Banned books

[sarahmichigan]

Seeing as it's "Banned Book Week," I thought I'd make a list of the "Most Banned Books" of the last few years that I've read. The full list is here:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85714


I'll put an asterisk next to ones I've read and make comments about some of my favorites.

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (I read this when I was 11 or 12 and couldn't figure out what "Powhitetrash" meant)
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
*Forever by Judy Blume
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman (I went to a writing workshop given by this author. She seemed pretty cool.)
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
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
*The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
*A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I'm trying to remember why anyone would find this book objectionable, other than very uptight religious people being upset by children who are less than obedient.)
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
*The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein (I've skimmed this one, anyway.)
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
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
*The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
*The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
*To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
*The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
*The Pigman by Paul Zindel (I don't remember this book specifically, but I read a lot of Zindel's books as a kid and I'm almost sure I've read this one.)
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
*Deenie by Judy Blume
*Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
*Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
*Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
*Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) (I've read parts of the first book.)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
*Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
*Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
*Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
*Lord of the Flies by William Golding (This one was assigned reading at my high school.)
Native Son by Richard Wright
*Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle (I haven't read this one, but as a pre-teen, I loved his book on puberty called "What's Happening to Me". It said masturbation was OK!)
Carrie by Stephen King
*Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
*Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
*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
---

I'm having trouble figuring out why a lot of the children's books that made the banned list were on there. Swearing and gay sex is pretty obvious, but some of them, I just can't fathom why they'd be objectionable!