Well, here it is, another Banned Books Week. I would say that the banning of books shocks me, but it doesn’t. After nearly 62 years of wandering around this planet, very little shocks me anymore. Seems to me, if you don’t like something about a book, don’t read it. How hard could that be? The question I have is, if someone doesn’t like something about a book, what give them the right to force others to bend to their likes and dislikes? Seems pretty selfish to me. Not to mention tyrannical.
Anyway, if you’re gonna read a book this week, or better yet, buy one, may I suggest one of the following?
Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009
Out of 460 challenges as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom
1. “TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs
2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality
3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide
4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence
8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
From the American Library Association
They’d police our thoughts if they could.