mylf

Yeah, so I'm a little late to the party, but this week is Banned Books Week.

For your reading enjoyment here is a list of the top 100 challenged books from 1990-2000. Since some of these books looked strange to me (why are they on the list) so I decided to investigate. If I found a reason I listed it... in my own special way. Pardon some of my more snarky comments.

The comments are not synopsis of the books. (edit: some that I couldn't find a reason for, I wrote the main theme of the book) My new goal is to read all of these books, except the development ones, I know how they end. I marked the few that I have read already. Hell I've even written term papers on a few.

~Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz - probably the same reason Goosebumps in on here, but I get ahead of myself
~Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite - Even Sarah Palin tried to get this removed off the library shelved in Wasilla
~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Apparently true stories are too harsh to be read. And my god there was pre-marital cohabitation!
~The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - beware bullies and sexual ponderings
~The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
~Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - offensive and vulgar language
~Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling - promotes witchcraft and the occult
~Forever by Judy Blume - teenagers having a mature discussion of sex, and a girl is on the pill
~Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - kids shouldn't know about death, and secular humanism is a bad thing
~Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - #1 in 2003 on the challenge list for sexual content

~Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman - do I need to explain?
~My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
~The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - in 1981 it was both the most banned book and the second most taught book in public schools in the US
~The Giver by Lois Lowry - "inapropriate for young readers"
~It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris - What do you mean you want to know why your body is changing? you aren't old enough to know yet.
~Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine - sometimes violent content
~A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
~The Color Purple by Alice Walker - explicit content and violence... and real life.
~Sex by Madonna - if I have to explain this you have been leading a very sheltered life
~Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel - unconventional sexual practices

~The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson - language and subject matter
~A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - "challenges religious beliefs" and lists Jesus "with the names of great artists, philosophers, scientists, and religious leaders"
~Go Ask Alice by Anonymous - sex, drugs, rape, profanity, this book has it all
~Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers - two words, Vietnam War
~In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak - naked kid
~The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard - may encourage children to be disobedient, like they need encouragement
~The Witches by Roald Dahl - One would think the crazies would love a book where a kid is trying to kill witches (I've seen the movie but haven't read it)
~The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein - duh.
~Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry - references to beer, Playboy and suicide (though no suicide actually occurs)
~The Goats by Brock Cole - nudity and bullying

~Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane - child prostitution and sodomy
~Blubber by Judy Blume - offensive language
~Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan - kids kidnap a teacher. he dies when he can't get to his medication
~Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam - WTF. possibly age inappropriate, but WTF?
~We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier - adult themes
~Final Exit by Derek Humphry - assisted suicide
~The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - anti-religious content and sexual references
~Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George - attempted rape
~The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - racism, incest and child molestation. What being on the Oprah book list isn't enough of a reason?
~What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras - yet another book on development.

~To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - rape, profanity, racial slurs
~Beloved by Toni Morrison - sexual abuse and violence in slavery
~The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - violence, drug and alcohol abuse, all the kids were from broken homes (I wrote my honors senior English term paper on SE Hinton)
~The Pigman by Paul Zindel - can't find the reason, but based on the summary, probably death themes and the kids relationships with their parents.
~Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard - kids have a seance
~Deenie by Judy Blume - masturbation and sexuality
~Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - main character struggles to express his sexuality. (I need to re-read this book. it has been a long time...)
~Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden - main character "discovers" she is a lesbian
~The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar - occult and youthful sexuality
~Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz

~A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein - no, seriously.
~Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - it "centered around negative activity"
~Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) - a very good read. not surprised to see it here. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it.
~Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole - are we really trying to keep generations of kids ignorant of the changes they go through as they grow up?
~Cujo by Stephen King - so we know they weren't trying to ban this one "for the children"... so why?
~James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - anther one with death and killing
~The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell - duh
~Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy - see above
~Ordinary People by Judith Guest - sex (one scene at the end)
~American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis - you name it, its here.

~What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras - see the 3-4 others exactly like this further up the list
~Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume - what is it about girls getting their period that makes people want to ban books?
~Crazy Lady by Jane Conly - use of profanity
~Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher - teenagers talking about racism, homophobia and sexuality
~Fade by Robert Cormier - incest, violence, murder
~Guess What? by Mem Fox - leads people to develop a positive impression of a witch
~The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende - rape, murder
~The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
~Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut - realism in war, sex
~Lord of the Flies by William Golding - downfall of society, violence (even though I found this book disturbing as hell, I still liked it. I'll have to dig it out)

~Native Son by Richard Wright - their reasons: rape, violence, murder... the real reasons: depicts racial inequality and social injustice
~Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday - not even going to explain this one
~Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen - or this one
~Jack by A.M. Homes - homosexuality
~Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anay - witchcraft and not so positive views of Christianity
~Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle - illustrated facts of life
~Carrie by Stephen King - violence, supernatural powers
~Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume - death, grief
~On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer - death
~Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge - sexuality, gay uncle

~Family Secrets by Norma Klein - divorce, sexuality, drug use
~Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole - another "don't tell the kids what happens after sex"
~The Dead Zone by Stephen King - violence, supernatural powers... it's Stephen King, you can pretty much put anything here
~The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
~Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - I have no idea, but the summary of this story is bizzare
~Always Running by Luis Rodriguez - vulgar language, sexual realism
~Private Parts by Howard Stern - yeah.
~Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford - WTF you ask? all because the beach scene has a woman with bare breasts
~Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene - abusive family, prejudice
~Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman - it was published in 1899, give me a fucking break.

~Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - rape, violence, affairs
~Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
~Sex Education by Jenny Davis - 3 guesses?
~The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene - prejudice, gay rights, religious hypocrisy
~Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy - gee, another sex book?
~How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell - seriously, just because they eat worms? really??
~View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts - kid witnesses a murder and fears for his own safety
~The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - witchcraft
~The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney - negative portrayal of Arabs and Muslims
~Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Oprah must have a thing for this list, she has a fair few of them as book club choices.