Task #4: Read a book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author.

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 4th Read Harder task. Sign up for our new Read Harder newsletter to get recommendations for each task delivered straight to your inbox! https://bookriot.com/newsletter/read-...

[Jenny]

Sorry for the brag, here, but I'll have to do the second option here, as I live in Scotland, and books jsut don't get banned or challenged here! On a similar prompt in a previous challenge I had to go back centuries to find one... There have been some banned and challenged in England and Wales, but when I researched it last time, I learned that this is one of the laws that they let us handle ourselves

[Dione]

I've not seen any challenges in San Jose YET, so I'm going with "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson.

[Bonnie G.]

New York is largely challenge free, but sadly there is a long list for the second part of the prompt. I am leaning toward Lawn Boy, but if you have not read Gender Queer I recommend it and it is currently the most embattled book I know of.

[Betty]

I'm planning on reading The Hate You Give, which is one of the most challenged/banned books over the past year.

[Alex]

The only book challenged in my area has been Gender Queer: A Memoir and I already read it, so I'm going for the second part and reading All Boys Aren't Blue

[Elizabeth]

I think I'm finally going to read All Boys Aren't Blue or This One Summer as generally frequently banned books, but I'm also thinking about reading The Barren Grounds which was removed from a the shelves in a school district in my province (I'm Canadian and only considering not using this book because I've read over twenty David Alexander Robertson books and I am likely to read this regardless of the challenge).

[Martha]

Washington state has 5 books listed so it's probably going to be All Boys Aren't Blue or Gender Queer.

[Ron]

I can't remember where, and I wish I did, but I know I've seen this book on a banned list somewhere:

An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States

*****

If not that one then I'll be going with The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

[Rebecca]

Probably The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

[Karen]

Rebecca wrote: "Probably The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" This would be good for those double dippers too since it's a YA by a BIPOC author

We just had Oryx and Crake challenged in our district so I may do that. I've read most of the other major challenged books.

[Liza]

Ugh, seeing as I live in Florida, there will probably be a list to choose from

[Ilana]

Beloved (Toni Morrison); How to be An Antiracist (Ibram Kendi); The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini); or Lucky (Alice Sebold)

[Angela N]

There were four to choose from, thanks to a town in my county (Hudson, Ohio). That town also has my favourite independent bookstore.

[Audra]

I'm not sure about my particular school district but I live in Georgia (ugh!) and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been banned in various districts in the state, and it has been on my TBR for some time.

[NancyJ]

I can't find a listing of any banned books in my area, though there are some challenges in the rural parts of the state. There is an active group of moms fighting against book banning. So I'm planning to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which is banned in many schools. I also want to read Midnight's Children which was banned in many countries around the world. Rushdie has dealt with physical attacks and death threats for years over his writings.

[NancyJ]

For Gender Queer: A Memoir, the book banning was probably the best thing that could happen for the book. It garnered a lot more attention and it spurred nationwide conversations about the issues faced by the MC. It now has a broader audience than it would have had otherwise. I'm not being cynical or negative. I think you need to take risks to effect social change. The title is so provocative, it had to generate knee-jerk reactions both from ultra-conservatives (it's about gays!), and liberals (the title is offensive!) Queer is still considered an anti-gay word by many people, and teachers in some communities would be fired for saying it. (It used to be as bad as the N word.) I wonder if some risk-averse officials agreed to ban Gender Queer simply because they thought the title itself was too controversial. (Years ago, I remember having conversations with my son about why he couldn't say the N word even though his black friend said it. This feels similar.)

[Kim]

New Jersey isn’t really a book banning state so there were only a couple that I found, so I’ll be reading All Boys Aren’t Blue along with the rest of you all who chose that. It looks good, so I’m excited for this one. I’ll have to check this out of the library or buy it though. Don’t own it already. Honestly, I’d not heard of it either, so it’s interesting that paying attention to what has been banned around you can definitely bring more attention to the books that book banning idiots want to bury.

[Angela N]

I have "Lawn Boy" downloaded, after finding it available right now, on the Libby app. That was banned in Hudson, along with Gender Queer, and A Girl on the Shore.

[Erika]

I was gonna go with the second option until I was reminded about Arizona House Bill 2281 which did cause some books to be sort of banned in a local school district (they couldn't be part of the curriculum, but they were still available for check out in the high school libraries). While it was since overturned, I'm gonna use a book from that bill's list: Bless Me, Ultima

[Nancy]

Not my specific district, but elsewhere in my state, Virginia Beach tried to ban Gender Queer: A Memoir and A Court of Mist and Fury

[Chris]

I can't find any definitive information on if any books have been banned in my local school district but an hour away, where I grew up, there's a debate around Gender Queer: A Memoir and since it is one of the most challenged books of the last 2 years, and I want to read it, that's where I'm going for this one.

[Robin]

I don't know if my local school systems have banned any specific books, but here in Alabama laws are being passed that make it easier to ban certain books, especially ones dealing with race, gender identity, and sexuality. Therefore I'm going with Gender Queer: A Memoir since it is at the top of many banned lists.

[Virginia]

Thanks to Erika for reminding me of the AZ Bill that barred Ethnic studies and allowed some amazing books like Devil's Highway to be banned.

https://remezcla.com/lists/culture/ba...

[NancyJ]

Erika wrote: "I was gonna go with the second option until I was reminded about Arizona House Bill 2281 which did cause some books to be sort of banned in a local school district (they couldn't be part of the cur..."

