Happy Banned Books Week! My library isn't really doing anything for it and I don't usually pay much attention, but I came across this list of the most challenged books from 1990-2000 and see how much of a reading rebel I am by how many I've read.
Red= have red
Purple = I think I might have read (shows how damaging they were to my psyche, can't even recall them for sure)
1. Scary Stories (Series) ~ by Alvin Schwartz (kids love these, can't keep them on the shelf)
2. Daddy's Roommate ~ by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ~ by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War ~ by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ~ by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men ~ by John Steinbeck (high school English)
7. Harry Potter (Series) ~ by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever ~ by Judy Blume (definitely not for tweens, though, which is how old I was, I remember not quite getting a lot of it)
9. Bridge to Terabithia ~ by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) ~ by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies ~ by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead ~ by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye ~ by J.D. Salinger (read as an adult, never really understood the hype)
14. The Giver ~ by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal ~ by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) ~ by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die ~ by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple ~ by Alice Walker
19. Sex ~ by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) ~ by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins ~ by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time ~ by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice ~ by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels ~ by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen ~ by Maurice Sendak (one of my all-time fave picture books!!!)
26. The Stupids (Series) ~ by Harry Allard
27. The Witches ~ by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex ~ by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) ~ by Lois Lowry (I really liked this series when I was a kid.)
30. The Goats ~ by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy ~ by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber ~ by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin ~ by Lois Duncan (I looooove Lois Duncan! Some of my fondest elementary school reading memories are of her books.)
34. Halloween ABC ~ by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down ~ by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit ~ by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale ~ by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves ~ by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye ~ by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters ~ by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird ~ by Harper Lee (high school English)
42. Beloved ~ by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders ~ by S.E. Hinton (high school English)
44. The Pigman ~ by Paul Zindel (high school English)
45. Bumps in the Night ~ by Harry Allard
46. Deenie ~ by Judy Blume (had me very worried about getting scoliosis)
47. Flowers for Algernon ~ by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind ~ by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face ~ by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat ~ by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic ~ by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World ~ by Aldous Huxley (high school English)
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy ~ by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up ~ by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo ~ by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach ~ by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook ~ by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex ~ by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People ~ by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho ~ by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons ~ by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret ~ by Judy Blume (no girl should grow up without it)
63. Crazy Lady ~ by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts ~ by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade ~ by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? ~ by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits ~ by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton ~ by Caroline Cooney (one of my all-time favourites, hands-down)
69. Slaughterhouse-Five ~ by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies ~ by William Golding (high school English, my least favourite book ever)
71. Native Son ~ by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies ~ by Nancy Friday (very, very steamy indeed)
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells ~ by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack ~ by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima ~ by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? ~ by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie ~ by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes ~ by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor ~ by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid ~ by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets ~ by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg ~ by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone ~ by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~ by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon ~ by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running ~ by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts ~ by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? ~ by Martin Hanford (what the heck??)
89. Summer of My German Soldier ~ by Bette Greene (elementary school English, I think)
90. Little Black Sambo ~ by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth ~ by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose ~ by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education ~ by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones ~ by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex ~ by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms ~ by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree ~ by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid ~ by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist ~ by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom ~ by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Some thoughts:
- A very large number of the ones I've read were assigned to me in high school English classes! I had no idea my moral fibre was being corrupted.
- Can we please have a shout-out to Judy Blume for having so many books on the list?? I love me some Judy Blume!
- What on earth is wrong with Where's Waldo and How to Eat Fried Worms?
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13 comments:
Re: Where's Waldo? = OMGNUDITY!!
On the 2 page beach spread, there's a female sunbather showing her bare breast.
It's ridiculous, but so are people.
Tammy - huh! I never knew. People are pretty ridiculous. It's like the fuss over the tiny little boy bit in In The Night Kitchen. Apparently some librarians used to actually draw a diaper on poor little Mickey with Liquid Paper.
I can't believe you didn't like Lord of the Flies! :) It happens to be one of my favorite of all times. That and A Separate Peace.
Love your site!! I can't believe you've read so many books. I thought I was doing well being on my 40th of 2007. ;)
Julie
Julie - thanks so much! 40 is still pretty darn good for being in the last quarter of the year!
My main problem with Lord of the Flies was all the symbolism - I didn't get ANY of it and when my favourite teacher explained it in class, I felt really stupid. It's definitely a classic and something people should read, but between the pig's head and the making me feel stupid, it's forever tarnished for me. :)
the whole banned books thing makes me crazy! in honor of Banned Books Week, i just picked up The Chocolate War from the library - but i'm not sure how soon i'll get to it.
p.s. my 16yo mentioned to me that most of the books they've been reading in her high school English classes are banned or challenged books. :o)
I think the key is htat most of them have been challenged and not really banned.
I think it's up to the parents to make sure that their kids are mature enough to handle the content of the book.
I just lent my day care provider The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and she said her 15 year old would be able to handle it. i think you just need an good idea what the book is about.
That's true, challenged isn't the same as banned. And, for example, some of those titles aren't ones I'd want assigned in school. Although I don't think any of the ones I was assigned were too bad.
I actually had to debate about The Handmaid's Tale in library school based on a challenge against it in a high school - I was against banning and I think we won, but I don't know how appropriate I'd consider it for high school English.
My hsuband recently was part of a committee regarding the banning of a book at the school where he teaches. Despite the chuckle I got over seeing a grown man reading "Gossip Girls", it frightens me to realize that there are people out there that don't understand personal freedoms enough to believe in choice -or in that the values they instill in their children could be so easily corrupted.
Hee hee, that is funny to think of a grown man reading Gossip Girl! But good for him for managing it. :)
That is the thing, isn't it - that they often believe a single passage in a book is enough to completely corrupt their child. I think they should spend more time parenting and less time challenging if they're worried that their child is that weak-minded.
Maybe reading different books would help develop some sort of belief system that your child/teenager might have some self-worth and not be so affected by peer pressure. :)
Do you think Deenie was responsible for scoliosis mass hysteria? Because I came down with it too. And Anastasia Krupnik was brilliant-- I reread her not long ago and she still is.
Is the Where's Waldo sunbather any worse than the hidden images in Disney movies? Nah. We've read most of these books and we turned out normal, eh?
I'm new to your blog, but hope to visit more.
Please let me know if I can help with any of your future book purchases through my website.
http://www.mybookwise.com/robertaarcher/
Julie - exactly!! :)
Kerry - I really think it could have been, I remember being really affected by it. Darn books - I read one called Don't Call Me Sugar Baby when I was about 10 and was terrifyingly convinced I'd develop diabetes. Right up until I developed diabetes as an adult, in fact. Oh dear, I hope Deenie doesn't have the same far-reaching effects. Maybe I need to read books about shockingly healthy people and see if that works the same way. :)
Amisare - Thanks for visiting! I think we're all just fine! We're probably even better than fine because we read so many great books! :)
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