Banned Book Week - American Library Association

The First Amendment
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/firstamendment/firstamendment.htm

Vote for your choice - by age group, the books all have faced expulsion from U.S. schools and libraries in the last 25 years.

Some of the reasons for books being challenged

  • “anti-family”
  • “unsuited to age group”
  • “offensive language”
  • “violent”
  • “promoting a religious viewpoint.”
  • “racism”
  • “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism,”
  • "sexually explicit” material

Top 10 challenged authors 1990 to the present

  • Alvin Schwartz
  • Judy Blume
  • Robert Cormier
  • J. K. Rowling
  • Katherine Paterson
  • Stephen King
  • Maya Angelou
  • R. L. Stine
  • John Steinbeck

Some of the 100 most frequently challenged books 1990 - 2000

  • Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
  • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  • Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  • Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
  • My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
  • A Day No Pigs Would Dieby Robert Newton Peck
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
  • Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
  • Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
  • In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
  • The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
  • The Witches by Roald Dahl
  • Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
  • The Goats by Brock Cole
  • Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
  • Blubber by Judy Blume
  • Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
  • Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
  • We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
  • The Pigman by Paul Zindel
  • Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
  • Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  • A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  • Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
  • Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
  • The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  • On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  • Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
  • Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
  • How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
  • View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
  • The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
  • The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
  • Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Some of the Most Challenged Books of 2003

  • Alice series, for sexual content, using offensive language, and being unsuited to age group.
  • Harry Potter series, for its focus on wizardry and magic.
  • "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, for using offensive language.
  • "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, sexual content, offensive language, drugs and violence.
  • "Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous, for drugs.
  • "We All Fall Down" by Robert Cormier, for offensive language and sexual content.
  • "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson, for offensive language and occult/satanism.

Some of the Most Challenged Books of 2005

  • “It's Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
  • “Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language; *
  • “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
  • “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
  • “Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language; *
  • “Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
  • “What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
  • Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
  • “Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
  • “It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Information from http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

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