Banned Books Week

[lucian_albrecht]

So, this week it's Banned Books Week in the US. The American Library Association highlights the number of books which get 'challenged' in libraries, and tabulates the results. Last year's Top Ten:

• "It's Perfectly Normal" for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
• "Forever" by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
• "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
• "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
• "Detour for Emmy" by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
• "What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
• Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
• "Crazy Lady!" by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
• "It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families" by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Amazon.com Listmania of these books

I remember Forever being very popular amongst the girls when I was at school, and I read The Chocolate War when I was about 12. These are not new books. More startling is usually the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century list, which includes such notorious authors as JK Rowling and Maya Angelou.

What worries me is that there isn't, to my knowledge, a similar event here. Surely the public libraries, and libraries in schools, receive similar challenges, although I hope not to the same extent.

I♥BANNED BOOKS