Because books should be read, even the bad ones

[mhalachai]

Like I've been saying all day, ignorance is not a virtue.

From alexcat, inspired by the lovely sabriel_0405, the most frequently challenged books from 1990-2000

I've bolded the ones I've read, and italicized the ones I want to read before this year is out.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

I need to look into some more of these books, to see what they're all about, and I'll probably read some more of these too.

(Except for American Psycho. That books creeps me out to no end)

Comments

[vivnow.livejournal.com]

I've read a lot of the books you have bolded, plus a few others. I think I'm going to have to read some of the other books during summer break.

There are a lot of good books on that list.

Ignorance is dangerous!

I'm going to borrow/post your list on my lj.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Ignorance is dangerous and I can't understand why people don't get that. Have fun with the reading :)

[golden-ravish.livejournal.com]

a good portion of these books were REQUIRED reading when i was in high school 10+ years ago. some of them i've read on my own. others i can't believe they put on the list. if you don't mind, i'd like to borrow this list to post on a forum. i'm curious how others would respond.

[dizzy-lizard.livejournal.com]

That's the same thing I was thinking... most of those that I've read were required for Honors English in high school... which, yeah, was just over ten years ago for me too.

[meridethkun.livejournal.com]

Probably the same books were required for my Honors English not even 4 years ago! Others are really good award-winning books(!) that I read years ago and would read again now.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's always the thought-provoking books that get the shaft.

And I'm also curious why the suburban soccer moms of the world united against Judy Blume. Cuz dude, her books aren't really that salacious. (Judy Blume on censorship (http://www.judyblume.com/censors.html))

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I know, me too! I read Julie of the Wolves in grade five as the required reading. Or grade six, I can't remember. Anyway.

Feel free to post the list high and wide! I'd post the link to the library association too; they do all the hard work in keeping books in the public eye in our world :)

[az-anneliese.livejournal.com]

A lot of them were required reading for me about 6 or 7 years ago, (Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye [favorite book ever, by the way], etc).

One thing that I was surprised to see on there and then had a "hmm. Yeah, I guess I see why" moment was the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice.

I got the first one out of curiosity when I was about 19 and had NOOO idea what book I had just bought. At that time I hadn't even discovered Anita Blake and that first book was worlds beyond Anita and, yeah, I still think 'omg' just recalling what I DID read. And I'm not a prude. Promise.

It was ... disturbing.

So, there's my two cents. I guess all I was trying to say was that not all the books are on the same level as say ... To Kill a Mockingbird or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Mice and Men was our grade 11 honours book. Still freaks me out, but a good book. In fact, every book we read that year has been challenged or banned: Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck; The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Then there was Hamlet, but that was forced upon us by the school board for the final.

Haven't read the Sleeping Beauty books, so can't comment on them, but it's hard to tell from that list as to where the books were challenged. In a school library? Public library? Were the books challenged to remove them from the library? Move them to the adult section? I agree that the books, from what I've heard of them, would be better suited to an older audience, but they should be available for reading imo.

Then again, Anne Rice certainly has the ability to make many people say "omgwtf?" on a regular basis ;)

[az-anneliese.livejournal.com]

I wasn't intending to imply that any book should be banned or anything ... it's just usually when I think of banned books I think of books that are a little more than porn ... yanno?

Tis all. But you're right about Anne Rice. *nods*

[sabriel-0405.livejournal.com]

I have no desire to even touch American Psycho, much less read it. But someone thought there was merit to publishing it. I remember the controversy and decided that I just didn't need to know. Ick.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

My brother swears by American Psycho, which bothers me only slightly (but then it's one of a few books he's ever read, so I leave it alone. He's not a reader at all). I read a few pages back in the day and it's *so* not anything I wanted in my head. I know it's considered a commentary on the state of affairs in the corporate 80s, but yeah. Not for me.

