Banned Book Week Wrap Up

     Having given Banned Books Week a shot this year, I'm trying to put it someplace in my head - someplace concrete, like yes, I agree, no I don't. Looks like I'm still on the fence. I still think school libraries need some censorship based on maturity - a parent permission shelf would be a good idea for over-the-top novels. In my opinion, public libraries should only have censorship when it comes to the safety of others. For example, books on bomb making at home and books written by pedophiles really shouldn't be bought with public tax dollars for citizens use. 

     In our class session we learned that the state of Arizona is banning all curriculum and library books that support multicultural education on the basis that it is "Anti-American". Wow-that's progress. Here we are taking courses designed to make us be culturally literate teachers and have Indian Education for All requirements for our lessons. We are learning to teach with a completely different approach and there they are in Arizona - de-evolving! 

     How about this for food for thought -  Three books I was really surprised to see on the banned list are Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain and Are You There God? It's me Margaret. 
     I read an article recently that someone was proposing to write a censored version of Hucklberry Finn for classroom use (with good intentions due to use of the N word). And almost every girl between the ages of 30-45 loved Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's me Margaret. So there you have it! The answer to the most often challenged author is Judy Blume with 5 books on the banned list.  

Which book surprised you the most?

all images sourced from goodreads.com