A list was compiled by the American Library Association to promote awareness of challenges to books in libraries. The list is made up of challenges by individuals to request libraries to take certain titles out of circulation.
The list is from libraries all over the U.S. and the Banned Book Week is anytime in September or October. The list is compiled of book titles that someone doesn’t want you to read.
This takes away your First Amendment right to choose for you and your family. By the way, the Supreme Court has ruled children have the right to read!
An ideal strategy would be for mom and dad or grandparents to be there to pick out the topics. But today many times it’s a pre-school teacher, librarian or bookseller. We all have our ethics to put age level reading material into kids’ hands.
Children who read are tomorrow’s leaders. When I show you a sampling of books challenged most of us will say “I read that in school!” This is why it’s such a big deal that you choose for yourself.
Recently, Utah took more than 3,000 book titles off of the shelves. The state of Florida recently started printing a white-washed version of history. I read through one recently and the Native Americans of Florida and even the Spaniards who settled there were barely mentioned.
Can you imagine a retelling of Rome? A history that might show Brutus and his buddies were not evil and Caesar just fell down and died? The Republic was going to be okay. We would never know that a hundred-year-old civilization was going to falter.
Here’s some examples:
‘Where the Wild Things Are’ – illustrations and story by Maurice Sendak. He won the annual Caldecott Medal from the children’s librarians in 1964 for best illustrations in a children’s book. Every parent and child has THAT day when kids need a timeout. Using their imagination to fill that time is something no one should stifle. Beloved by parents and children all over the world, it was made into a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation.
‘Bad Kitty’ – by Nick Bruel. This is a series about a black cat owned by a woman who loves to spoil him. The cat becomes very content. His owner meets a guy and they eventually get married and bring a dog into the house. A new baby then joins the family. You can see where this is going! The baby and the dog both drool. And so on… These books are just as funny as Garfield and Odie were to me when I was younger.
‘Fahrenheit 451’ – by Ray Bradbury. Written in 1953, it showcases a possible future without books. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury said he wrote the book about the threat of burning books in the United States. Most of us read this in school. Imagine a society where people medicate themselves, watch videos all day and don’t want to interact with those around them. The main character is a firefighter whose job is not to save lives or buildings but to burn books and the places that house them. “There will be no free thinkers in this city.”
‘The Things They Carried’ – by Tim O’Brien. This novel was used in many of the nine schools around me. Heartfelt dreams and memories of home are what keeps this group in Vietnam going. This book is both good and terrible. It shows war and what happens to our young people when they are sent to jungles and deserts. They try to survive not only physically but mentally as well. This book is not for everyone but do we ban this or do we remember and say no more!
‘Nickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America’ – by Barbara Ehrenreich. This book was brought to my attention when the University of Dayton chose it for their annual all school read. It’s as good today as it was 10 years ago and has sold over two million copies. Why it’s banned is beyond me. The only thing I can question is that it shows an American worker who is among many workers struggling to pay for their food and rent.
It shows a woman earning a living doing housecleaning and waitressing, being a hotel maid and nursing home aide, and also spending some time as a Wal-Mart associate. The author does all these jobs and writes about the fact that many people do two of these jobs daily to have enough money to pay for childcare and medical expenses. Most are woman and many are immigrants. However, some of them are our sisters and daughters.
‘The Hunger Games’ – by Suzanne Collins. This book is the first in a series, followed by ‘Catching Fire,’ ‘Mocking Jay,’ and the prequel ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.’ The books tell of a society where the “haves” and “have nots” are separated. The haves live in an elegant city and the have nots, who produce everything the haves use, in the Capital.
The have nots barely eke out an existence. They are being punished for rebelling and are separated by districts so they won’t rebel again. The Games take two people, or “tributes” from each district. This effectively kills them and any ideas of freedom. The Capital trains their tributes but Katniss Everdeen wins and unites the districts.
My last example will surprise you. It is the most printed book in every country and in the world consistently every year. It is ‘The Bible.’ Every few years someone challenges the Bible to be withdrawn from circulation. Whether the reason is because libraries accept federal funds and they want church and state to be separate or possibly someone doesn’t like the version and prefers the King James version on the shelf.
Just imagine if you have an interest in religion and you couldn’t go to the library and get a Bible, a Koran or Torah! By the way, these books are pretty pricey to buy new! Maybe you are doing research and don’t want to buy them. These are the building blocks of our nations. How about our historical documents? They should always be available to know our rights and not just the second amendment but all of the amendments.
Our freedoms are essential to a well-rounded society. Our history is valuable – by reading it, we can learn where we were right and where we were wrong. There are over 15,000 books in American that are challenged. Read one today!
Reach New and Olde Pages Book Shoppe at (937) 832-3022. It is located at 856 Union Blvd., Englewood across the street from Kroger.
