The history of book banning dates back for centuries. China began
banning books as early as 300AD and was considered a perfectly legal and legitimate of government. Of course, China is more
prone to government censorship than the U.S., but even American began censoring when it was first colonized, probably due
to the conflicts that were developing between Britain and the settlements, and banning books was becoming more frequent
during World War I and II, and the Great Depression. Now,
it is not the government that bans books, but Parent Teacher Associations, members of school boards, and basically any member
of the community. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to keep academically strong and in-depth text books in the curriculum and
easier to water down the information presented. Below are some links to sites about book banning and challenging that are
useful and informative.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/index.cfm
Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-20091 Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 2 Alice series, by Phyllis
Reynolds Naylor 3 The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier 4 And
Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 5 Of Mice and Men, by
John Steinbeck 6 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou 7 Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 8 His Dark Materials (series),
by Philip Pullman 9 TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Myracle, Lauren 10 The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky 11 Fallen Angels,
by Walter Dean Meyers 12 It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris 13 Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey 14 The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 15 The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison 16 Forever, by Judy Blume 17 The Color Purple, by Alice Walker 18 Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous 19 Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 20 King and King, by Linda de Haan 21 To Kill A Mockingbird,
by Harper Lee 22 Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar 23 The Giver, by Lois Lowry 24 In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice
Sendak 25 Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan 26 Beloved,
by Toni Morrison 27 My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier 28 Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson 29 The Face on the
Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney 30 We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier 31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones 32 Bless
Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya 33 Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson 34 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler 35 Angus,
Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison 36 Brave New World, by
Aldous Huxley 37 It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris 38 Arming
America, by Michael Bellasiles 39 Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane 40 Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank 41 Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher 42 The Fighting Ground, by Avi 43 Blubber, by Judy
Blume 44 Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher 45 Crazy
Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly 46 Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard 48 Rainboy Boys,
by Alex Sanchez 49 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey 50 The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini 51 Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan 52 The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson 53 You
Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco 54 The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole 55 Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green 56 When Dad Killed
Mom, by Julius Lester 57 Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause 58 Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going 59 Olive’s Ocean,
by Kevin Henkes 60 Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson 61 Draw
Me A Star, by Eric Carle 62 The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard 63 The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney 64 Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park 65 The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien 66 Roll
of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor 67 A Time to Kill, by John Grisham 68 Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez 69 Fahrenheit 451,
by Ray Bradbury 70 Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen 71 Junie
B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park 72 Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison 73 What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras 74 The Lovely Bones,
by Alice Sebold 75 Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry 76 A
Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving 77 Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert 78 The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein 79 The
Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss 80 A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck 81 Black Boy, by Richard Wright 82 Deal With It!,
by Esther Drill 83 Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds 84 So
Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins 85 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by
Chris Crutcher 86 Cut, by Patricia McCormick 87 Tiger
Eyes, by Judy Blume 88 The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood 89 Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger 90 A Wrinkle in Time,
by Madeline L’Engle 91 Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Graighead George 92 The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar 93 Bumps in the Night,
by Harry Allard 94 Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine 95 Shade’s
Children, by Garth Nix 96 Grendel, by John Gardner 97 The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende 98 I Saw Esau, by
Iona Opte 99 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume 100 America: A Novel, by Frank, E.R.
-> This website has numerous links that
pertain to book banning, challenges, international issues, and even promotes literacy and reading. They have links to the
top 100 banned books by decade as well as a link to the most challanged classics.
http://www.beaconforfreedom.org/about_project/history.html
The above link has a detailed and fascinating history of censoring books. Not only does this website cover the
history in the United States but it also talks about censorship in other countries. On top of this, it covers the basics of
The Age of Enlightenment, censorship in newspapers, libraries, various wars and modern day inquisitions in Iran. It is
a good source for information and is a reputable source for censoring as well as the websites main project, Freedom of Expression.
Below
are a few more interesting websites.
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