It is officially Banned Books Week!

[Stacia]

Many of you already know that I'm a huge proponent of celebrating your freedom to read. This week is officially Banned Books Week, so I would encourage you & your families to find a book that has been banned or challenged & read it!

 

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek

 

 

(Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association.)

 

Lists of frequently challenged books:

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks

 

And, specifically, the 2013-14 list:

http://www.ila.org/BannedBooks/ALA016%20Short%20List%20L3c_low%20%281%29.pdf

[Firefly]

Thank you for the reminder!

[Stacia]

Here is just one example of banned books affecting students. Well-worth the read/watching the video: http://boingboing.net/2014/06/06/why-im-sending-200-copies-of.html

 

And, in case you are then interested in reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, he has posted free copies for you to download & read:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

[elegantlion]

I'm hoping to take ds to a banned book reading at my college this week. 

[Luckymama]

What to read, what to read...

[Word Nerd]

 

And, in case you are then interested in reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, he has posted free copies for you to download & read:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

 

Unfortunately, that's on my personal list of Books I Wanted to Throw Across the Room. The concept had so much potential, but the author didn't deliver IMHO.

[ChristyB in TN]

I've decided to take this opportunity to finally read Satanic Verses and see for my self what all the hullabaloo is about. Happy banned books week!

[Slartibartfast]

There are several comic books on the list. :)

 

http://cbldf.org/banned-comic/banned-challenged-comics/

[Cammie]

There are some on that list I can't get my head around!!  The Captain Underpants series - really?? The Great Gilly Hopkins?  The Junie B Jones series?  People really need to find something else to worry about!!

 

Also interesting to note that the number of "challenges" by parents have dropped but the number of challenges by "other initiator" has dramatically increased...they have already accounted for religious groups and pressure groups...who can these "other initiators" be??

[Word Nerd]

I'm deciding between Perks of Being A Wallflower and Neverwhere. Perfect timing as I have a ton of stuff to do around the house and need something to listen to.

That reminds me I recently downloaded a BBC Radio performance of Neverwhere with Benedict Cumberbatch!

[Stacia]

Also interesting to note that the number of "challenges" by parents have dropped but the number of challenges by "other initiator" has dramatically increased...they have already accounted for religious groups and pressure groups...who can these "other initiators" be??

 

Businesses? Or maybe individuals who do not wish to identify themselves as any particular type of person or group? (Just total guesses on my part....)

[AMJ]

Here is just one example of banned books affecting students. Well-worth the read/watching the video: http://boingboing.net/2014/06/06/why-im-sending-200-copies-of.html

 

And, in case you are then interested in reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, he has posted free copies for you to download & read:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

 

Thanks!  I downloaded a copy to read.  I also looked at his "why I do this" page, and I appreciate his points.  He is quite right, at least when it comes to me, on one point: ebooks can entice me to buy it again in print.  But only if I really liked the book, or thought it easier to use in paper (so I could more easily flip back and forth, go look stuff up, etc.).

 

Thanks for the heads-up!  I'll touch on banned books with my kids this week.

[AMJ]

That reminds me I recently downloaded a BBC Radio performance of Neverwhere with Benedict Cumberbatch!

 

And where exactly did you find it, please?  Sharing a link helps save us the time of performing the same hunt.  :bigear:

[Word Nerd]

And where exactly did you find it, please? Sharing a link helps save us the time of performing the same hunt. :bigear:

It was on sale at Audible several weeks ago.

[SemiSweet]

The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favorite, but maybe I'll read Eleanor and Park or the John Green one. I'm having the kids read some too. I was reading on the website some of the books banned/contested in the past and was shocked at some, like Charlottes Web.

[Cammie]

Here is what I don't get about "challenging" or "banning" books.  I can totally understand not wanting to read a book myself.  Or making a decision that I don't want my kids to read a certain book yet.  But the unmitigated gall of people who think they should decide for EVERYONE ELSE that they cannot read the book...just makes me fume.  Makes me want to go and put copies of all these books in every school library in the country!

[Lady Florida.]

In the past 6 weeks I've read The Awakening, The Handmaid's Tale, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. While I rarely read such books during actual Banned Books Week (it never seems to work out), I often read banned or challenged books.

