Hey Readers!
You've seen the lists, right?

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/...

Tell us which "banned" books you've read! From the 2007 list and from the Top 100 list.

Happy Reading,
rift

I've read most of them, "Tango for Three" and "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" are the only ones I've not read yet.

It amuses me that "Forever" by Judy Blume continues to be banned - it was first published in 1975 and was a hot title for those of us (in 8th grade) to read in 1980.

The top banned books for the 21st Century (so far) are here: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/...

I've read all of these challenged books, many of them BECAUSE they were challenged.

*And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
*The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
*Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
*Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
*Forever by Judy Blume
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
*The Witches by Roald Dahl
*The Goats by Brock Cole
*To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
*Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
*Lord of the Flies by William Golding
*Native Son by Richard Wright
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
*Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford

I've read a great number of them, most without being aware they were on banned book lists. Thank goodness my schools introduced me to many with no qualms at all.

I did read And Tango Makes Three deliberately because of its banned status. I took it from the library but if I was buying books these days I'd love a copy for myself. I have recommended it to others, especially parents of young kids. What an adorable, sweet, AND innocent book. How silly it is to put any book on any banned list. And sad, very sad, as it does mean some people (especially kids) do not have access to books they would otherwise. Some adults won't read them or allow their kids to read them. It's a shame.

I just reread Bridge to Terabithia (found it at a yard sale for only $0.75!) and I just took In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak out of the library for my son. I think I'll get And Tango Makes Three next!

From the Top 10 books I've read:
* The Chocolate War
* The Color Purple
* I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
* It's Perfectly Normal
* Perks of Being a Wallflower
Top Authors I've read:
* Mark Twain
* Robert Cormier
* Toni Morrison
* Lois Lowry
* Chris Crutcher

I just joined so I CAN read the list of banned books. I've read The Color Purple, I Know Whe the Caged Bird sings and numerous Toni Morrison books.
Iberostar

I would like to know what is wrong with the Light in the Attic?

I don't understand a lot of the reasoning behind banning books. I've read 18 of the top 100 banned books but plan to read more.

Reasons/Documented Cases of Banned and Challenged Books

I read Perks of being a Wallflower a while ago. And I read the captain underpants series a while ago in french hah. No clue why they'd ban that one.. It's a comic book?

Not that I think any book should be banned ... just telling a funny story.
A second grade teacher where I work was reading some of the Captain Underpants books to her class. (you know what's coming) One day one of her more special little boys came back from the b.room with his underpants on outside his pants.

I'm not sure about the brewhaha that followed, but ... ya gotta love it when kids really get into their literature!!!!

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
1984, George Orwell
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs

(from the Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century list, because my numbers looked better this way)

After joining this group I looked at the 2007 list of most commonly challenged books and tried out a few. I liked And Tango Makes Three but it seemed too innocent to be banned. I mean it's just a gay penguin storybook. That happens all the time in nature!

And I don't get why Olive's Ocean was challenged. It's a young adult novel about a girl who wants to be a writer and a girl she's never really met gets hit by a car and leaves a note addressed to her. What in God's name can be challenged in this book as crass, indecent, or immoral? Can someone please tell me?

I googled Olive's Ocean. This is from an Amazon list of banned books and why.

"challenged for containing issues related to growing up and adolescence such as death and puberty."

The list of *why* books are banned and/ or challenged is disturbing.

Julia