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