[Stacia]

I decided to pull Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five off of my shelves for a re-read. It is one of my favorite books & Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors.

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/10/vonnegut.html

[Above The Rowan]

The Handmaids Tale has been my favourite book (well one of my faves) since I was in tenth grade and had to read it for a high school English class. It's unbelievable to me that someone would challenge or try to ban that novel.

 

Also - Neverwhere?! Really. People are nuts. Such a good book.

 

The idea of banning books is just...well it leaves me speechless and that does not happen often. Mind boggling to see some of the books people have challenged.

[Pam in CT]

There are several comic books on the list. :)

 

http://cbldf.org/banned-comic/banned-challenged-comics/

 

Slartibartfast, I was thinking of you last night as I finished Marjane Satrapi's Persephoilis: Story of a Childhood, which is on your list and also the ALA 2013 banned list -- it's a memoir of the (female) author's childhood in post-revolutionary Iran.  Interesting content and the comic book format worked very effectively.

[Pam in CT]

 

The idea of banning books is just...well it leaves me speechless and that does not happen often. Mind boggling to see some of the books people have challenged.

 

:lol: to the bolded.  I do believe I have used that precise line myself, lol.

[Luckymama]

There are several comic books on the list. :)

 

http://cbldf.org/banned-comic/banned-challenged-comics/

Thanks for the list. I've chosen Persepolis to read this week :)

[Word Nerd]

I've always wondered what specifically constitutes a challenge. Is any questioning of or complaint about a title's inclusion on a class reading list considered a challenge? For example, if a parent sees that her 5th grader will be discussing The Hunger Games in class and emails the teacher to express her concerns about whether it is age-appropriate, would that be considered a book challenge?

[Pam in CT]

I've always wondered what specifically constitutes a challenge. Is any questioning of or complaint about a title's inclusion on a class reading list considered a challenge? For example, if a parent sees that her 5th grader will be discussing The Hunger Games in class and emails the teacher to express her concerns about whether it is age-appropriate, would that be considered a book challenge?

 

There's been a discussion on this very subject over on the BAW thread -- the ALA and ILA lists include challenges requesting / demanding that books be removed from libraries, and thus precluding access to others, not just one's own child. 

 

I don't know how properly to link/quote from an outside source, but the key text from the ILA definition (p. 3) is:

 

 

Justice William Brennan, in Texas v. Johnson, said,

“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.†Individuals may restrict what they themselves or their children read, but they must not call on governmental or public agencies to prevent others from reading

or viewing that material.

The challenges documented in this list are not brought by people merely expressing a point of view; rather, they represent requests to remove materials from schools or libraries, thus restricting access to them by others.

 

 

Parental concern about a particular item on a particular class reading list would not make this cut.  

[ChristyB in TN]

We've read a few books simply because of someone or a group attempting to get them pulled from a class reading list. These challenges don't make the official list. Several years ago a man here in my city wanted The Things They Carried pulled from the optional reading list in his daughter's senior English Lit class. It was OPTIONAL. He made such a big deal about it and the craziness actually made the newspaper. We immediately went to the library and checked out four copies so we could read it simultaneously. Challenges make good motivation. :)

 

[AMJ]

It was on sale at Audible several weeks ago.

 

Dang.  It's an abridged adaptation, and BC is only one of six or so voices.  I'll have to see if I can convince DH to agree to that version, instead of the unabridged version, for our Audible account. 

 

Would you say it is appropriate listening for kids ages 10 & 13?  If not it won't prevent me getting it.  It will just be something we listen to ourselves and don't share with the kids until they are older.  I ask because we just saw the movie, Stardust, last night, and I read the book today.  While the movie was fine for our kids I decided that I want them to wait a few more years before reading the book (only because of some scenes written a little graphically, and I simply want them age 15 or older first, so they have a little more maturity).

 

This led to an interesting discussion between the three of us (both DDs and me) this morning at breakfast.  I was explaining about Banned Books Week, and we discussed what the banning of books is all about.  I then told them that I would like them to wait until they are a little older before reading the book for the movie they so enjoyed last night.  It led to some good illustrations of points, comparing reasonable waiting until one is older to banning material outright and trying to suppress ideas and concepts.  They remember that the school they used to attend had some rules about what was considered appropriate for the school library's collection, and certain books they enjoy at home were not allowed there.

