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HAPPY BANNED BOOK WEEK from Owen Thomas Fiction 9/26/2018 10:23:10 PM
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom was established December 1, 1967. Its mission is to implement policies promoting intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights. Among many other things, the OIF spearheads a national public information campaign setting forth statistics on banned books. Indeed, it just so happens that this is Banned Book week. Owen Thomas Fiction will be highlighting banned books in its “Quotables” postings. In the meantime, here is the OIF’s list of the most banned and challenged books (in descending order of frequency) over the five-year period from 2013 through 2017. So if you would like to strike a blow for intellectual freedom and be edified and entertained at the same time, then go out and buy (or check out) one of these (or other) banned books.
1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; Year(s): 2017; Reason: Discussion of suicide
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; Year(s): 2013, 2014, 2017; Reason: Anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, and “depictions of bullying”
3. Drama by Raina Telgemeier; Year(s): 2014, 2016, 2017; Reason: LGBT characters
4.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; Year(s): 2014, 2017; Reason: Sexual violence, unsuited to age group; was thought to “promote Islam”
5. George by Alex Gino; Year(s): 2016, 2017; Reason: Transgender child character
6. Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth; Year(s): 2017;Reason: Addresses sex education; was thought to lead children to “want to have sex or ask questions about sex”
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Year(s): 2017; Reason: Violence and use of the N-word
8. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; Year(s): 2017; Reason: Drug use, profanity, offensive language
9. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson, and Henry Cole; Year(s): 2014, 2017; Reason: Anti-family, homosexuality, political and religious viewpoints
10. I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings, and Shelagh McNicholas; Year(s): 2015, 2016, 2017; Reason: Addresses gender identity, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
11. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki; Year(s): 2016; Reason: LGBT characters, drug use, profanity, sexually explicit content
12. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan; Year(s): 2015, 2016; Reason: LGBT and sexually explicit content
13. Looking for Alaska by John GreenYear(s): 2013, 2015, 2016; Reason: Sexually explicit scene, unsuited to age group; was thought to lead students to “sexual experimentation”
14. Big Hard Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky; Year(s): 2016; Reason: Sexually explicit content
15. Make Something Up: Stories You Can’t Unread by Chuck Palahniuk; Year(s): 2016; Reason: Profanity and sexually explicit content; was called “disgusting and all around offensive”
16. Little Bill (series) by Bill Cosby and Varnette P. Honeywood; Year(s): 2016; Reason: Criminal sexual allegations against Bill Cosby
18. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James; Year(s): 2013, 2015; Reason: Sexually explicit content, unsuited to age group; was also called “poorly written”
19. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin; Year(s): 2015; Reason: Offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political and religious viewpoints, anti-family, unsuited to age group
20. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon; Year(s): 2015; Reason: Profanity, religious viewpoint (atheism), unsuited to age group
21. The Holy BibleYear(s): 2015 Reason: Religious viewpoint
22. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel; Year(s): 2015; Reason: Violence and graphic images
23. Habibi by Craig Thompson; Year(s): 2015; Reason: Nudity, sexually explicit content, unsuited to age group
24. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter; Year(s): 2015; Reason: Religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
25. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi; Year(s): 2014; Reason: Gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, graphic depictions; was called “politically, racially, and socially offensive”
26.The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison; Year(s): 2013, 2014; Reason: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group; was said to “contain controversial issues”
27. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris and Michael Emberley; Year(s): 2014; Reason: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit
28. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples; Year(s): 2014; Reason: Anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
29. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; Year(s): 2013, 2014; Reason: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit
30. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard; Year(s): 2014; Reason: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
31. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey; Year(s): 2013; Reason: Offensive language, violence, unsuited to age group
32. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; Year(s): 2013; Reason: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
33. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl by Tanya Lee Stone; Year(s): 2013; Reason: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit content
34. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya; Year(s): 2013; Reason: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit content, unsuited to age group
35. Bone (series) by Jeff Smith; Year(s): 2013; Reason: Political viewpoint, racism, violence
