Banned Books

Here's a list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books according the the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the American Library Association (ALA). I'm gonna list the top 10 here. Many are books that were required reading for me in school. And that being said, they're the books that in some way shaped my literary tastes and my view of the world. Then again, maybe I'm not the best example.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
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
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Background of Challenges:

1,607 were challenges to “sexually explicit” material (up 161 since 1999);
1,427 to material considered to use “offensive language”; (up 165 since 1999)
1,256 to material considered “unsuited to age group”; (up 89 since 1999)
842 to material with an “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism,”; (up 69 since 1999)
737 to material considered to be “violent”; (up 107 since 1999)
515 to material with a homosexual theme or “promoting homosexuality,” (up 18 since 1999) and
419 to material “promoting a religious viewpoint.” (up 22 since 1999)

Thanks to joeparadox.com for the links.

Comments

[Danielle]

I am such a narcissist, I found your blog whilst googling myself. I had the best hiding place in my bedroom where I kept "Forever". You can be sure when I have a pre-teen, that book will be shelved prominently in my home. After all, there should be no shame in calling a penis "Ralph."