Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of the top ten most challenged or banned books of the year. The list for 2009 is an interesting one. It contains some books that have been challenged since they've been around; Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. But there are also some interesting newer books on the list. Richardson and Parnell's And Tango Makes Three is number two on the list because "apparently gay flightless waterfowl pose a serious threat to the moral fiber of our nation" (www.flashlightworthybooks.com). Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, which is about a family of vampires, is blocked because it is too sexually explicit. There are more books on the list that I didn't mention, but the fact that many of them are banned or challenged is mind boggling. The link to ALA's complete list, and the link to another site with the same list but with more information about each book and why they are banned are below.
http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/april2010/mostchallenged2009_oif.cfm
http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/The-10-Most-Challenged-Books-of-2009/606
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Thanks for posting this year's list, Trevor. A special honor for To Kill a Mockingbird on its 50th anniversary, & it can still get challenged. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Harper Lee's story, exposing Jim Crow's horror through the eyes of its children, just as the segregation laws were overturned. Written by descendant of the hero of the South, General Robert E. Lee, protests about the book could be expected then. But now? I am curious about who challenges it now & why?
ReplyDeleteHi Trevor,
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to believe that The Color Purple still "poses a threat". There have been so many other, more in depth and detailed books since then that have dealt with the numerous issues addressed in The Color Purple (i.e. spousal abuse, racism, etc.) Do the lists you posted give reasons for the continued bans? Thanks for the links. I'll investigate further as well.
Deb
The links do give some information as to why each book is banned. But it's a little more difficult to figure out why some books have been continually banned for so long. I agree that there are many more seemingly inappropriate books out there than The Color Purple, or To Kill a Mockingbird, yet they remain on the list. The reasons why may be an interesting topic to look further into.
ReplyDelete