www.bannedbooksweek.org
The 10 most challenged titles of 2012 were:
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Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group -
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group -
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group -
Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit -
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group -
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit -
Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group -
Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence -
The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit -
Beloved, by Toni MorrisonReasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
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I've read 4 of those and loved them all! 2,3,9,10. Seriously, people need to be more concerned about harmful things and less about forcing their opinions on others.
ReplyDeleteThat depends on who "others" are. IMO (and yes, I've looked at it, but not read the whole thing) Fifty Shades is a badly written piece of sexually explicit trash. If you want to read it, go ahead. It's your money and your time. Do not assign my kids to read it. Does it belong in a public library? Given it's great popularity, I'd say yes.
DeleteIt seems to me that most books that are "challenged" are challenged when school kids are assigned to read them or when schools buy them. Then you get into the whole question of who gets to pick what my kids read. While I see the purpose of public libraries to be providing the reading material the public wants (good, bad or otherwise) schools are there to educate. I see no reason for a school to carry Fifty Shades. Some of the others are questionable IMO--they promote beliefs and attitudes at odds with mine. If my beliefs are in the majority in my community, I don't think schools should be promoting other beliefs. Schools are there to help parents, to to usurp their authority.