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The 26th annual Banned Books Week is celebrated this week, September 29- October 6. (I know I’m late, but I was a teacher and weeks still start on Mondays in my head.) The ALA has a number of interesting links for parents, children, teachers, students, and aficionados of controversy.
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to read reminds us that we can’t take our democratic freedoms for granted. People all over the country, want to “protect” children from language and sexual content they find offensive and thoughts they disagree with. While I agree that parent should monitor what their children read I don’t believe they should have the power to prevent other children from reading books.
The Ten Most Challenged Books of 2006
“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
“Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
“Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
“The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
“Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
“Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;
“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:11 am
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