Banned Books Month: Guest Post from Sharon Bayliss: Does Anyone Else Secretly Wish That Their Book Would Be Banned?

Recently my publisher donated a copy of THE CHARGE to my old high school library. In my opinion, THE CHARGE isn’t that racy, but I was still a little nervous. What if they thought it wasn’t appropriate for high school students?

Just wishful thinking…

Then I thought…huh, what if they thought it wasn’t appropriate for high school students? How awesome would it be to end up on the list of banned books in Texas public schools?

I doubt I’ll get that honor, but it certainly would be an honor. I would be among some of the “books that shaped America” such as THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE CALL OF THE WILD, CATCH-22, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, FAHRENHEIT 451, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE GREAT GATSBY, LEAVES OF GRASS, THE SCARLET LETTER, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (all books I read in high school or middle school, by the way).

I became curious about which books currently had the honor of being banned in Texas public schools. Here is the official list from the 17th Annual Banned Book Report from the ACLU of Texas:

• PAINTINGS FROM THE CAVE, Gary Paulsen

• TALKING IN THE DARK: A POETRY MEMOIR, Billy Merrell

• FADE; Book 2 of Wake Trilogy, Lisa McMann

• RANSOM MY HEART, Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis

• WORLD WAR Z, Max Brooks

• SMILE OF A DOLPHIN, Ed. Marc Bekoff

• AMY AND ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR, Morgan Matson

• THE OLYMPICS: SMITTY II, Bill Gutman

• THE LOTTERY, Shirley Jackson

• ZOMBIES VS. UNICORS, Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier

Am I the only one who has the burning desire to go read all those books right now? According to the ACLU of Texas, things are getting better. Every year that they’ve created the report, the list has gotten smaller.

Uh…what happened in 2006? (This image from http://www.aclutx.org/2010/07/19/17th...)

On the ACLU’s website, you can also read about each individual challenge – which book was challenged and why, and what was decided. I was happy to see that most of the challenges did not result in a ban. The librarians seem to be doing a good job with handling the parents’ complaints on an individual basis, and not immediately calling for a ban just because one parent makes a fuss. Go librarians!

Although banning books is obviously dangerous territory, I think it follows logically that not all books belong in a school library, and that books appropriate for high school might not be appropriate for elementary, and so on. So, I can see how this is a complicated issue. I salute librarians for being gatekeepers, selecting age appropriate books for their libraries and resisting censorship. They really seem to be the most important line of defense against book banning, and the reason why the number of banned books in Texas has decreased.

Who knows, maybe someone will find THE CHARGE in my high school library and be offended enough to challenge it (fingers crossed!). But as honored as I would be to be banned, I’m even more happy to live in a time and place where that would be unlikely. 

Sharon Bayliss.

Sharon Bayliss is a science fiction and fantasy author living in Austin, Texas. Her debut novel, THE CHARGE, a Texas alternate history fantasy was released in March of this year. Her next novel, DESTRUCTION, will be available in 2014.

You can connect with her at www.sharonbayliss.com and at www.facebook.com/authorsharonbayliss.

THE CHARGE can be found at all major online retailers and at Book People in Austin and The Book Spot in Round Rock.