[AMJ]

We've read a few books simply because of someone or a group attempting to get them pulled from a class reading list. These challenges don't make the official list. Several years ago a man here in my city wanted The Things They Carried pulled from the optional reading list in his daughter's senior English Lit class. It was OPTIONAL. He made such a big deal about it and the craziness actually made the newspaper. We immediately went to the library and checked out four copies so we could read it simultaneously. Challenges make good motivation. :)

 

Thank you for the mention.  My Dad won't talk about his time in Vietnam, except maybe with other vets.  This looks like a good book for me to read.

[Pam in CT]

re The Things They Carried: 

Thank you for the mention.  My Dad won't talk about his time in Vietnam, except maybe with other vets.  This looks like a good book for me to read.

 

The first ten pages of this book are imo a literary tour de force -- some of the most powerful writing I've ever encountered.  Not for everyone; definitely not for every age.  But it certainly deserves a place in the library (which is what banned books week is about).  

[ChristyB in TN]

Thank you for the mention.  My Dad won't talk about his time in Vietnam, except maybe with other vets.  This looks like a good book for me to read.

 :) I hope you enjoy it, we certainly did! My husband is actually reading another by Tim O'Brien, Norther Lights right now. He says it is very good, also. Enjoy!

[Slartibartfast]

Slartibartfast, I was thinking of you last night as I finished Marjane Satrapi's Persephoilis: Story of a Childhood, which is on your list and also the ALA 2013 banned list -- it's a memoir of the (female) author's childhood in post-revolutionary Iran.  Interesting content and the comic book format worked very effectively.

 

 

Comics have changed a great deal since I was a kid. :) I really love Sandman and Maus which are both on the list.

[Garga]

Oh dear, maybe I'll get yelled at (and I really dislike getting yelled at), but I have a question:

 

The 3rd link the OP provided was of books currently being "banned" or having requests to ban them.

 

On the list were quite a few adult books that had made their way into middle schools. I'm going to cower and ask, "What's wrong with removing adult theme books from middle schools?" We're not talking about the books being removed from public libraries for adults. We're talking about removing adult books with sex scenes and graphic violence from middle schools which have 11, 12, and 13 year olds. Aren't some books pretty much equivalent to a PG13 or R rated movie? If so, shouldn't they be removed from places where there are children too young for that?

 

If the book is equivalent to an R rated movie, should it be taught in a class of high schoolers who are not yet 16? (Rated R means no one under 17 without a guardian.)

 

I don't see a difference. If I would get upset at a school showing of an R rated movie to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 year olds, why would I not get upset at a school having my kid read a book equivalent to that?

[Slartibartfast]

Oh dear, maybe I'll get yelled at (and I really dislike getting yelled at), but I have a question:

 

The 3rd link the OP provided was of books currently being "banned" or having requests to ban them.

 

On the list were quite a few adult books that had made their way into middle schools. I'm going to cower and ask, "What's wrong with removing adult theme books from middle schools?" We're not talking about the books being removed from public libraries for adults. We're talking about removing adult books with sex scenes and graphic violence from middle schools which have 11, 12, and 13 year olds. Aren't some books pretty much equivalent to a PG13 or R rated movie? If so, shouldn't they be removed from places where there are children too young for that?

 

If the book is equivalent to an R rated movie, should it be taught in a class of high schoolers who are not yet 16? (Rated R means no one under 17 without a guardian.)

 

I don't see a difference. If I would get upset at a school showing of an R rated movie to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 year olds, why would I not get upset at a school having my kid read a book equivalent to that?

I won't yell. :) That book mentions sex in passing, it is not an R rated book. One can download the book from the link and read it. It is rated by the publisher as for 13-17 year olds. That does mean it may not contain graphic sex.

 

It was also banned for questioning authority and violence. If we banned all the books that contained those things what would be left? To Kill a Mockingbird also does all of those things.

 

The few should not decide the reading content of the many.

[Slartibartfast]

Ugh! I am on a tablet and I accidentally gave thread 4 stars. :(

[Slartibartfast]

I personally don't see a way to rate books  in the same way as movies...

 

I think school libraries need to cater to a variety of reading ages and maturity levels.

 

I don't think one person, or even a group of people, have the right to censor reading material on behalf of all children in a school. 

