Guest guest Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) “t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 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 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 Dieby 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 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 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 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) 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 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 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 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 WOW, thank you Frank for that list. I am blown away, I have read many of them, but some of them I have read and I don’t even know what the protest is about, geeze louis. I was surprised to not find Animal Farm on that list. It is a very wild and political read. I LOVED it. But back to my point, that just saddens me so greatly to know there are people out there fighting to kill such classics, some of which, I would not be who I am today had I not had the insight of those books. (which I guess is what big brother is hoping for ha ha). Just too sad such works are challenged. Stacy http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.ht m The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) “t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 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 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 Dieby 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 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 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 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) 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 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 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 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.711 / Virus Database: 467 - Release 6/25/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would want to ban some of these books? I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? Some are classics. I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become circuses and pap. Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much thinking huh. I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. Frank , Frank <califpacific> wrote: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. htm > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Some of these Harry Potter ,goosebumps , Stephen King etc have a supernatural theme that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities. That is why anything with witches and ghosts is on there. jim califpacific <califpacific wrote:Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would want to ban some of these books? I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? Some are classics. I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become circuses and pap. Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much thinking huh. I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. Frank , Frank <califpacific> wrote: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. htm > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 No one is going to " kill " such classics with libraries fighting for the " right " to allow children to view pornography on the internet. It is quite something how the " leftists " see the world as ruled by " rightists " while the " rightists " see the world ruled by " leftists. " It is comical. , " Stacy Heath " <ycats@d...> wrote: > WOW, thank you Frank for that list. I am blown away, I have read many of > them, but some of them I have read and I don't even know what the > protest is about, geeze louis. I was surprised to not find Animal Farm > on that list. It is a very wild and political read. I LOVED it. But back > to my point, that just saddens me so greatly to know there are people > out there fighting to kill such classics, some of which, I would not be > who I am today had I not had the insight of those books. (which I guess > is what big brother is hoping for ha ha). Just too sad such works are > challenged. > Stacy > > > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. ht > m > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books > that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of > censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA > Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in > recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported > there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.711 / Virus Database: 467 - Release 6/25/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 , jim twist <jimtwist2004> wrote: > Some of these Harry Potter ,goosebumps , Stephen King etc have a supernatural theme that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities. That is why anything with witches and ghosts is on there. jim I am sorry Jim, but I really don't get it. What is wrong with supernatural themes? And I don't have a clue what this means: " that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities " . thanks for the reply though, Frank > > > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would > want to ban some of these books? > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > Some are classics. > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > circuses and pap. > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > thinking huh. > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. > > Frank > > > , Frank > <califpacific> wrote: > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > htm > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the > books that will never be > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear > of censorship. > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > 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 > > 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 Dieby 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > 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) > > 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Frank, I have not read all on the list but I can certainly answer on some. It is not a matter of banning or gross censorship - at least not in the sense that communist Russia or China did. This is actually silly to me in comparison. It is about what a public library puts on its shelves for the community - as in a large