Literary fascists: Banned books
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 9/30/09 Section: The Edge
As you are probably well aware, today marks the midpoint in Banned Books Week, and what better way to celebrate than to indulge in a little risqué literature? Luckily in the United States, a book hasn't been completely banned for at least 50 years. At any rate, here are a few books that have been challenged last year in the U.S. along with the rationalization of the challenge.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou
Challenged for sexual content. Some parents complained that it should require parental permission to be taught in schools.
"Just Listen," Sarah Dessen
This book was challenged because it was deemed "too intense for teens."
The entire "Harry Potter" series, J.K. Rowling
The list of places the infamous series by J.K. Rowling is banned in is too long to list, but in various locales it has been challenged and banned in schools because it purportedly condones witchcraft, sorcery and the Wiccan religion.
"And Tango Makes Three," Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Lodi County, CA Public Library challenged this children's book for allegedly promoting homosexual tendencies between two male penguins.
"The Tenth Circle," Jodi Picoult
Removed from reading lists for having sexually explicit content
"Beloved," Toni Morrison
"Beloved" was banned in some places because the material depicted bestiality, sex and racism. In Louisville, Ky., the book was removed from the curriculum and teachers were told to start over with Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter."
"The Giver," Lois Lowry
This futuristic-based children's novel was questioned because of the depictions of drug use, suicide and capital punishment practices in the book.
"The Freedom Writer's Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them," various authors
This book, written by a teacher and her students in an impoverished, low-performing school district, riddled with violence and segregation, was challenged because of some of the sexually explicit entries in the book.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou
Challenged for sexual content. Some parents complained that it should require parental permission to be taught in schools.
"Just Listen," Sarah Dessen
This book was challenged because it was deemed "too intense for teens."
The entire "Harry Potter" series, J.K. Rowling
The list of places the infamous series by J.K. Rowling is banned in is too long to list, but in various locales it has been challenged and banned in schools because it purportedly condones witchcraft, sorcery and the Wiccan religion.
"And Tango Makes Three," Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Lodi County, CA Public Library challenged this children's book for allegedly promoting homosexual tendencies between two male penguins.
"The Tenth Circle," Jodi Picoult
Removed from reading lists for having sexually explicit content
"Beloved," Toni Morrison
"Beloved" was banned in some places because the material depicted bestiality, sex and racism. In Louisville, Ky., the book was removed from the curriculum and teachers were told to start over with Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter."
"The Giver," Lois Lowry
This futuristic-based children's novel was questioned because of the depictions of drug use, suicide and capital punishment practices in the book.
"The Freedom Writer's Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them," various authors
This book, written by a teacher and her students in an impoverished, low-performing school district, riddled with violence and segregation, was challenged because of some of the sexually explicit entries in the book.
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