1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin SchwartzI need to read more of these...
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
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
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
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
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
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
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
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
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
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
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
jaded ranting
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at 9:41:00 PM
Burn all the books!
somewhere in the blogosphere i stumbled upon a link to a list of the American Library Association's 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books. "A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." Most of the books on this list really make you think about who would ask to ban them. I realize a bunch have "scary" sex stuff or "pagan" stuff, but many of these are books that deal heavily with issues of race, like Kaffir Boy, The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Even more of these books ask questions about how a society should function, like The Giver and Brave New World. Most of these complaints were made at schools. I guess people don't want their kids to learn. I've listed a bunch here (bold one's I've read).
Margaret said...
I had a woman freak out on me today about how the Harry Potter books are the worse things in the world for a child to read. I just stood there speechless as she went on and on about how if God meant for us to be magical then there would be magical people.
I find it kind of funny that many of these books are Newberry Award Winners.
Whenever you start reading these books let me know i have a TON of them. But you MUST MUST MUST start with the Outsiders! I can't believe you never read that! Then I'd go onto Bridge to Terabitihia (a story about friendship and love..some parts of the story might remind you of when we were little) then the pigman,then Lord of the flies, then face on the milk carton...and those are the only ones that I've read that you haven't.
I still can't believe you didn't read the outsiders.
~
jaded said...
yes, i really need to read more of these.
the story about that lady kinda creeps me out, but doesn't really surprise me. some poeple really struggle with the whole seperation of church and state thing.
~
Hiddenson said...
Sad, really.
No book should ever be destroyed. EVER.
~
Lynn / vigilant20 said...
I can see some schools not allowing children to stock certain books. For instance, Christian school being against books about witchcraft. And I'd have to agree. If the family wants their children to read things like that...they are perfectly able to do it at home. Some things just are plain inappropriate.
~
jaded said...
i still can't understand the arguement for a christian school being afraid of harry potter. it's a fictional book! who is taking these books with such seriousness?
i took a look at the data about the complaints, and i wish there was a way to get my hands on more detailed information. i'd be nice to be able to correlate these data. for example, see what are the most common books challenged at public schools and public libraries and what type or complaints are being made.
still, i tend to agree with hiddenson. this whole thing is sad, just as the TV and video game censorship issue is. parents simply aren't doing enough parenting. stop complaining about what tv, books, or games your kids are exposed to and do your job.
~
said...
Jaded, if you could please put together some sort of excel chart or pie graph correlating this data, that would be wonderful. Thanks.
~
jaded said...
you know i would do just about anything to help you, clio.
~
