Banned Books Week

[SOM1else he/him]

For those of us in the US you may or may not have known that this week, (Sept 24-Oct 1) is Banned Books Week. I only discovered that today when, on a whim decided to google a list of banned books, since this week is actually a week where we are encouraged to read a banned book I have decided to go to the library tonight and check out a few "banned" books. The ones I've decided on are: 1984, Fahrenheit 451 Flowers for Algernon, and Brave New World (I know the premise of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 and find it highly ironic that they of all books would be banned). Are any of you guys planning on participating by reading a banned book this week? If so tell us here what you are planning on reading, and then once you are done reading it please post your thoughts on it.

Edit***

Here are some interesting facts that I stumbled upon just now (the rest of this post has been stolen word for word from here)

Over the past eight years, here’s WHY 3,736 works were challenged:

1,225 challenges due to “sexually explicit” material

1,008 challenges due to “offensive language”

720 challenges due to material deemed “unsuited to age group”

458 challenges due to “violence”

269 challenges due to “homosexuality”

103 materials were challenged because they were “anti-family”

233 were challenged because of their “religious viewpoints”

Here’s WHERE the challenges occurred…

1,176 of these challenges (approximately 31%) were in classrooms

37% were in school libraries

24% (or 909) took place in public libraries

Fewer than 75 challenges to college classes

only 36 to academic libraries.

The majority of challenges were initiated by parents (almost exactly 51%), while patrons and administrators followed behind (10% and 8% respectively).

Edited September 28, 2011 by SOM1else

[Eerongal he/him]

Those first three are currently banned? We read those in middle/high school as part of our required reading. Or were they previously banned but now not? I could probably see that since they're considered controversial-esque.

[SOM1else he/him]

The Radcliffe Publishing Course put a list together in 1998 of the 100 best novels of the century, that list can be found here, on another list put together by the ALA, (which you can get to by following this link) 46 of the 100 have been banned or challenged. Flowers for Algernon is the only book out of the four that is not on either list but it was one of the most banned books between 1990-2000. I think part of it depends on where in the country you are, I know some schools can't teach Huck Finn because it uses the N-word, but last year at my high school it was required reading for all sophomores. Just goes to show how ignorant society can be.

[almeldiel she/her]

Well then, I guess it's as good a time as any to do a Harry Potter re-read.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I know "To Kill a Mockingbird" has been banned often, and I read that one in high school.

[Alliare she/her]

You do actually have banned books in the US?

0_o

How does it work, exactly? Because, from what you say, I get you can read them, nevertheless. Is it forbidden for children to buy them? Or are they difficult to find? Or is it just that a group of people protests against them, and nothing more?

Forgive me for being so ignorant... u_u

Oh, by the way, SOM1else, from the ones you've said you will be reading, I find Brave New World to be the best, followed by 1984 and then Fahrenheit 451. Haven't read Flowers for Algernon, though.

[SOM1else he/him]

Sorta. Books haven't been banned by the government for quite some time, though some have been at certain points in history. Books banned by schools is a different story, there are laws that allow local governments to ban books from school and public libraries on the grounds that they are inappropriate for children. however if you were to bring a banned book to school and read it there is nothing that the school could or would do. If a teacher was to bring a book to a school where it had been banned and teach out of it that's a different story. two famous books that have been banned by schools in some places throughout the country are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Both books were banned because they were considered "racist", though I'd be willing to wager that most of the people who were in favor of banning them must not have ever even read either of them as that is one of the last things I would classify them as.

[Eerongal he/him]

yeah, it's not banned as in "you will be jailed if you own/read this", it's banned as in "parents think this is inappropriate for children".

Also, i always find it funny that people say huck finn is a racist book because mark twain wrote it SPECIFICALLY because he was intending it to speak out against racism.

[Adrienne she/her]

One of the books I learned to read with as a child is banned. Little Black Sambo is the name.

My little cousin scribbled all over it and I had to search ebay for months for a good copy with the right artist.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Adrienne

[Alliare she/her]

Oh, I see.

It still strikes me as odd that you could prevent a book from getting into public libraries, though. I mean, if the idea is that they're not appropiate for children, then don't put them in the children section, and that would be all, right? I can see the school part as easier to understand.

[Joe ST he/him]

One of the books I learned to read with as a child is banned. Little Black Sambo is the name.

My little cousin scribbled all over it and I had to search ebay for months for a good copy with the right artist.

I remember that book, I think we had a copy. It might even be that Sambo was from around where I live...I think there's some sort of tourist attraction near here. Thought that might be totally wrong.

[guess]

I clicked on the ALA link and they don't say that all of the books have been banned. They say banned or 'or' challenged by some 3rd party. They also don't say how often those books have been challenged or successful banned from libraries or when this happened.