group of people. Obviously, we are not all the same, we do not react and perceive things all the same. Some people get offended on particular issues - we have to respect differences and differing opinions, even when we disagree. Libraries have limited space - there is a multitude of wonderful literature to fill them, even if you leave out the controversial and/or offending pieces. You can still buy the books, you can still read them. Libraries are places you take your kids and spend hours, desirably. A lot of these books are great but age appropriate only - that is next to impossible to control in a library if you allow your children freedom to explore. I don't like Howard Stern, I certainly would not want my young child pulling his book off the library shelf. You apparently have not read American Psycho. It is good but it is adult appropriate only and then there might be some adults even I would prefer not to read it. Am I frightened of serial killers? Will yes I am. I bought my daughter all the Scary Stories. She loved them and would laugh her head off. But then another child spent the night and she read her a story. The child literally went hysterical in fear. I had to call her mother and of course, I apologized and felt terrible. If some parents don't want those books on a child's library shelf, I can now respect that. Mark Twain's stuff is very racially stereotyping. Uncle Reemes was actually banned from presses for some years by liberals, Frank, for the same reason. The gays tried getting some of those books listed approved for early readers (1st and 2nd grade) and in our school libraries. I opposed that as I did not feel it age appropriate to start putting sexual issues on 6 and 7 year olds, and I resented the gay agenda being so bold as to think they had some right to try and mind mold my child. I also feel schools do not have any business trying to play social conditioners which they do a great deal of - if they would stick to the subjects of reading, writing and arthimetic, and simply treat all kids as equal, I think our kids would determine all the rest just fine on their own and be far better off than what they are now. Mary - " califpacific " <califpacific Monday, June 28, 2004 8:13 PM Re: Fear And Censorship Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would want to ban some of these books? I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? Some are classics. I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become circuses and pap. Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much thinking huh. I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. Frank , Frank <califpacific> wrote: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. htm > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " - Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990-2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 To someone who is a very religious fundamentalist Christian , who takes the Bible very very seriously ,exposing children to stories with witchcraft as a theme,and Harry Potter does practice spells and such, is like blasphemy. It runs counter to thier religion and is therefore considered Satanic. Others such as myself ,I am Catholic and did not keep my kids from Goosebumps or Potter etc ,seperate religion from fantasy, but some people view these works as pro witchcraft and therefore an assault on thier religion.An extremist along these lines would have problems with Casper the friendly Ghost I hope I am making sense,I dont agree with it I just am trying to relay what the thinking is. jim califpacific <califpacific wrote:--- In , jim twist <jimtwist2004> wrote: > Some of these Harry Potter ,goosebumps , Stephen King etc have a supernatural theme that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities. That is why anything with witches and ghosts is on there. jim I am sorry Jim, but I really don't get it. What is wrong with supernatural themes? And I don't have a clue what this means: " that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities " . thanks for the reply though, Frank > > > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would > want to ban some of these books? > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > Some are classics. > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > circuses and pap. > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > thinking huh. > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. > > Frank > > > , Frank > <califpacific> wrote: > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > htm > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the > books that will never be > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear > of censorship. > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > 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 > > 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 Dieby 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > 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) > > 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Dear Mary, Bear with me a moment. I am not trying to pick on you but to clarify and understand the thinking of today. I would like to pose some questions (Frank in Parenthesis) concerning your message. , " Mary " <mhysmith@e...> wrote: > Frank, > I have not read all on the list but I can certainly answer on some. It is> not a matter of banning or gross censorship - at least not in the sense that> communist Russia or China did. This is actually silly to me in comparison.> It is about what a public library puts on its shelves for the community - as> in a large group of people. (That phrase seems to me to be confusing two seperate issues. One is space and the other is restricting access which are seperate issues. How can one be used to justify the other?) Obviously, we are not all the same, we do not > react and perceive things all the same. Some people get offended on > particular issues - we have to respect differences and differing opinions,> even when we disagree. (I am somewhat confused by the above phrase. Does respecting differences mean we let people have materials there that are different than ours or does it mean if I object to it does it get removed to respect my differences?) Libraries have limited space - there is a multitude > of wonderful literature to fill them, even if you leave out the > controversial and/or offending pieces. You can still buy the books, you can> still read them. (Yes, I agree but I would like to hear what