Banning books

[JudyJudyJudy]

All the Palin talk made me think about this. I tried to find the list of books she wanted banned but was unable to do so. However, I did find that this seems to be the list of books that many have wanted banned in the past.

Why ban these books? Do you ever support banning of books?


A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Blubber by Judy Blume

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Carrie by Stephen King

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Christine by Stephen King

Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Cujo by Stephen King

Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen

Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite

Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Decameron by Boccaccio

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Fallen Angels by Walter Myers

Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland

Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Forever by Judy Blume

Grendel by John Champlin Gardner

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

I Have to Go! by Robert Munsch

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Impressions edited by Jack Booth

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Love Is One of the Choices by Norma Klein

Lysistrata by Aristophanes

More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

My House by Nikki Giovanni

My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara

Night Chills by Dean Koontz

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Ordinary People by Judith Guest

Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Woman's Health Collective

Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz

Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Silas Marner by George Eliot

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The Bastard by John Jakes

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth

The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks

The Living Bible by William C. Bower

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman

The Pigman by Paul Zindel

The Seduction of Peter S. by Peter Sanders

The Shining by Stephen King

The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff

Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

[Teresa64]

Everyone has their own view on life...
So no I don't support banning of books. That goes against our Constitutional Rights.
If you don't like it don't read it. Then get over it.

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

Shi Huangdi banned books. I will never support book banning. FWIW when I was young there was no quicker way to make sure I read a book than to try and ban it.

[dewoman81]

As an English Teacher, I have to deal with the current banned books. Every year new ones are added and others are taken off. It depends on what is going on in the world a little bit I think. Most schools send waivers or have them only on the summer reading list. I really hope that these books are read, some are amazing classics. I understand why they are often banned, but sometimes it is just because a line or two is taken out of context.

I know why the caged bird sings - is my all time favorite book. There is a rape scene that is not appropriate for young teenagers, but by 11th or so they should be able to handle it. This stuff is on the darn news.

Sorry I will get off of my soap box now. :)

[JudyJudyJudy]

I understand why they are often banned,
You do?

[JudyJudyJudy]

Shi Huangdi banned books. I will never support book banning. FWIW when I was young there was no quicker way to make sure I read a book than to try and ban it.
Same here!

[Bohemian]

When talking about banned books, does this mean banned for school only or for general public?

In either case, I think banning is wrong but I do understand that a book may be inappropriate for young readers, much like an R rated movie. My solution would be to make those titles still available in school libraries, perhaps behind the desk. Then send home a permission slip explaining that these particular books contain explicit scenes and can only be checked out with parental permission.

[Indigo]

I can see not having some books in a school library depending on age of children beyond that no, knowledge is not something I can't see limiting. A politician wanting to limit it is a real issue for me.

[JudyJudyJudy]

When talking about banned books, does this mean banned for school only or for general public?
In Palin's case she wanted them banned from the public library.

[Indigo]

In Palin's case she wanted them banned from the public library.

There is not acceptable reason for this.

[Babyhellfire]

Disgusting.ITA there is no acceptable reason to ban books from a PUBLIC library.

[jessiehannan]

But I like most of those books! No, books should not be banned. Well, MIL wouldn't let DH and bro read James in the Giant Peach for a long time because of the part where it says his parents were eaten by a rhinocerous.
All we can figure out is that some of the kid's books have talking animals goes against religious views, and some of them are controversial on government actions in the past.
But I could think of so many more that are far worthy of a banning, like The Seven Lady Godivas, The sleeping Beauty Trilogy, just to name a few. The dictionary is what gets me the most.

[Bohemian]

In Palin's case she wanted them banned from the public library.


That is so wrong and scary to me. That one adult thinks she should be able to decided what another adult can and cannot read. I am going to be so upset if McCain/Palin win this election. Not just because of this but for so many reasons.

[chickabiddy]

No, I don't think books should ever be banned. Removing a book from a school reading list or even taking it out of a school library is not the same as banning it.

[Elffriend]

Last year for Chanukkah I gave my 14 yr old DD this bracelet:
http://www.amazon.com/I-Read-Banned-Books-Bracelet/dp/B000I3P9JG

Banned Books week is coming up:
http://bannedbooksweek.org/

Last year during that week we read "The Handmaid's Tale" together. We haven't choosen which book to read together this year yet. We should do that soon.

[jessiehannan]

When talking about banned books, does this mean banned for school only or for general public?

In either case, I think banning is wrong but I do understand that a book may be inappropriate for young readers, much like an R rated movie. My solution would be to make those titles still available in school libraries, perhaps behind the desk. Then send home a permission slip explaining that these particular books contain explicit scenes and can only be checked out with parental permission.
At my high school and middle school parents had to sign a permission slip saying that it was ok for kids to read adult material. If not, the system would pop up an alert.

[rockmom]

I'm currently drinking tea from my "A Book is a Terrible Thing to Ban" mug. I hate the idea of banning books.

[JudyJudyJudy]

At my high school and middle school parents had to sign a permission slip saying that it was ok for kids to read adult material. If not, the system would pop up an alert.
I'm fine with that--at least in middle school.

[jessiehannan]

They only had to sign it once, when you first went to middle school and then again when you entered high school. They had to do it in high school because of younger students who are younger and skipped several grades. They couldn't discriminate then because of their age, so they inconvienced every one.

[leosmommy]

Scarry thought that a dictionary could be banned.

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

Then send home a permission slip explaining that these particular books contain explicit scenes and can only be checked out with parental permission.

I can't support this either. My dad beat the crap out of me when he found out that I was reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He didn't allow nigger books in his house, you see.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Sasha, that's awful. How old were you then?

[cc1003]

Why would A Wrinkle In Time be banned? I read that in sixth grade and it remains one of my favorite books! As are many others on that list.

[cc1003]

I can't support this either. My dad beat the crap out of me when he found out that I was reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He didn't allow nigger books in his house, you see.


I despise that word.

[jessiehannan]

I despise that word.
I am sure Sasha does too, but it makes the point of why she got the crap beat out of her for reading a book.

[Babyblue]

I do not understand banning the books on that list, some of them I consider to be must read books.

[pawprint]

Public library ban no way. But I don't want my children reading about porn, extreme violence, and other adult topics. I don't let them watch movies with it in it, so they can't read it either.


Although I agree, I do not believe it's the library's job to enforce that.

[Michaelrob]

Banning books is unacceptable in America. If I were an undecided voter, this issue alone would seal it for me.

BTW, some of those books on Judy's list were required reading at my high school.