Bless me Ultima was one of the Top 100 books in the PBS Great American Read project. It’s a great choice. I was about to wonder why it was banned, but… If I were a racist fundamentalist who hated Mexicans, Catholics, and magical folklore, I would ban it too. Maybe PBS is enough of a reason.

[Eleonora]

There are no banned books where I live (Netherlands) and I realize how lucky we are that book-banning is not a thing here!
I chose "The Hate U Give" (sorry I can't link from mobile) as I saw it generated a lot of discussion.
I am halfway through it and so far it is one of those book I cannot put down. It is SO GOOD.
I am grateful for this challenge for kicking me out of my usual reading list as two of the books I read so far have been amazing!

[Sally]

I live in Texas, where there's an embarrassing abundance of challenged books. NBC news online posted a list of 50 of them that includes the reasons given, including, "should be removed from schools because it will make white children feel guilty."

*face palm*

I went with Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice, which double dips as a book of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author (challenge 20).

[Melissa]

I live in Massachusetts, in the greater Boston area, where we thankfully don't really have to deal with book bannings - but I was volunteering in my daughter's elementary school library class on Friday and chatting with her librarian who told me she'd gotten a call from an older woman last spring who "just wanted to know" if they had Gender Queer: A Memoir in their library. She said no, but not because there's anything wrong with the book - it's just not a K-4 book. (She can't keep her copy of Melissa on the shelf :) ). I'd already wanted to read Gender Queer, but that conversation solidified it as my pick for this prompt.

[Ron]

I honestly don't know which banned book to start with. Texas has some of the worst book bans in the country. The lists are insane.

I do know I want to read one that I haven't already and there's tons to choose from (unfortunately).

*****

Here is the list of 850 that Texas tries/tried/or trying to ban.

https://static.texastribune.org/media...

[Heather]

It seems there have been few challenges in my county… for those with a similar situation, this list might be helpful: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-...

[Carole]

Currently listening to Out of Darkness, banned in my district in Katy, TX.

[Megan]

Going to read The Breakaways. "School districts have banned it for its depiction of trans kids, sexual content, and discussion of 'Black Lives Matter.' It was part of nine book bans in the 2021-2022 school year."

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-...

[Jason]

Chose A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, which was challenged in my area for being "pornographic" and "obscene."

[Mary]

I initially read Gender Queer for this prompt, but then found a list of books recently banned in Minnesota and discovered that The Beach at Night by Elena Ferrante was banned in New Ulm Minnesota. I love Ferrante and this book did not disappoint.

[Ron]

Okay I'm debating between these two:

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

[Ron]

Decided to go with Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You .

I'm also thinking about doing a side-by-side and read Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America along side it.

[Eleonora]

I read The Hate U Give for this prompt and I recommend it!
A very powerful story, well written, amazing characters... I couldn't put it down.

There are no banned books where I live, but I am taking inspiration from what others are posting here.

I am thinking of reading Gender Queer: A Memoir and All Boys Aren't Blue as well.

[Ron]

Virginia wrote: "Thanks to Erika for reminding me of the AZ Bill that barred Ethnic studies and allowed some amazing books like Devil's Highway to be banned.

https://remezcla.com/lists/culture/ba..."

Just saw your post and the list you shared. Can't believe 'The Devil's Highway' is on there. I've had that book for a while, but haven't gotten to it yet.

[Briana]

I'm living in China now, and while I feel like there are quite a few banned books here, it's kind of hard to get a definitive list (the only one I found was from Wikipedia and none of the books were recent), so instead I'm using some ideas from South/Central Florida, where there are quite a few different lists.

I found this one to be particularly disheartening to see the reasonings.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/loc...

Here's a list of the top 10 most banned across the U.S.
https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/p...

I decided to choose a book from here (https://ncac.org/news/st-lucie-school...) and am planning to go with Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye because I've never read a book by Ms. Morrison, but it sounds really sad so I'm not particularly looking forward to being sad. I might also try Sloppy Firsts if I'm needing something lighter.

[Lisa]

So I googled a few lists and found Lawn Boy. I just finished it, and I enjoyed it. When I tried to get more details about the book's ban, the author's website quoted the author who thought that his book was banned because it won an Alex award in 2019 and was considered a young adult reader. I am not very familiar with the Alex awards but it is aimed at Young Adult Readers. This would be probably appropriate for a high school student (in my humble opinion).

It is such a great story and I laughed aloud multiple times.

[Sherri]

I read Out of Darkness

[chysodema]

I finally tracked down a list of books that have been challenged in my very liberal city and there is no freaking way I am reading any of them:
The Bible
The Return: Trump’s Big 2024 Comeback
The Contagion Myth: Why Viruses Are Not the Cause of Disease
Death of a Nation

I understand why these books were requested to be removed from the library! And while I personally think it's acceptable for them to remain, it turns my stomach to think of reading them. (The Bible is a bit of a different story, but I do love that there are people in my town who actually took the time to ask the library not to carry it anymore, even though there is zero chance of that ever happening.)

[Elizabeth]

Elizabeth wrote: "I think I'm finally going to read All Boys Aren't Blue or This One Summer as generally frequently banned books, but I'm also thinking about reading...

I ended up listening to the audiobook of All Boys Aren't Blue, which had its issues but was otherwise a solid read (and a great listening experience). I'm honestly still planning on getting to the other books I named though.

[Mandie]

I try to fit in one or two kids books into my reading, so I read Lupita Nyong'o's Sulwe for this one.