Monday, September 26, 2016
[News and Notes] Banned Books Week 2016
2016 Banned Books Week is September 25 - October 1
The American Library Association's Banned Books Week webpage explains the history of banned and challenged books through the years with a variety of lists to browse.
Also visit www.bannedbooksweek.org created by the Banned Books Week Coalition.
The top ten most challenged books of 2015 include:
1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James
Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”).
3. I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.
Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.
4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin
Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).
Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).
5.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
Reasons: Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).
Reasons: Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).
6. The Holy Bible
Reasons: Religious viewpoint.
7. Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel
Reasons: Violence and other (“graphic images”).
8. Habibi, by Craig Thompson
Reasons: Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
9. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.
10. Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan
Reasons: Homosexuality and other (“condones public displays of affection”).
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Monday, September 28, 2015
[News and Notes] Banned Books Week 2015
Celebrate the Freedom to Read
Banned Books Week
September 27 - October 3, 2015
Visit the following to learn why this week is important:
2014 Book Challenges Infographic (PDF) From the State of America's Libraries Report
Banned Books That Shaped America
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
[News and Notes] Banned Books Week: Dav Pilkey, Creator of Captain Underpants, on Banning Books
Author Dav Pilkey, author of children's book series Captain Underpants, shares his thoughts about banning books. Click to watch the video.
(Originally uploaded to the Banned Books Week YouTube channel)
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Friday, September 19, 2014
[News and Notes] Banned Books Week: September 21-27, 2014
Banned Books Week is September 21-27, 2014
Why celebrate Banned Books Week? The American Library Association explains:
"By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read." (Source)
Sites of interest for Banned Books Week:
American Library Association BBW page
Banned Books Week bannedbooksweek.org
Visit Banned Books Week YouTube page to view 2014 Virtual Read-Out videos
Click here to learn how to add this Twibbon below to your profile.
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Friday, September 27, 2013
BANNED BOOKS WEEK: Celebrate fREADom with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Celebrate the freedom to read THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie (2007)
Life is tough for Junior, a social outcast living on a
Spokane Indian reservation in Washington. Considered a weirdo, he is a not-so-proud
member of the “Blackeye-of-the-Month club.” Junior escapes his bleak
environment of poverty and alcoholism by reading comic books in his room. Junior also loves drawing and uses this talent
to make sense of the world. Frustrated
with the limitations of the rez, he enrolls in an all-white school. The backlash is
ugly but Junior is determined to forge his own path while balancing life in two
separate worlds.
Author Sherman Alexie approaches his first young adult novel
with the same candor and cynical humor I enjoy in his short stories. This novel was one of ten most challenged
books in 2012 due to “offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited
for age group.” The Absolutely True Diary also won the National Book Award for Young
People’s Literature in 2007, as well as other awards. Junior’s funny illustrations and sarcastic sense
of humor will appeal to teens facing the same issues of identity and
self-worth.
Darletha Matthews, South Branch Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
BANNED BOOKS WEEK: Celebrate fREADom with The Kite Runner
Yes, of course, critics will focus on young Hassan's rape at the
beginning of this wonderful story. I did not concentrate on this tragedy while
reading Hosseini's first book, set in the Middle East in the 1960's; instead, I
relished the story of the young Hassan and Amir's friendship lasting through
adulthood.
Andrea King, Poplar-White Station
Labels: Banned Books Week
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
BANNED BOOKS WEEK: Celebrate fREADom with In Cold Blood
Celebrate the freedom to read IN COLD BLOOD: A TRUE ACCOUNT OF A MULTIPLE MURDER AND ITS CONSEQUENCES by Truman Capote (1966)
Investigative journalism at its best is my description of
Truman Capote’s true-crime thriller, In
Cold Blood. Electrified describes how his reconstruction of four savage
killings made me feel. Pulse racing, I devoured the pages with an appetite that
did not sate until my eyes ceased to focus.
And yet, this literary award winner was banned for a time in
Savannah, Georgia, after a parent complained that it contained sex, violence,
and profanity.
It does contain these components, of course. But, it was
published in 1965 at a time when such graphic horror did not yet assault from
every direction. It was easier back then to assume that being blasted by a
shotgun from within inches of the face, as were members of the Clutter family
inside their Holcomb, Kansas, farmhouse, just didn’t happen to decent folk in
1959.
Capote’s account of their slaughter and the investigation
that led to the capture, trial, and execution of two ex-convicts on parole from
Kansas State Penitentiary was the jolt of reality that stole my innocence. While
hard to take, it’s important to remember that even gruesome information must
always be available to readers who want access to it. Pretending that human
violence -- as described in In Cold Blood
-- doesn’t exist, does not make it so.
Nancy Campbell, Cordova Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
[News and Notes] More Banned Books in the News
Why celebrate Banned Books Week? We've found more stories demonstrating the ongoing battle of what is acceptable reading for today's youth.