 

And I'm not crazy about censoring children's reading anyway.

 

Not yelling, just conversing :)

 

Publishers often voluntarily rate content. If publishers do not then  stores often do.

 

People have been put in jail for allowing minors access to some comics. I recall one instance it was a comic from Free Comic Book Day about Picasso. 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/books/06gust.html?_r=0 At the time I also worked in a comic book store and I did hold that particular book back and only gave it to adults. However the comics arrive to the store together in boxes. We had to look at them to see what was in them. It would have been easy to look at the cover think, "Picasso is great!" and not actually be aware there might be an issue. 

 

Now when I go to a comic book store on Free Comic Book Day the stores I went to had the comics clearly separated by adult books and kid books.

 

 

[Pam in CT]

Comics have changed a great deal since I was a kid. :) I really love Sandman and Maus which are both on the list.

 

Indeed...  I didn't read Maus for years because it *was* comic format, and then when I finally did I felt like a dope.

 

I haven't read Sandman, but Stacia recently converted me to the Joy of Gaiman, so I expect I'll get to it shortly....  :laugh:

[Stacia]

Garga, I'm not sure I'm seeing which books are considered adult books that have been challenged or banned in middle schools...? The ones I see on the list (3rd link, which is a .pdf file of some of the challenged/banned books of 2013-14) re: middle schools seem to be ones that were written at a middle school level & are considered YA books. Fwiw, many fairy tales, fables, myths, & religious texts include violence & sex, yet have been considered staples of children's (as well as teens' & adults') literature through the ages. When & where one then chooses to draw the line/challenge/ban can indeed become a very slippery slope. What is right for you might not be right for others & vice versa. The beauty of our freedom is our choice; once we start limiting access to these materials, we prevent others from having a choice, as well as eroding our own freedom to choose.

 

I like the explanation given on page 9 of the same document as to why these books, even though you may personally choose not to read them or to have your children read them, can & should be available in school libraries:

 

The First Amendment guarantees that each of us has the right to express our views, including opinions about particular books. At the same time, the First Amendment also ensures that none of us has the right to control or limit another person’s ability to read or access information. Yet when individuals or groups file formal written requests demanding that libraries and schools remove specific books from the shelves, they are doing just that—attempting to restrict the rights of other individuals to access those books.

 

The rights and protections of the First Amendment extend to children and teens as well as adults. While parents have the right—and the responsibility—to guide their own children’s reading, that right does not extend to other people’s children. Similarly each adult has the right to choose his or her own reading materials, along with the responsibility to acknowledge and respect the right of others to do the same.

 

When we speak up to protect the right to read, we not only defend our individual right to free expression, we demonstrate tolerance and respect for opposing points of view. And when we take action to preserve our precious freedoms, we become participants in the ongoing evolution of our democratic society.

 

 

[Stacia]

Ugh! I am on a tablet and I accidentally gave thread 4 stars. :(

 

:toetap05:

 

I think we're going to have to censor you for that! :smash:  If you cannot properly use a tablet, we will have to restrict your access to it.

 

:001_tt2: ;) :lol:

[Garga]

Garga, I'm not sure I'm seeing which books are considered adult books that have been challenged or banned in middle schools...? The ones I see on the list (3rd link, which is a .pdf file of some of the challenged/banned books of 2013-14) re: middle schools seem to be ones that were written at a middle school level & are considered YA books. Fwiw, many fairy tales, fables, myths, & religious texts include violence & sex, yet have been considered staples of children's (as well as teens' & adults') literature through the ages. When & where one then chooses to draw the line/challenge/ban can indeed become a very slippery slope. What is right for you might not be right for others & vice versa. The beauty of our freedom is our choice; once we start limiting access to these materials, we prevent others from having a choice, as well as eroding our own freedom to choose.

 

I like the explanation given on page 9 of the same document as to why these books, even though you may personally choose not to read them or to have your children read them, can & should be available in school libraries:

 

Ok--you might be right.  I may have been getting the high school and middle school books mixed up when I was writing my post.  

[Slartibartfast]

Indeed...  I didn't read Maus for years because it *was* comic format, and then when I finally did I felt like a dope.

