name, I thought...but also strangely appropriate.)

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Goes against my 'sad' rule. But it was for school. And it ticked me off how the previews for the movie made no mention of the utter tragedy of this story. How many kids were caught off-guard by that, thinking they were going to see a pretty happy little movie? Woulda scarred me permanently.)

Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (I think the kiddos had this one and I read it. Was it with a bike or something? No, no, I'm wrong--just looked it up. I'm thinking of "Mick was Here" or something.)

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (of course! Read it for the first time for Language Arts class in 7th grade [Yo Mrs. Sisson, you made me laugh, grrl], and just when I finished the last page, I flipped the pages back and read it through again. Love, love, love.)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (ooh...normally I don't go for Utopian books, but this sounds great. Kinda Uglies-ish.)

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris

Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine (HELL no!)

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (hold on a sec...this is an epistolary? Oh, HELL yes! Bring it!)

Sex by Madonna (this was actually in MU's Special Collections. One Sunday, I furtively brought it back to my desk and flipped through it. It has a weird metal cover. To be honest, I wasn't that shocked...I probably would have been when it first came out, though. I remember seeing it behind the counter at Waldenbooks, all wrapped up and against-the-rules. This one is nearly impossible to interlibrary loan. Go ahead, try it!)

Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel (Looks boring. And loooong.)

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (This book made me think in ways I had never imagined. I didn't love them as much as other series, but I was fascinated.)

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (hells no! No drugs.)

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (This sounds really interesting...and if it weren't so war-centric, I might read it. But I don't like violence, either.)

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (Aw, come on, little boy penises don't count!)

The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard

The Witches by Roald Dahl (I have tried Dahl, but I just don't love him. And I'll never be able to eat regular-sized spaghetti noodles, thanks to Mr. Colman for reading us The Twits in Unit C. If you don't know why...you're better off not knowing.)

The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein

Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry (What?!! Why??)

The Goats by Brock Cole (Holy crap, why have I never heard of this one? This looks terrific!)

Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane (This would be like...a book I'd feel good about reading. But not one I'd pick up on my own.)

Blubber by Judy Blume (I've got it on my goals list to reread every single Blume book. Love u, Linda!)

Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (this plot intrigues me. I might someday. I don't like dead, though.)

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam (Um...I have to read this now. This sounds awesome! Maybe I'll buy it for some baby I know.)

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier (This sounds super! Too disturbing for my reading-mood these days, but I'll get to it.)

Final Exit by Derek Humphry (Wow. Not for me, no, but I think I'm glad it exists.)

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (I don't know. I feel like I would have listened with rapt attention had it been read to me, like when Raboo Rodgers read to us from his Magnum Fault at Ridgeway, but I don't think I'd pick it up on my own.)

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Tom's hand makes me want to cry. It's the same thing as sad eyes.)

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Pigman by Paul Zindel (This sounds like it would depress me.)

Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard

Deenie by Judy Blume

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (No sir. NO SAD ENDINGS!)

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden

The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar (This sounds adorable!)

Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz (A freaking....a freaking....book about superstitions?? Are you kidding me? I knew this list would made me mad.)

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (Okay, he's wicked. But it's a serious tragedy if some kid never got to read him because it was banned.)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (No utopias, thank you. But I guess it's one of those 'should-reads.' Maybe I'll make myself read it someday.)

Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) (tried to read these...way too S&M for me.)

Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole

Cujo by Stephen King

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell (Wow...interesting that the author has come out saying he no longer prescribes to the theories he spouts in this one. The book sounds a little like Abbie Hoffmann's Steal This Book)

Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy

Ordinary People by Judith Guest (this one's a maybe. Sounds depressing.)

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (I'll never read it. But it's tempting!)

What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (I read this one every few weeks for about twelve years. Oh, lawd, I love it!)

Crazy Lady by Jane Conly

Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

Fade by Robert Cormier (Wow, this sounds cool!)

Guess What? by Mem Fox

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende (Nah. History, violence, international conflict...no thanks.)

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney (I did see part of a Lifetime Movie of this starring that chick from "Life Goes On." O-bla-di.)

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (The genre, 'absurdist classic,' turns me off immediately. Same reason I couldn't get into Hitchhiker's Guide.)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (read it for one of our book choices in Block, because Balty was in the movie. Will never forget B.J.'s hilarious commentary when we watched the movie in Hechler's class senior year. I took notes, it was so funny. When I come across them now and again, I laugh out loud.)

Native Son by Richard Wright (Reading it, I thought "Now why does everyone give Communism such a hard time?" I'm so ignorant about that stuff, but that novel sure does give the impression that they're all for equal rights.)

Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday (Not for the...um...even mildly prudish.)

Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen

Jack by A.M. Homes

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya

Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle

Carrie by Stephen King (I might. I've always kind of wanted to read this one.)

Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume (oh, CRAP this is a good book. I don't know if I'll ever be able to read it again, but I had to buy it as soon as I finished reading the library copy.)

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer (This seems really intense. I wouldn't mind reading it, but I don't really want to.)

Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge

Family Secrets by Norma Klein (ooh, wicked!)

Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (I've never read any Morrison. Her novels sound sad and disturbing, so that's probably why. I think I have Beloved somewhere, though, from someone's recommendation.)

Always Running by Luis Rodriguez (This sounds really cool, but the reviews are mixed.)

Private Parts by Howard Stern (I didn't want to buy this myself, so when I was out shopping with Emily one day and saw it in the clearance section, I asked if she'd take the money and buy it for me. I'm not offended by it...I just think he's kind of awful.)

Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford (Oh, because someone found a naked person once? Or something?)

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene (Another 'maybe.' A lot of "This is really sad" reviews for this one. Not a good sign. How come there aren't any sugary sweet novels on here?)

Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (I do like architecture. But not history.)

Running Loose by Chris Crutcher (I think I like sports-themed novels. Never really thought about it, but I always enjoy them.)

Sex Education by Jenny Davis (Wow, this isn't the fluffy rom-com I expected before I read the synopsis)

The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene (Apparently it's "Stephan," ALA. Don't you know anything about books? Also--whoa, this sounds graphic. But I'd like to read it.)

Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell (yuck yuck yuck!)

View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts (Probably scary, and certainly graphic, but too interesting not to read)

The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (I am not one for ghost stories. Thanks, Betty Ren Wright.)

The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney

Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier



So here's what's funny to me. Many books on here are, presumably, being banned or protested against because of newish or controversial ideas like homosexuality, sexual situations, birth control, etc; and because of violence and disturbing content. But then there are classics, like Mockingbird and Tom Sawyer, that have long been notorious for their use of racial epithets. I'm trying to think my way through this, but something's wrong here. Like....I get both reasons. But they don't seem to match up, somehow. I think part of it is that some people find the older classics offensive for their use of certain words, but it's not the same as a modern novel dropping the F-bomb. In a way, it's a noble reason to censor a book (though I'm not justifying it). No one would be accused of being a prude for not liking to hear the n-word--it's a good thing to be offended by! And people of other races don't, I feel, have the right to use it, except that when those books were written, it was more acceptable.

Obviously, it's a touchy subject for everyone. This whole post is full of touchiness. But it's the right week for it.

Also, I think it's neat that some of the same authors reappear in the list. It's like they were all "You can't hold me back, censors! I WILL WRITE AGAIN!"