[fydyan.livejournal.com]

Can I recommend that you add Native Son to the list of those you want to read? It's one you don't want to miss out on.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Sure thing. Can you give me a brief synopsis? I've never heard of the book before now :)

[fydyan.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. I haven't read it in years, so my memory is a little hazy, but it's absolutely a book that sticks with you. Without giving any plot points away, it's really a book that illustrates what life was like for black Americans in the 1930s. It was written around that time, and I think Wright was one of the first authors who captured the reality of race and class issues that dominated the lives of black Americans.

It's considered a classic of modern literature, and when I saw that you had Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Harper Lee on your list, I thought it would be right up your alley.

[siriuslydlucius.livejournal.com]

Excuse me for a moment while I have a spaz-fest.

THE GIVER? I loved that book when I was in late elementary school- middleschool! THE WITCHES? I guess I can see why, but it pictures witches as BAD not as good! BLUBBER? Did they just ban everything by Judy Blume? and finally JULIE OF THE WOLVES? What is wrong with THOSE?

Okay, spaz over.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's amazing what people want to censor.

And the main reason adults try and censor Julie of the Wolves is the sexual assault scene. But when I read the book at age 10, it didn't occur to me that was what it was -- all I saw was an assault. But even if I saw it for what it was, that's not something to be hidden from a pre-teen. Trying to hide the bad things in the world from children never makes for a better world.

[(Anonymous)]

Actually these books are on the Most Challenged List, not Banned list. The difference is their books people think should be banned but have not been. You'll notice the Harry Potter Books and the Goosebump series are on there. I know both of those are still in Libraries. Students would have a fit if they were taken out and banned. Just because some parents are fruits and think their children need to be protected from the evils of the world *snort*.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Oops, got mixed up on the title. Changed.

Anyway, the challenge is the first step to banning, and people don't challenge a book unless they want it removed from the public eye. Folks who don't get that books are ideas, and ideas need to be discussed, especially in the young, twist my shorts.

[m-ravensblood.livejournal.com]

Wow. Frightening the things people want to eliminate. I've read a lot of them and some were required reading. Heck, an elementary school teacher read "How To Eat Fried Worms" for story time to us. The world is in sad shape.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

The ideas that some people want to remove from public discourse... well, I don't understand it. I think that these sorts of people don't understand children and their ability to reason things through, and figure out ideas on their own. A kid who's family is Christian isn't going to go out and start slaughtering chickens because he reads a Harry Potter book -- a book isn't going to destroy the values someone's been raised with. What it may do is open their eyes to the other side of the story. I know I'm a much better person for having read all those things as a young 'un.

[ladybeth.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why some of them are on there, but I'm assuming most of this was school libraries and such and it was parents deciding what their child should read. Although, I think just telling the child not to read it would be sufficent, because if you go all the way and get it banned, they may just go to the next town over and read it just to figure out why you hate it so much. But then the same could go for when you just say not to read it so *shrugs*

On My Honor...I think My sister read that...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

There isn't anything in this world as contrary as a child. Tell them they can't see a movie or read a book? Good luck. Especially in those lovely teen years.

But it's more than that. These people not only want to tell their own children what to read (which, in the younger years is usually called good parenting) but what other people's children read, and that's not on.

[ladybeth.livejournal.com]

*nods* But no one really thinks that way. They think they are doing something for the common good.

[slythhearted.livejournal.com]

I left this entry up while cooking lunch and it had my husband in fits of laughter. He was entertaining himself by searching for titles he didn't recognise on Amazon and trying to guess what was so objectionable that would cause people to try and get these books banned.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

This certainly is a great list to read over the summer. And hey, this time next year, we'll have a whole new list of challenged books to read! Um, yay?

Read The Giver

[(Anonymous)]

I think it's rediculous that people try to ban books. Once you start restricting knowledge and opinions, you eventually get to the point of regulating everything people do or even think.
I wanted to say that I see you have The Giver italicized; you should definitely read it. I don't know how much you liked A Wrinkle in Time, but those two books (and maybe Number the Stars) were my favorites as a kid. In fact, I still have my copy of The Giver, and have read it multiple times.
I also read anything by Diana Wynne Jones, and given the subject matters of some books on the list, I am somewhat surprised that none of hers are on there. Maybe she is not widely read enough.
I find it ironic that Bridge to Terabithia is number nine on the list and it was just recently made into a movie.
~Zith

Re: Read The Giver

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Sure thing in the Giver.