people think about who gets to decide what is considered controversial and who decides what is offensive?) Libraries are places you take your kids and spend hours, > desirably. A lot of these books are great but age appropriate only - that> is next to impossible to control in a library if you allow your children> freedom to explore. (what do we control in the library and what do we control with our children? Where is the line? And who gets to draw it?) I don't like Howard Stern, I certainly would not want > my young child pulling his book off the library shelf. (Nor I, personally I dislike Stearn most because he is stupid, uncaring, crass and degrades and uses others and turns sex into the same.) (But, things in the " adult " category are limited from children though aren't they? I'm not sure. Since I do not like him do I have the right to restrict his books to everyone else? And if I do, do they have the right then to restrict " my books " ?) > > You apparently have not read American Psycho. It is good but it is adult> appropriate only and then there might be some adults even I would prefer not> to read it. Am I frightened of serial killers? Will yes I am. (No, I have not read it. Why would you not want other adults to read it? Do others think that you should not read something? How do we solve that dilemma?) > > I bought my daughter all the Scary Stories. She loved them and would laugh> her> head off. But then another child spent the night and she read her a story.> The child literally went hysterical in fear. I had to call her mother and> of course, I apologized and felt terrible. If some parents don't want those> books on a child's library shelf, I can now respect that. ( I can sympathize with children being traumatized by certain things and as parents we love and want to protect them in almost any way that we can, but is it the only or best way in that should the common denominator be to remove every book that anyone at all finds to be inapproriate for any given person? If so who decides?) > > Mark Twain's stuff is very racially stereotyping. Uncle Reemes was actually> banned from presses for some years by liberals, Frank, for the same reason. (Racial stereotying and insensitivity is wrong but where do we draw the line?) Are there characters in modern books that someone somewhere might not like the way that any certain person or group is portrayed? How do we please everyone?) > > The gays tried getting some of those books listed approved for early readers> (1st and 2nd grade) and in our school libraries. I opposed that as I did> not feel it age appropriate to start putting sexual issues on 6 and 7 year> olds, and I resented the gay agenda being so bold as to think they had some> right to try and mind mold my child. ( No, age appropriate material and especially of a sexual nature are very sensitive issues for all of us parents. It may not be appropriate for very young children but do we restrict all information until adulthood or at what age? Or do we suppress it to all? If so who gets to decide what is " truth " and what is propaganda? That is great if I get to do the deciding but terrible if my enemy gets to decide, no? So what is right? I do not know what books that you refering to but I could see that under some circumstances the gay community might want to dispell some misconceptions that most of us probably have about them. As to these certain books, I haven't a clue. Who gets to play censor? Governments and societies always try and mold childrens minds, who gets to pick how and in what way is everthing, no?) I also feel schools do not have any> business trying to play social conditioners which they do a great deal of -> if they would stick to the subjects of reading, writing and arthimetic, and> simply treat all kids as equal, I think our kids would determine all the > rest just fine on their own and be far better off than what they are now. ( Yes, I think that it is deplorable that a lot of children aren't learning even basic stuff, but is the fault all to be placed on the school? People learn how to read and write and to do math in the most trying circumstances with the most rudimentary help. Have these children been damaged in some way to make it especially difficult to learn? Education at one time was supposed to mold the child into a well rounded person who could think and care for himself and be able to discern what is important, what is truth, what are my beliefs, what are my responsibilities, etc. as well as salable skills. With just reading, writing and math with restricted access to certain books are we preparing our youth to take a responsible position in society or if not what are we preparing them for?)Frank in Parenthesis) > > Mary > > > > - > " califpacific " <califpacific> > > Monday, June 28, 2004 8:13 PM > Re: Fear And Censorship > > > Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would > want to ban some of these books? > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > Some are classics. > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > circuses and pap. > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > thinking huh. > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could > be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain > this to me? > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the > dark also?. > > Frank > > > , Frank > <califpacific> wrote: > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > htm > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-20001 (formally > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the > books that will never be > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear > of censorship. > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " - Judy Blume > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > 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 > > 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 Dieby 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > 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) > > 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 > > 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 > > 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 > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > 1990-2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 , jim twist <jimtwist2004> wrote: > To someone who is a very religious fundamentalist Christian , who takes the Bible very very seriously ,exposing children to stories with witchcraft as a theme,and