writers.com feature:

Banned Books Week



By Paula Guran

"Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read" is celebrated the last week of September. The event is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.

Banned Books Week (BBW) serves as a reminder to Americans not to take their freedom to read for granted. The week reminds us that not only do we have the freedom to choose what we read, but the freedom to express opinion even if that opinion is unorthodox or unpopular. BBW also emphasizes that we must ensure the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. As the American Library Association states in their the Intellectual Freedom Manual:
"Intellectual freedom can exist only where two essential conditions are met: first, that all individuals have the right to hold any belief on any subject and to convey their ideas in any form they deem appropriate; and second, that society makes an equal commitment to the right of unrestricted access to information and ideas regardless of the communication medium used, the content of the work, and the viewpoints of both the author and receiver of information. Freedom to express oneself through a chosen mode of communication, including the Internet, becomes virtually meaningless if access to that information is not protected. Intellectual freedom implies a circle, and that circle is broken if either freedom of expression or access to ideas is stifled."
In 2003, as BBW was observed, booksellers and librarians were fighting to amend the USA Patriot Act, which they believe impinges on Americans' right to keep private the records of their book purchases and library withdrawals. Judith Krug, director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a press release, "The ability to read, speak, think, and express ourselves freely are core American values. We hope Banned Books Week helps to remind Americans of the importance of our freedom at a time when freedoms are being eroded in the United States. Now -- more than ever -- we must let freedom read."

Most of the books featured during BBW are not banned, but "challenged" by individuals or groups. A successful challenge, however, would result in materials being banned or restricted. Librarians have met these challenges and retained the books in their collections.

Nowadays most of the opposition to books is the result of a sincere desire to protect children. Some of the most often-challenged titles are challenged by those who see any reference to magic, witchcraft, or wizardry as morally reprehensible. The "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" series by R.L. Stine (once highly challenged, but now relatively ignored) were protested by some as "too frightening" for young folks and as depicting "occult" or "Satanic" themes. The "Captain Underpants" series by Dav Pilkey has been opposed for "insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority."

The most frequent challenges, however, involve "inappropriate" sexual content and "offensive" language. As a parent myself, I am quite aware that the world in which we live is full of peril. Like most parents, I often feel as if I have little or no power when it comes to protecting my children from these many dangers. The availability of reading material is, some parents feel, one area where parents can retain "control."

The point Banned Books Weeks seeks to make is (as the ALA's basic policy states) that librarians "and governing bodies should maintain that parents-and only parents-have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children-and only their children-to library resources." Protection is not excuse to violate First Amendment rights. Parents insisting on their values and standards to be upheld in their children's reading is commendable, but once you try to extend your governance over other people's children -- you have become a censor.

Those who seek to censor books recognize and fear the power of words. BBW serves to remind the rest of us of that power.

* * *

In researching this, I came across a few books that I was surprised had been challenged or banned.

(THE) KING MUST DIE by Mary Renault
Has too much "sex and violence" for middle school libraries. Along with sister-book THE BULL FROM THE SEA, Renault's exciting novel is based on Greek myths of the hero Theseus, it brings plausible possible history and myth together in. I first read this at age 12 - middle school age -- and it was a huge influence on my love for mythology and history. I don't recall being shocked or titillated, even at 12.

TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
Removed from the curriculum in Merrimack, NH in 1996, because it violates the school board's decision not to teach about "alternative lifestyles." I'm still trying to figure this one out. Surely they aren't referring to Viola "cross-dressing" as a man?

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD illustrated and retold by Trina Schart Hyman (based on Brothers Grimm)
In 1989 the Empire and Culver City, California school districts banned this Caldecott Honor version of the fairy tale because the cover shows a bottle of what might be wine in Red's basket for her grandmother. Authorities said the story "condones the use of alcohol." [My daughter (and I) love Hyman's versions of classic fairly tales and she received this one, and several others, as gifts as a child.]

MY FRIEND FLICKA by Mary O'Hara
In 1990 the book (first published in 1941) was excised from 5th- and 6th-grade optional reading lists in Clay County, Florida schools. The book uses the word "bitch" to accurately refer to a female dog and the word "damn." (We have a copy of this that belonged to my now-middle-aged sisters-in-law. I was never much of a horse-book reader.)

SOPHIE'S WORLD by Jostein Gaarder
I wish my children would read this book, but only extremely intellectual young adults seem interested in it. Subtitled "A Novel about the History of Philosophy" the book is a guide to western philosophical thought presented as a novel. Evidently "Various viewpoints on philosophy...could be found objectionable" and a paragraph or two (out of 523 pages) with a liberal attitude (in keeping with the author's Norwegian cultural views) for 15-18 year olds. (I left my copy of SOPHIE'S WORLD lying out for months in hopes that a young adult would pick it up. No go. Maybe if I tell them it was banned...)

* * *

ALA's List of the Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2002
  2. Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, for its focus on wizardry and magic.
  3. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, for being sexually explicit, using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
  4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (the "Most Challenged" book of 1998), for using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
  5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, for sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
  6. Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton, for offensive language.
  7. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.
  8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, for racism, insensitivity and offensive language.
  9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, for offensive language, sexual content and Occult/Satanism.
  10. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, for insensitivity, racism and offensive language.
  11. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, for sexual content, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.

* * *

SOME WEB SITES OF INTEREST:
Copyright (c) 2004 Writers on the Net. This feature was originally published in "Writers.com," the monthly electronic newsletter of Writers on the Net. This publication may not be reproduced in print or posted elsewhere on the Web or used in any other fashion, in whole or in part, without written permission from Writers on the Net/Writers.com. Subscribe here or by emailing writers@writers.com.


home:about:classes:enroll:services:instructors:newsletter:tips:store

writers on the net/writers.com
© 1995-2005