Here we are the ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007, the ones I've read in bold, the ones I hated quietly burning in the background. ;p
1 Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (so very good and the only one of his books I'd say that about)
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories - Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels - Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal - Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three - Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain (hee!)
12 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
13 Forever - Judy Blume (because I wasn't allowed to read her books as a kid. No. Really.)
14 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (*looks utterly baffled* But... but...)
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice - Anonymous
18 King and King - Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (unfortunately)
20 Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson (makes me cry every time)
21 The Giver - Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down - Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee (*laughs heartily* can't think who would be offended by this)
24 Beloved - Toni Morrison (so very... meh)
25 The Face on the Milk - Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead - James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series - Philip Pullman (le sigh. They weren't even that good.)
30 Gossip Girl series - Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know - Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing - Robie Harris
34 Arming America - Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber - Judy Blume
37 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (and not 1984... shows how the world changes)
38 Athletic Shorts - Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny - E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve - Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane - Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson (I don't get it. It's such a sweet book.)
44 You Hear Me - Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby - Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves - Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist - Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here - Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room - Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom - Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate - Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground - Avi
56 The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World - K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill - John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys - Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean - Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die - Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running - Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy - Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! - Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy - Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star - Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me - Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series - Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove - Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book - Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face - Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! - Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night - Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series - R.L. Stine (Um... yeah....)
85 Shade’s Children - Garth Nix
86 Cut - Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel - John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende (*shudders* I'll never understand why she's so popular)
89 I Saw Esau - Iona Opte
90 Ironman - Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series - Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner - S.E. Hinton (... and not The Outsiders...)
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t - Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run - John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! - Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC - Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies - Leslea Newman
This list always astounds me. Why, for instance, would anyone have a problem with either of the Katherine Pattersons novels? Of course, my feeling is that some of them are just bad literature, guilty of poor use of language and story and characterisation but that's hardly a reason to want to ban a book. And I love the fact that Twain is still pissing people off. *happy sigh* Also Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Maybe people are getting smarter. Not in what offends them but in how much of the novel they actually understand, since Brave New World is an indictment of the world we've been creating. Though, it being an American list, it does seem like most of the problems people have with these texts are religious or based in the kind of puritanical socialisation you get amongst the right-wing excuses for Christians that one often finds in the American bible belt.
Anyone who hasn't read the books by Paterson, Huxley, Nix or Walker, they are well worth it, as are Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Cheers!
1 Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (so very good and the only one of his books I'd say that about)
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories - Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels - Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal - Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three - Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain (hee!)
12 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
13 Forever - Judy Blume (because I wasn't allowed to read her books as a kid. No. Really.)
14 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (*looks utterly baffled* But... but...)
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice - Anonymous
18 King and King - Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (unfortunately)
20 Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson (makes me cry every time)
21 The Giver - Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down - Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee (*laughs heartily* can't think who would be offended by this)
24 Beloved - Toni Morrison (so very... meh)
25 The Face on the Milk - Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead - James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series - Philip Pullman (le sigh. They weren't even that good.)
30 Gossip Girl series - Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know - Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing - Robie Harris
34 Arming America - Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber - Judy Blume
37 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (and not 1984... shows how the world changes)
38 Athletic Shorts - Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny - E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve - Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane - Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson (I don't get it. It's such a sweet book.)
44 You Hear Me - Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby - Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves - Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist - Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here - Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room - Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom - Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate - Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground - Avi
56 The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World - K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill - John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys - Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean - Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die - Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running - Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy - Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! - Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy - Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star - Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me - Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series - Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove - Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book - Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face - Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! - Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night - Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series - R.L. Stine (Um... yeah....)
85 Shade’s Children - Garth Nix
86 Cut - Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel - John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende (*shudders* I'll never understand why she's so popular)
89 I Saw Esau - Iona Opte
90 Ironman - Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series - Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner - S.E. Hinton (... and not The Outsiders...)
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t - Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run - John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! - Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC - Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies - Leslea Newman
This list always astounds me. Why, for instance, would anyone have a problem with either of the Katherine Pattersons novels? Of course, my feeling is that some of them are just bad literature, guilty of poor use of language and story and characterisation but that's hardly a reason to want to ban a book. And I love the fact that Twain is still pissing people off. *happy sigh* Also Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Maybe people are getting smarter. Not in what offends them but in how much of the novel they actually understand, since Brave New World is an indictment of the world we've been creating. Though, it being an American list, it does seem like most of the problems people have with these texts are religious or based in the kind of puritanical socialisation you get amongst the right-wing excuses for Christians that one often finds in the American bible belt.
Anyone who hasn't read the books by Paterson, Huxley, Nix or Walker, they are well worth it, as are Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Cheers!
4 comments:
I'm surprised by the number of Judy Blume books on the list. Forever, I can understand - all those abstinence-only sex educators in the US. But her other books?
And John Grisham's A Time to Kill?!
What infuriates me is I'm sure half of those books were banned (or nearly banned, or had a limited banning) purely because of use of the word "nigger". Regardless of the context of the word. And that baffles me. While many people have and do use terms like "nigger" in an offensive way, I'm pretty sure people in Twain's day used "Nigger" and "Darky" and whatever else gives people the vapours today, not out of any racist intentions, but because... that was just what black people were called.
Sooo many of those were recommended in my American Literature class. I feel lucky that I did go to a good school that refused to ban books and taught the full range of sexual education (yes, we had the condom and the banana).
Still, many of those should be on my "to read" list (when I get around to making one), since the ALA list is always a fun place to look ;p
Oh so not true! You read Forever when it came out, but I talked to you about it afterwards (evil grin). (Yes, I'm the evil mother)
I'm always amazed at what's on this list.
In reference to Anonymous' comment, there was a story going the rounds before the US election about a Democrat canvasser who went to a house in the south. A well-dressed woman answered the door, and when asked how she was planning to vote said, "I'll just have to ask my husband." She yelled into the house, "Honey, who are we voting for?" and a distant voice replied, "Tell him we're votin' for the nigger." She turned to the canvasser and said brightly, "We're voting for the nigger." Brilliant illustration of Anonymous' very point, I think.
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