The National Coalition Against Censorship's blog (Blogging Censorship) details how public speaking engagements for two Young Adult fiction authors were cancelled.
Meg Medina and Rainbow Rowell were uninvited to scheduled talks because of profanity found in their novels. They are the authors of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and Eleanor & Park, respectively. Read more here
Banned Books Week.org listed the Top Ten Most Challenged Titles of 2012 (Source)
The National Coalition Against Censorship's blog (Blogging Censorship) details how public speaking engagements for two Young Adult fiction authors were cancelled.
Meg Medina and Rainbow Rowell were uninvited to scheduled talks because of profanity found in their novels. They are the authors of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and Eleanor & Park, respectively. Read more here
Banned Books Week.org listed the Top Ten Most Challenged Titles of 2012 (Source)
1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav
Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian,
by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin
Richardson.
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin
Schwartz
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Sexually explicit,
religious viewpoint, violence
Take a look at Banned Books Week Heroes, individuals who successfully fought for the freedom to read.
Take a look at Banned Books Week Heroes, individuals who successfully fought for the freedom to read.
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Monday, September 23, 2013
BANNED BOOKS WEEK: Celebrate fREADom with Brave New World
 Celebrate the freedom to read BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley (1932)In the post-modern era, marked by massive government snooping into our personal lives as well as widening income inequality, Huxley's Brave New World could not be more poignant. Although a scientifically-derived caste system or massive pharmacological control have not been formally institutionalized, one could argue that the proliferation of prescription and non-prescription drug abuse has some parallels to the society in Huxley's novel from 1932. Many of the concepts from this novel may even be more appropriate for today's world than they were in 1932 when the novel was published. As our access to and amount of knowledge increase exponentially, we would be wise to remember that attempting to control nature is a dangerous endeavor indeed. Steve Shackelford, South Branch |
Labels: Banned Books Week
[News and Notes] Banned Books in the News
Banned Books Week is September 22 - 28, 2013 The controversy of banning books is an ongoing issue as seen in these recent news stories:
A school board in North Carolina voted to ban Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison because a parent alleged it was "too much for teenagers." --via RawStory
The president of the Ohio School Board petitioned the removal of Toni Morisson's novel The Bluest Eye from high school reading lists. --The Columbus Dispatch
There is an A.P. History study guide under scrutiny because of an interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. --via RawStory and Dallas Fort Worth CBS News
Lastly, the Washington Post reports that an Arizona school district has banned Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia because of sexually explicit passages. This novel was also included as an exemplar text from the 11th grade Common Core reading standards.
UPDATE 12 p.m.
Time Magazine's news feed presented A Brief History of Stupid Book Bans, from Twelfth Night to Where's Waldo?
Have you read any of these books? How many banned or challenged books have you read?
Browse the library catalog for these titles and other books.
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Friday, September 20, 2013
[News and Notes] Banned Books Week: September 22-28, 2013
 |
| Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association. |
The American Library Association explains why this week is important:
The ALA promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them. -(Source)During Banned Books Week the Memphis Reads blog will highlight books that have been targeted for censorship in a feature called "Celebrate fREADom." Library staff members will share thoughts about banned or challenged books they have read.
Visit the library's website to find Banned Books Week events at the library.
Other sites of interest:
ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom Banned Books Week webpage
Banned Books Week bannedbooksweek.org
Labels: Banned Books Week, News and Notes
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read . . . PUSH by Sapphire
Andrea celebrates PUSH by Sapphire
This is actually one of my favorite books. The language is beyond coarse and the situation with Precious Jones is beyond graphic. But if the readers can deal with that, then I believe they will actually be inspired by Precious' plight to better herself. In fact, one of my favorite quotes comes from this great book: "Every blade of grass has an angel that bends over and whispers, Grow, Grow." (The Talmud)
Andrea King, Poplar-White Station Library
Celebrate Your fREADdom everyday.
Labels: Banned Books Week
Celebrate the Freedom to Read. . . THE GIVER
Kay celebrates THE GIVER by Lois Lowry
When The Giver came out in 1993 and won a Newbery
Medal in 1994, I was anxious to read it because I had met Lois Lowry in 1987 at
a Young Author’s Symposium in Little
Rock , AR
When I read The Giver, after it won the Newbery Medal,
I wasn’t prepared for such a theme: a future that is not a dystopian society
but a wonderful place where everything has its place and every person has a job
to do that is assigned when they are twelve. We find out more when the
main character becomes twelve and he is introduced to the true workings of the
place and the “releasing” that takes place almost every day. When I read
this book in 1995 I had nightmares of Joan Baez singing “I Shall Be Released”
over and over.
This book has been challenged because some children may become
disturbed at the life and death issues, including “releasing.” Now, whenever students come in to checkout this book, I advise the parents to read
the book along with them. It is definitely one for discussion, either for
the plot or whether it should be challenged.
