Banned Books Week

[MickeyMousePal]

I can't believe that so many classic books that I read in school and at home made the list of banned books.
Why are they on the list in the first place they seem to be ok to me?

I wonder why these books made the list??

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Cujo by Stephen King (too scary)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Dead Zone by Stephen King (too scary)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford

[TheZue]

I believe The Adventures of Huck Finn was banned because it involved the N word. Harry Potter got banned because of witchcraft, so I assume that the Witches was a similar issue. I'm just guessing but I'd bet that Of mice and Men got banned due to the portrayal of mentally challenged people (is that pc enough???).

The one that really surprised me in there was Lord of The Flies.

[Luke]

<u>Where's Waldo?</u> was apparently banned for (partial) nudity.

<u>Art Of Disney</u> was banned for cheating his way out of buying a gift for the UD Secret Santa. Deadbeat!

[Ludwig Von Drake]

I got bored last year during English and found the book The day the Book Got Banned or something similar. It was a children's book but it was very interesting how it compared the reasons why Huck Finn is banned for the use of the word Nigger while the Bible is not banned and it talks about people getting raped and cut up. (Judges)

[Paka]

Like the others have said, a lot of the listed books are challenged because of sexuality issues or the use of profanity. Other issues, of course, include violence, depiction of minorties, the presence of witchcraft (because we all know the thousands of kids that turned to Wicca and Satanism because of books like Harry Potter or The Witches... ), or the high "scariness" factor. I'm not surprised that Scary Stories is #1 on the ALA list - those are indeed creepy books! Especially the illustrations. Which would account for why they were so popular when they first came out.

Don't be worried about the term "banned," however. These books have only been formally challenged by parents and removed from a few school libraries around the nation. They haven't been banned from everyone. Heh... the concept is still troubling, though. Because even if it's just a few schools, that's still unfair to the students, to say the least. And it's troublesome because it's walking that fine line of censorship.

[TheZue]

There is a big deal between censorship and a school not studying a book in a scholarly manner. There are lots of books that aren't studied because they are just poorly written, and many more that are well written but the content isn't suitable for kids. These ones are only a big deal since they used to be on the okay list, but quite honestly I'm not sure why they were spending time on Steven King or Goosebumps in the first place. Those books are entertaining but they aren't exactly literature.

[Paka]

The vast majority of these books weren't being studied in class, though. They simply were available in the school's library. But when some uppity parents - by one way or another - discover the content of the books, they file a formal complaint with the school. And the sad thing is, many of the schools that receive complaints give way to the dissenting minority and remove the "offending" titles from the library altogether. All that this silly "bad apple" rule accomplishes is less access to some great books for the kids attending that school.

Indeed, these books are readily available elsewhere, but the concept of "banning," and the removal of specific titles from a public school library, is the troubling part. Though it still would have a ways to go, it is one step closer to censorship, and that's a scary thought.

[Angela]

Well I hate cenorship, especially when it comes to books.

There's alot kids can learn from Huck Finn, it teaches a lesson that never gets old even today. I remember reading Huck Finn when I was in school, and alot of the kids really got into it, and it didn't corrupt them into saing the "N" word or anything

[ichabod]

I heard that the Harry Potter books had been banned in some places in the U.S. because they were considered to encourage children to be anti-christian and encourage devil worship.

[DisneyChris]

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
The Witches by Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford

This is simply ridiculous.

I read Goosebumps when I was 6. I didn't get the creeps!
I read the Potter books. I'm still believing in God!
What the hell is wrong with the Roald Dahl and Mark Twain books??? They're classic!
If Where's Waldo? (or Where's Wally?) is accused of partial nudity, then they should ban all books containing classic art with nudity like The Birth of Venus.

Man, this sucks! People are stupid nowadays.

[Leonia]

One of my favorite books from the Top 100 is The Giver, by Lois Lowry (number 14 on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books list).

Anyone want to enlighten me on why this book got challenged in the first place?

[Paka]

One of my favorite books from the Top 100 is The Giver, by Lois Lowry (number 14 on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books list).

Anyone want to enlighten me on why this book got challenged in the first place?

Probably because it puts child characters in dangerous or compromising situations. Jonas and the baby Gabriel go through a lot in the course of the story, and (Spoiler warning! Highlight to read...) may or may not have died at the end. It's written in a deliberately ambiguous fashion, but to those that interpret the ending in that way...
Of course, it - along with other books like A Wrinkle in Time - may just be on the list because of it's dangerously mind-expanding ideas! I mean, damn - they need to put warning stickers on these things that say "Warning! May cause you to think!"

[Isidour]

Hi!

hey!, maybe they banned it because one child said "I preffer Magic instead of religion..." or because some geek do "unmentionable bussines" whit a Waldo´s book....

or, if you think a little more, they banned them because some of them do or act like they don´t want than others act(sometimes, the most things than hates in others are the ones than you hate from yourself..thats the way of thinking than I´m trying to make understand... it seems than is not that easy as I want to do it...)

anyway...or maybe they´re just annoying people...
I leave it to you...

[horseroxy]

Some adults are making such a big deal out of what's in books. I was watching an interview-type thing on tv one day, and J.K. Rowling said she never had a child telling her (s)he believed in witchcraft. It makes you feel like they're trying to hide everything from kids when 11 year olds are accused of rape.

[deathie mouse]

2 steps forward , 1 step backwards

or is it the other way around?

sometimes i feel my society is going on one direction...







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how many decades till Song of the South is placed on the unbanned list

[Luke]

sometimes i feel my society is going on one direction...

And that direction is Blue Ray™!