Frankly, books that are intense and interesting and challenging enough to be made into movies are exactly the ones that are going to be challenged.

Once you start restricting knowledge and opinions, you eventually get to the point of regulating everything people do or even think.

Exactly. 100%.

[mzlizzy.livejournal.com]

Like others, I read some of these as required reading in High School.

Seeing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" reminds me of a statement by Orson Scott Card. He stated that the book is often challenged by people who want to ban it for the use of the n-word in it, even though it is a profoundly anti-racist book.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

He stated that the book is often challenged by people who want to ban it for the use of the n-word in it, even though it is a profoundly anti-racist book.

The baby's out with the bathwater on that one. I fully support teachers taking the time in class to explain why the word was used then, the context, and the history. Otherwise, how will children learn the weight of the word? Listening to the evil rap music?

It occurs to me that I sound about 90. Oh well.

[amelora.livejournal.com]

I liked American Psycho. Yeah it was very graphic but the book wasn't actually about the murders it was a social commentary about the materialism of the corporate world and the 80's in general.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I read a small portion of American Graphic when I was about... 19? I think. I really grossed me out, and at the time I didn't want to have the content in my headspace. It's one of those things that I can't get over, ya know?

PS, i've been staring at your icon for minutes. So much love!

The great thing about being up a...

[(Anonymous)]

The great thing about being a librarian is setting up big prominent shelves of those books. ; )

Umm...

[thaliagreene.livejournal.com]

The above librarian note was me, I forgot to log in...

Re: Umm...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

no worries.

I love those displays in the library in banned book month. The bookstore on campus (I work at the University of British Columbia) has a 400 square foot display every year with all kinds of banned and challenged books for buying and reading. Fun times :)

Re: Umm...

[thaliagreene.livejournal.com]

We've had two bookshelves, one in the junior section (For Judy Blume, and How to eat fried worms) and one in Adult reading. I live in a liberal area so no ones ever come up and said "THESE BOOKS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN!!!" but it has happened with other stuff. Mostly for graphic novels that really don't belong in the kids section, but no one checked them very well. Graphic novels are a new thing librarians are still learning how to classify.

Interesting thing about "Sex" by Madonna-- You couldn't keep that book on the shelves! My library had to go to bookstores and buy copies to keep up with demand. One library in my area still has a list of holds on it after 15 years!!

[thekams.livejournal.com]

Bridge to Terebithia?? Why the heck is this on here? Are children no longer allowed to have an imagination, or is it because of the ending? (which I won't say here because I don't want to spoil people, but omg saaaaad)

CRAZY! BtT is still my favourite children's book, my copy of it is crazy damaged from all the time's I've read it. Some of these books I can see why, but Terebithia? Poor book =(

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I think that it's the ending. That if we shelter kids from thinking about these things, then these things won't happen. Which isn't *life*.

I recently reread BtT, and I was a wreck for hours. That books destroys me as much as it gives me hope, Jesse's reaction and his way of dealing.

I have yet to let myself watch the movie. I couldn't go to the theatre because I knew I'd be crying too hard to drive home.

[thekams.livejournal.com]

The movie was brilliant, I thought. Out of all the "book movies" I've seen, this was my favourite. I thought it stayed incredibly true to the book, and yes...I cried at the ending =( The book still makes me cry, too.
The movie comes out on DVD tomorrow, you should rent it when you have some free time to watch and cry.

[amdsmrnitesdrm.livejournal.com]

Wow, Earth's Children is one of my favorite series and Pillars of the Earth is one of my all-time favorite books. I can't even count how many of those I own and plan on reading, as well. *shakes head* Don't get it, I just don't get it.

Haha, besides, to good lil' anarchists such as ourselves, it just makes us want to read them more. Haven't they realized that yet??