|
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.
|