Harry Potter does practice spells and such, is like blasphemy. It runs counter to thier religion and is therefore considered Satanic. Others such as myself ,I am Catholic and did not keep my kids from Goosebumps or Potter etc ,seperate religion from fantasy, but some people view these works as pro witchcraft and therefore an assault on thier religion.An extremist along these lines would have problems with Casper the friendly Ghost I hope I am making sense,I dont agree with it I just am trying to relay what the thinking is. jim Thanks Jim, I suspected some of this but didn't know for sure. I wish that some of the people who do believe like this would speak up as it doesn't seem quite right for us to be discussing what " they " believe and so on without any input from them. To what you did write, though... If I understand it, some people believe that to read about ghosts. spells, witches, etc. in fiction and fantasy is an affront to their religious views and then those things should be banned for everyone else also? Is this actually being done? getting them banned I mean. Is that imposing someone else's religious beliefs on me? Some of these may sound silly but try and see the point rather than the example given. If my religion disapproves of dancing or even music does that mean that it should be banned for you too? What if I am a buddhist of an escetic sect and cannot condone the killing of insects, do we ban the books on yard plants and pest control? What if I am Hindu? Do we ban all books that do not hold cattle as holy? What if I am a zoaraster? A Druid? Or of a religion that I and another person just made up yesterday? I thought that religion was a personal issue rather than a societal/government issue? I thought that in our society and system of government, that government and religion were completely seperate. Aren't local libraries part of the local govenment? Private libraries can about whatever we want them to be but public libraries should be designed to please which religious groups? Who gets to decide which groups? I think that we should look at those type questions if we think that there is some question as to what we all agree on or not and if not then what should it be like? thank you for your response, Frank > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:--- In , jim twist > <jimtwist2004> wrote: > > Some of these Harry Potter ,goosebumps , Stephen King etc have a > supernatural theme that would offend a very fundamentalist persons > sensabilities. That is why anything with witches and ghosts is on > there. jim > > > > > > I am sorry Jim, but I really don't get it. > > What is wrong with supernatural themes? > > And I don't have a clue what this means: > " that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities " . > > thanks for the reply though, > > Frank > > > > > > > > > > > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:Could some one on this list > please explain to me why anyone would > > want to ban some of these books? > > > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks > that > > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind > wants to > > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > > > Some are classics. > > > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the > death > > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and > one > > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > > circuses and pap. > > > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > > thinking huh. > > > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these > books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a > loss. Please explain this to me? > > > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you > in the dark also?. > > > > Frank > > > > > > , Frank > > <califpacific> wrote: > > > > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > > htm > > > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally > > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is > the > > books that will never be > > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the > fear > > of censorship. > > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > > 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 > > > 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 Dieby 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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) > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office > for > > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > > 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim > comprehensiveness > > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Frank, I think you can follow. > (That phrase seems to me to be confusing two seperate issues. One is > space and the other is restricting access which are seperate issues. > How can one be used to justify the other?) My point is that there is no greater censorship or restriction than suppression of ideas and thoughts by death or forbidden print. The world has its evil - this is undeniable, this is beyond you or me or anyone. To complain because a library doesn't have a particular book and equate it to persecution and censorship in context of how bad that really has been and is to many in this world, is silly to me. A library cannot possibly have every single book - therefore, there must be and is a selection process. A library uses public money and exists for the benefit of the public - therefore the public has a right to voice their opinions on what books the library fills up those limited spaces with. Our system seeks to serve the good and the will of the majority - I simply do not have a problem with that. Well yes the majority tends to be apathetic and minority can rule, but that actually gives more power to our own votes. If you are talking about taking books out of press by law and making them illegal to read, that I think is restricting assess.But we do not have that in this country. You can still find the book to read. > (I am somewhat confused by the above phrase. Does respecting > differences mean we let people have materials there that are > different than ours or does it mean if I object to it does it get > removed to respect my differences?) It means that if you object to it, your views should merit respect and consideration even if they are totally different than mine, and vice versa. Mark Twain does not offend me but I am not black. I have to respect the fact that people who are offended by him, see it differently. As