This is pretty vague stuff that does not really give clear details. So I am not sure what it really means. I find it difficult to believe that 1984, Brave New World, The Great Gatsby (this was required reading in my high school) have much pressure to be banned today. I would like to see more details on this.

I would also like to see their definition of a banned book. For example, considering that the economy is bad, is it considered banning if taxpayers say think its a waste of money to buy a book by Howard Stern(or for many Brandon Sanderson fans a book by Terry Goodkind). Local libraries and in particularly smaller town libraries and public school libraries can't buy all the books.

That being said, I am not comparing this to some crazies who want to ban the Great Gatsby (I don't think I even liked this book, but I read it a long time ago).

My parents were in high school in the mid-1960s. 1984 was required reading. I think it was taught as an anti-communist book. By the time I was in high school, it was no longer required. I read it on my own after I finished college. I would be curious about the cases where this book was banned or who asked to have it removed from a library.

[almeldiel she/her]

They have a list of Frequently Banned/Challenged Books per decade on the site, which would give us an idea of which books became controversial at certain periods of time. In the last decade, Harry Potter topped the list.

The challenge/banning is usually because of reasons like depictions of sex, self-harm, drug use and abuse, racism, and other similar issues. Usually it's parents or advocacy/religious groups who issue the challenge, though not all challenges result in a ban.

There's still an inherent problem about the appropriateness of a book for a certain age level, I think. Some people would say Harry Potter shouldn't be classified as a children's book, and some people would say children can handle it. The classification by publishers and libraries aren't necessarily what parents think is appropriate for their children. So it's at that point that the challenges come in.

[Alliare she/her]

They have a list of Frequently Banned/Challenged Books per decade on the site, which would give us an idea of which books became controversial at certain periods of time. In the last decade, Harry Potter topped the list.

The challenge/banning is usually because of reasons like depictions of sex, self-harm, drug use and abuse, racism, and other similar issues. Usually it's parents or advocacy/religious groups who issue the challenge, though not all challenges result in a ban.

There's still an inherent problem about the appropriateness of a book for a certain age level, I think. Some people would say Harry Potter shouldn't be classified as a children's book, and some people would say children can handle it. The classification by publishers and libraries aren't necessarily what parents think is appropriate for their children. So it's at that point that the challenges come in.

But, then, if we're talking about children, shoulnd't parents be the ones to decide by themselves if that particular book can be handled by their child's maturity and is or isn't against his morals? But now, I'm talking about what would be VERY controversial books. I also do not believe that all children should be given to read are fairy tales where the princess is beautiful, the prince handsome and gallant and the witch spiteful and ugly (yes, I am exaggerating). I mean, part of the education at school should be: 'look, there are these different kinds of people out there'. Just that, not showing them what a brothel is in real life, of course ._.

[Sigyn]

A lot of people don't believe books should be used to educate, as in to expand a child's understandings or beliefs. They think that books are there to convey information, develop reading skills, or teach morals. That's the way it seems to me when people talk about banning books, though they may not phrase it like this. They don't want their children reading anything that describes alternative behavior unless it is obviously portrayed as bad. They don't want other people's children reading these books either, because they think it will lead to negative behaviors in their communities. They don't understand that children are going to be exposed to alternative ideas eventually and that the better choice, at least in my mind, is to prepare children for these exposures.

[almeldiel she/her]

Alliare and Sigyn: Parents should definitely take a more active role to at least try to know what kind of books their kids are reading. And that's why they keep challenging the libraries, I think, because kids have free access to books there without the parents knowing what they're reading during library time.

But I agree, Sigyn, the better choice is to prepare the children. I interviewed YA author Lauren Kate recently, and she told me she's glad that she's seeing an encouraging trend among her readership of parents reading her books together with their teens. Her books are paranormal fantasy, and they likely wouldn't make the ALA list or anything, but those readers make a good example. Challenging or banning a book will just make kids go to great lengths to seek out those forbidden books; parents can make the best of it by reading the books and using them to talk to their kids and make them understand the issues discussed in those books.

[SOM1else he/him]

I know at some libraries parents can block their children's accounts from checking out certain books. Obviously if the child is determined to read the book this is won't stop them from getting a hold of it some other way, but IMO it is a much better solution then making these books inaccessible to the rest of the general public.

[almeldiel she/her]

I know at some libraries parents can block their children's accounts from checking out certain books. Obviously if the child is determined to read the book this is won't stop them from getting a hold of it some other way, but IMO it is a much better solution then making these books inaccessible to the rest of the general public.

I don't live in the U.S., by the way, so I'm not very familiar with library guidelines, but that sounds like a good safeguard, at least, especially for very young children.