Banned Books Week

Hey YAs, next week is Banned Books Week, a week when we celebrate that we are free to read whatever we want. A lot of time people across the country don't think that certain books should be in libraries or schools and they submit something called a challenge.  This means that they are challenging the book's inclusion in that collection, whether it is a school, university, or public library.  Every year the American Library Association makes up a list of the top 10 most challenged books of the year.  Let's take a look at 2011's top 10 and see what they are....

#10

Title:  To Kill A Mockingbird

Author:  Harper Lee

Summary:  Scout Finch, daughter of the town lawyer Atticus, has just started school; but her carefree days come to an end when a black man in town is accused of raping a white woman, and her father is the only man willing to defend him.

Reason(s):  Offensive language and racism

#9

Title:  Gossip Girl (the entire series)

Author:  Cecily Von Ziegesar

Summary:   Presents a world of jealousy and betrayal at an exclusive private school in Manhattan.

Reason(s):  Drugs, offensive language, and sexual content

#8

Title:  What My Mother Doesn't Know

Author:  Sonya Sones

Summary:   Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.

Reason(s):  Nudity, offensive language, and sexual content

#7

Title:  Brave New World

Author:  Aldus Huxley

Summary:    Huxley's terrifying vision of a controlled and emotionless future "Utopian" society is truly startling in its prediction of modern scientific and cultural phenomena, including test-tube babies and rampant drug abuse.

Reason(s):  Insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, and sexual content

#6

Title: Alice (entire series)

Author:  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Summary:    Eleven-year-old, motherless Alice decides she needs a gorgeous role model who does everything right; and when placed in homely Mrs. Plotkins's class she is greatly disappointed until she discovers it's what people are inside that counts.

Reason(s):  Nudity, religious viewpoint, and offensive language

#5

Title:  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author:  Sherman Alexie

Summary:     Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Reason(s):  Offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sexual content, and unsuited to age group

#4

Title:  My Mom's Having a Baby!

Author:  Dori Hillestad Butler

Summary:     Elizabeth's mom is having a baby, and the whole family is involved. Elizabeth learns all about the baby's development, and she traces his growth, month by month. She learns how the baby got inside Mom, too.

Reason(s):  Nudity, sexual education, sexual content, and unsuited to age group

#3

Title:  The Hunger Games (entire series)

Author:  Suzanne Collins

Summary:      In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Reason(s):  Anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, and violence

#2

Title:  The Color of the Earth (entire series)

Author:  Kim Dong Hwa

Summary:      Ehwa is a young girl growing up in a Korean village.  She lives with her mother, who was widowed not long after Ehwa was born.  Through these two women, we see different stages of love, as Ehwa has her first crushes and her mother meets a traveling stranger.

Reason(s):  Nudity, sex education, sexual content, and unsuited to age group

**Drum roll please!**



The #1 Most Challenged Book(s) of 2011:

Title:  TTYL (entire series)

Author:  Lauren Myracle

Summary:       Chronicles, in "instant message" format, the day-to-day experiences, feelings, and plans of three friends, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela, as they begin tenth grade.

Reason(s):  Offensive language, religious view point, sexual content, and unsuited to age group




So, how many have you read?  I've read 6 out of the 10.  Celebrate BBW by reading one yourself, they will be on display in the library and available for you to check out.  Also, I will be putting up a large display in the lobby display case that you should check out too~