to whether his books are in my local library, I think that is going to be a matter of how many of the patrons are offended and express it, and involve themselves with their local libraries. They are not for profit organizations - they all welcome volunteers. > (Yes, I agree but I would like to hear what people think about who > gets to decide what is considered controversial and who decides what > is offensive?) The squeaky wheel gets the grease. > (what do we control in the library and what do we control with our > children? Where is the line? And who gets to draw it?) Those who care enough to get involved with their local library draw the lines. Others can complain on the side lines but they will not get to call plays. > (But, things in the " adult " category are limited from children though > aren't they? I'm not sure. No they are not - the library is an open book so to speak. There is the children's section and the rest of the library. You establish the habit of reading to children, libraries all have programs for children to motivate, stimulate, turn them on to the wonderful world of other's minds and thoughts. All I am aware of are free - not the previledge of some and not others. The library is a place you take young children and let them explore - spend the afternoon- let them find a book that looks interesting to them. But there comes a point they want to explore further from the children's section. That's good. Since I do not like him do I have the > right to restrict his books to everyone else? And if I do, do they > have the right then to restrict " my books " ?) Frank, such is life. Stern can fight his own battles as far as I am concerned, and if he loses, good. Go in and volunteer your services - best way to get a vote in what they shelve. > > You apparently have not read American Psycho. It is good but it is > adult> appropriate only and then there might be some adults even I > would prefer not> to read it. Am I frightened of serial killers? > Will yes I am. > (No, I have not read it. Why would you not want other adults to read > it? Do others think that you should not read something? How do we > solve that dilemma?) It is a very well written piece about a very deep exploration into the soul and the mind of a serial killer - most particularly rememorable (as in I will never forget) is what he feels as he kills which to him is thrilling, orgasmic. What stimulates him in such events is not exactly normal or appealing to most people but rather revolting as it is so graphically detailed. And of course, sex and violence go together. Obviously, there are different neurological pathways at play - from what I have read of such killers, it is very believeable which makes it even the more impressive. In his case he was a coke user, Wall Street broker, yuppie like your neighbor next door, better looking than Paul Bundy. My concern of others reading it is the power of suggestion - maybe someone might relate too well to his fantasies and make them their own reality. It's a heavy piece to read and it is about true evil. It is too though, a subject not well covered in literature. > ( I can sympathize with children being traumatized by certain things > and as parents we love and want to protect them in almost any way > that we can, but is it the only or best way in that should the common > denominator be to remove every book that anyone at all finds to be > inapproriate for any given person? If so who decides?) Those who get involved and fight the battle for their side decide. That's life. > (Racial stereotying and insensitivity is wrong but where do we draw > the line?) Are there characters in modern books that someone > somewhere might not like the way that any certain person or group is > portrayed? How do we please everyone?) You don't please everyone - it is all the various types and views that make the world go round. It's life. What you establish is a value system by which you judge reasonableness and fairness. > ( No, age appropriate material and especially of a sexual nature are > very sensitive issues for all of us parents. It may not be > appropriate for very young children but do we restrict all > information until adulthood or at what age? Or do we suppress it to > all? My vote is that the parental rights rule above all. They know what they child is ready to handle. Of course there is teenage when restricting has the adverse effect. <If so who gets to decide what is " truth " and what is propaganda? Truth is absolute, propaganda is distortion of truth. It doesn't matter who decides, doesn't matter what the majority rules - truth still is truth, regardless. > That is great if I get to do the deciding but terrible if my enemy > gets to decide, no? So what is right? I do not know what books that > you refering to but I could see that under some circumstances the gay > community might want to dispell some misconceptions that most of us > probably have about them. That is exactly the motive in this of the gay agenda. I do not begrude them that at all. But as they have their own interests, so do I in raising my children as I believe most appropriate. As to these certain books, I haven't a > clue. Who gets to play censor? Governments and societies always try > and mold childrens minds, who gets to pick how and in what way is > everthing, no?) Well, I would say the less government involvement, the better. Home schoolers are now proving themselves the most successful. > ( Yes, I think that it is deplorable that a lot of children aren't > learning even basic stuff, but is the fault all to be placed on the > school? The fault is not simply the school itself but the whole educational system which is more messed up than the medical system. And I would say even that is the parents fault for tolerating it. No teachers do not make much money - but the administrators and educational consultants do. The mess includes that which prepares teachers to teach and a government that tells them what to teach which includes all kinds of social conditioning. If you go to the educational journals where the professors publish professionally, you won't find much about reading, writing, or arthimetic. You will find quite a bit on methods and style, psychological tools to use, etc. Read William Spady (Clinton's educational guru) or William Glasser, another educational guru (psychiatrist too bizarre even for his own profession). One of the most shocking to me was the lack of substantiating data to ideas, most are nothing but conjectures and opinions