 

I haven't read Sandman, but Stacia recently converted me to the Joy of Gaiman, so I expect I'll get to it shortly....  :laugh:

 

 

That one is very popular, it is usually at libraries. 

[Slartibartfast]

:toetap05:

 

I think we're going to have to censor you for that! :smash:  If you cannot properly use a tablet, we will have to restrict your access to it.

 

:001_tt2: ;) :lol:

 

 

:crying:

[Stacia]

:crying:

 

:grouphug:

 

[Slartibartfast]

Graphic novels and comics are somewhat different in that they have visual material.

 

Publishers ratings for other books are not worth the ink it takes to print them. In my experience :)

 

I don't think they should be very exact. I would be concerned that age ratings would give some adults the idea that children should only read books according to their age and I always read  above my age.  Since Harry Potter there are a lot more young adult books but when I was younger there were a lot of really lame ones. I was reading Bronte in the 5th grade. What if some adult thought it was too old for me? I don't want people thinking that just because a number is on a book that it is a requirement or expectation. If a publisher gives an age range under 17 then that usually means it doesn't contain graphic sex. That is ALL I would want to know. I don't care if it is subversive, I would be MORE likely to give my kid a subversive book. 

 

I don't really care, I allow my children to read things based on my having read the book first and forming my own opinion of it.

 

My parents did not censor our reading at all but I was reading Thorn Birds, Helter Skelter and Women in Love in middle school so I don't think that was a entirely a good idea either  :lol: It is good to have a middle ground.

 

I have a HUGE bookcare with books my dd can read anytime, I have other bookcases she isn't supposed to read from. What if she reads from the  "other" book case? I won't care. 

[Slartibartfast]

:grouphug:

 

 

:lol:

[Joker]

Wow. I've never really taken an interest in banned books week but this thread has been enlightening. My oldest dd has lent out a few on those lists and now I wonder if it is because our school libraries don't have them and these kids have no one to take them to the library (or maybe even the library has removed them). I know right now she has lent out the one by Sherman Alexie. I think most of the books on those lists are ridiculous, and we've had a lot of great discussions here regarding many of them.

[Stacia]

Horton, you might like taking a look at this list that enumerates many reasons why some of the big-name classics have been challenged.

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons

 

Eye-opening & frightening (in a train-wreck kind of way, imo), not only in the vehemence but also the sheer numbers of attempts to have these books banned. My current read (Slaughterhouse-Five) has a pretty hefty list on there too.

 

To all of you: These attempts (& sometimes successes) are all working at chipping away your freedoms & your access to books. Freedom of thought is best nurtured by knowledge. If knowledge sources are removed at the request of the few, you are slowly but surely ceding your freedom of thought to others.  

[Negin]

Just started The Hot Zone - loving it and I find it so amusing that that and so many other titles are on the Banned Books List, never mind the fact that I find it funny that there is a Banned Books List to begin with. Apparently, The Hot Zone has been challenged because it portrays the Ebola virus in a negative way or whatever. Is there a positive way to describe it? 

[JumpyTheFrog]

I saw that "The Hunger Games" had been challenged for explicit sex, language, Satanism, and anti-religion. Did these people read the same book as me?

[mommymilkies]

I saw that "The Hunger Games" had been challenged for explicit sex, language, Satanism, and anti-religion. Did these people read the same book as me?

:lol:   Must have been some satirical naughty version. I definitely don't remember that!

[Mom-ninja.]

Just started The Hot Zone - loving it and I find it so amusing that that and so many other titles are on the Banned Books List, never mind the fact that I find it funny that there is a Banned Books List to begin with. Apparently, The Hot Zone has been challenged because it portrays the Ebola virus in a negative way or whatever. Is there a positive way to describe it? 

The Hot Zone is on the banned list? 

[vonfirmath]

Here is what I don't get about "challenging" or "banning" books.  I can totally understand not wanting to read a book myself.  Or making a decision that I don't want my kids to read a certain book yet.  But the unmitigated gall of people who think they should decide for EVERYONE ELSE that they cannot read the book...just makes me fume.  Makes me want to go and put copies of all these books in every school library in the country!

 

Do you really think every book is appropriate for every school library?

 

My son goes to a K-2 school. There are certainly books I'm okay with him reading eventually I do not think are appropriate for his school's library at this point. Etc.