In honor of Banned Books Week (September 25-October 2, 2004) I've picked 25 titles from the ALA's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 to discuss. I recommend any and all of them. Enjoy!
1. Bless Me, Ultima tells the story of an alienated New Mexico boy who seeks an answer to his questions about life in his relationship with Ultima, a magical healer. It's been banned because it contains objectionable language, sex, witchcraft, and (allegedly) glorification of death.
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings -- this is a memoir that traces Angelou’s childhood in the 1930s rural South. Reasons for banning it include sexual content, racism, language, and violence.
3. Go Ask Alice, the diary of a teenage girl struggling with a drug addiction. Banned because it depicts drug use and contains objectionable language and sexual themes.
4. The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel -- a fable of the near future, in which far-right ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. In this society, women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives. Banned for sexual themes and language.
5. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret tells the story of a pre-teen girl coping with a move, puberty, and her relationship with God. It's been banned for its sexual themes and "immorality."
6. My Brother Sam Is Dead (Point) -- the story of a young man who, during the American Revolution, has to choose between the Revolutionaries, with whom his brother Sam is fighting, and the British, whom his father supports. Banned for its language.
8. The Outsiders tells the story of Ponyboy, a teenage "greaser," and his struggle to make sense of the rough world around him. Reasons for banning it include violence and language.
9. Brave New World -- a story of a utopian World State in which everything is perfect, but individuality is an impossibility. Banned for depictions of drug use and sex.
10. Carrie -- a tale of a bullied young woman with telekinetic powers which will eventually be turned on her tormentors. Reasons for banning it include language, violence, and sexual themes.
11. To Kill a Mockingbird -- set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, this novel follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Banned because of its language, and racial and sexual themes.
12. A Wrinkle in Time -- Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father? Banned because it contains objectionable language and "undermines religious beliefs."
13. Anastasia Krupnik -- the first of a series, this novel tells the story of the ups and downs of a precocious ten-year-old girl. The series has been banned because it contains objectionable language and underage drinking.
14. Beloved tells the story of Sethe, who was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Reasons for banning this book include its negativity, racial and sexual themes, and language.
15. Heather Has Two Mommies (Alyson Wonderland) -- Heather is a preschooler with two moms whodiscovers that some of her friends have very different sorts of families. Banned because it discusses homosexuality and other sexual themes.
16. Bridge to Terabithia -- the story of two friends, Jess and Leslie, and their secret, imaginary kingdom in the woods named Terabithia. Banned because of its violence, and because it allegedly promotes the Occult/Satanism.
17. How to Eat Fried Worms -- the story of 10-year-old boy facing the most revolting bet of his life: Billy must eat 15 worms in 15 days. Banned simply because it's thought to be unsuited to the age group for which it's intended.
18. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) -- this series of books tells the story of a boy who lived a dreary life with his aunt, uncle, and cousin until he discovered that he is a wizard. The series has been banned because it allegedly promotes the Occult/Satanism, and deals with "anti-family themes."
19. The Catcher in the Rye -- Holden Caulfield narrates this story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school. Reasons for banning it include language, sexual content, occultism, and violence.
20. A Light in the Attic (20th Anniversary Edition Book & CD) -- whimsical poetry for children. Banned because it depicts violence and is thought to be unsuited to its age group. It was challenged at the Fruitland Park Elementary School library in Lake County, Florida in 1993 because it "promotes disrespect, horror, and violence."
23. Slaughterhouse-Five -- this absurdist classic introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. Banned due to objectionable language, violence, sexual content.
24. The Color Purple -- a novel about an abused and uneducated black woman's struggle for empowerment. Banned for its violence, sexual themes, and language. "The Jackson County School Board ordered 16 books taken from the shelves of school libraries pending a review ... (but) decided not to bother reviewing the 'The Color Purple,' which it ordered banned ... 'It could lead to different sex games and violence and other things,' board member Bernard King said of the decision to ban the book" (The Washington Post, November 9, 1997).
"[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers." -Judy Blume
Sources: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm http://solonor.com/bannedbooks/ http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html And, of course, Amazon.com, from which most of the book descriptions were gathered.