Kay Hommedieu, Randolph Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
Friday, October 05, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read . . . OF MICE AND MEN
Laura celebrates OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men is a great study of compassion and tolerance. I especially enjoyed the movie version starring Gary Sinise.
Laura Salehi,
Labels: Banned Books Week
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read . . . JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Angie celebrates JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl
This whimsical book has been accused of inciting anti-authority behavior and containing inappropriate depictions of cruelty, mild profanity, mysticism, communism, racism, situations too scary for children, and more. The truth is that it is a book filled with fanciful characters and an enduring charm.
Dahl does not shy away from the darker aspects of childhood; James is initially ruled by his cruel and oppressive aunts. Ultimately, however, this is a story of empowerment. James breaks free under his own volition, taking control of his life and incurring a number of consequences, each of which he manages to face with the help of his new friends. That his friends are enormous insects bothers James not in the least, revealing an utter lack of prejudice upon his part. James learns to look beyond the exterior of any being and connect from the heart.
As a child, I was awed and delighted with each new twist in the story, and truly sorry when I finished the last page. Any child today should be allowed the opportunity to have that same experience.
Angie Price, Central Library
Angie Price, Central Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read. . . I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
This novel was required reading for my 8th grade English class and it was an unforgettable experience. I can still remember Angelou’s descriptions of the rural town of Stamps, her mother Vivian, hiding her disabled uncle from the K.K.K., and her horrifying rape. Some of Maya’s experiences explain why this book has been banned or challenged because some adults think these subjects are too mature for young people. No one likes the idea of a young person facing racism, sexual abuse, or teen pregnancy. However, those who disapprove of this book miss the power of perseverance behind Angelou's candor.
Darletha Matthews, South Branch Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read . . . HARRY POTTER
Pennie celebrates the HARRY POTTER series
by JK Rowling
|
The Harry Potter books are not only a marvelous read for
nearly every age, but they have ignited a passion for reading in so many
reluctant readers. For that alone Ms Rowling deserves major kudos from a
whole generation of parents, teachers, and eventually the readers themselves.
Pennie Griffin, Central Library
|
Labels: Banned Books Week
Monday, October 01, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read. . . ANIMAL FARM
Wayne celebrates ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell When I first read George Orwell’s Animal Farm I was an eighth grader whose only knowledge of dictatorial government was the time my father made me cut the grass when I wanted to watch Batman on TV. Animal Farm gave me my first literary glimpse at human greed, cruelty and gullibility. I was aware that villains existed (I watched Batman, after all) but I was blissfully unaware of how an evil leader could manipulate an entire populace into believing it was a hero. George Orwell set me straight on that point.
A brilliant critique of totalitarianism masquerading as a
“fairy story,” the novel chronicles a revolution launched by the animals of
Manor Farm against its cruel owner Mr. Jones. Committed to the concept that
“all animals are equal,” the beasts struggle to create an equitable government
only to find their ideals subverted by the ambitious pig Napoleon who utters
the novel’s famous catchphrase, “all animals are equal but some animals are
more equal than others.” As I read that line for the first time a chill went
down my spine and I have not looked at politics or government in quite the same
way since. It is little wonder that some in power have seen Orwell’s masterpiece
as a threat to their existence and have tried to keep citizens from reading
it.
Wayne Dowdy, Central Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
Thursday, September 27, 2012
[Library Events & Programs] Banned Books Week 2012
Again this year Memphis Reads will feature Celebrate the Freedom to Read, stories from library staff members about the importance of a banned book they've read.
Banned Books Week Events at the Central Library
Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out
Wednesday October 3, 2012
3:00 - 5:00 pm.
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library lobby
Anyone can stop by to listen or read from a selection of banned books or you can bring your own.
This event is part of ALA's 2nd annual Virtual Read-Out where individuals post videos of themselves reading passages from banned or challenged books. View the Virtual Read-Out YouTube page for past and current videos as well as celebrity interviews.
Second Editions Bookstore (Located in the Central Library)
Banned Books Sale
September 29 - October 13
Visit ALA's Banned Books Week website to learn all about the history of banned or challenged books and other events.
Labels: Banned Books Week, Library Events and Programs
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Celebrate the Freedom to Read: THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR
Nancy Campbell celebrates THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR, a story from Greek and Roman mythology
When my family lived in Colorado Springs from 1989-92, residents of a mountain town one pass over tried to ban all Greek and Roman mythology books from school libraries. (They disagreed with polytheism.) Almost-daily references to the characters in these stories have enriched my life.
Listening to my then 6-year-old read Theseus and the Minotaur was especially gratifying. His coming down the stairs on Halloween night dressed in nothing but a towel tied around his waist made me laugh out loud. "I'm going as Theseus!" he exclaimed.
Nancy Campbell, Central Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