that such and such a method works based on nothing but the opinion of author. In my state as in most states in this country, a teacher's certificate is required to teach which means the person has to have all these courses in " education " , NOT the field they are teaching. Only way to join the union, which is currently in arms fighting against competency exams in the fields they teach. A college professor who has a doctorate in a field, and what ever number of years teaching his subject, even to freshmen, cannot teach seniors in high school unless he takes all those courses and learns " how " to teach, and pays his dues to the teacher's union So the kids can't pass the tests that measure reading, writing, and arithmetic. Had they been left to their own, they probably would have figured all that out like you say. People learn how to read and write and to do math in the most > trying circumstances with the most rudimentary help. Have these > children been damaged in some way to make it especially difficult to > learn? 40% of our children drop out of high school - the majority of those will go on to college. Something obviously is " damaging " them in public school. Education at one time was supposed to mold the child into a > well rounded person who could think and care for himself and be able > to discern what is important, what is truth, what are my beliefs, > what are my responsibilities, etc. as well as salable skills. When did education assume this role? When was education removed from the parent's responsibility but rather the parent's responsibility dictated to them by the state? > With just reading, writing and math with restricted access to certain > books are we preparing our youth to take a responsible position in > society or if not what are we preparing them for?)Frank in > Parenthesis) Are you telling me that Lord of the Flies prepares? Or does it promote a cynical perspective of ones society making those who already feel alienated, even more so, and those who don't, question if they should? Mary > > - > > " califpacific " <califpacific> > > > > Monday, June 28, 2004 8:13 PM > > Re: Fear And Censorship > > > > > > Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would > > want to ban some of these books? > > > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks > that > > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind > wants to > > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > > > Some are classics. > > > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death > > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and > one > > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > > circuses and pap. > > > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > > thinking huh. > > > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these > books could > > be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please > explain > > this to me? > > > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you > in the > > dark also?. > > > > Frank > > > > > > , Frank > > <califpacific> wrote: > > > > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > > htm > > > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-20001 (formally > > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the > > books that will never be > > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the > fear > > of censorship. > > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " - Judy Blume > > > > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > > 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 > > > 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 Dieby 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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) > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > > 1990-2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness > > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Yes, but the rightists are the ones preventing people from seeing movies about them. Show me an example of a single cultural event of any kind, where the left sought to " prevent " the public from getting to it? Even with F9/11 showing in fewer than 900 theatres, (compared to over 3000 for some of the trash coming out of Hollywood), F9/11 has made more money in the first weekend, than any other movie going. That's what you call censorship, when entire States, are denied access to this movie. We haven't seen the likes of it, since Communist Russia, and its politburo. What are you rightwingers so afraid of? JP - " breathedeepnow " <aug20 Monday, June 28, 2004 6:45 PM Re: Fear And Censorship No one is going to " kill " such classics with libraries fighting for the " right " to allow children to view pornography on the internet. It is quite something how the " leftists " see the world as ruled by " rightists " while the " rightists " see the world ruled by " leftists. " It is comical. , " Stacy Heath " <ycats@d...> wrote: > WOW, thank you Frank for that list. I am blown away, I have read many of > them, but some of them I have read and I don't even know what the > protest is about, geeze louis. I was surprised to not find Animal Farm > on that list. It is a very wild and political read. I LOVED it. But back > to my point, that just saddens me so greatly to know there are people > out there fighting to kill such classics, some of which, I would not be > who I am today had I not had the insight of those books. (which I guess > is what big brother is hoping for ha ha). Just too sad such works are > challenged. > Stacy > > > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. ht > m > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-20001 (formally > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books > that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of > censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " - Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > 1990-2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA > Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in > recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported > there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 FIrst I must say that at age 13 I read Wifey in the Public Library. My mother certaintly didn't mind, and although I own a copy of the book know, I would certaintly not condone for my own children to read it before age 16. It is very sexual. But this is a personal preference and I do not feel that it should be banned from the library which is a building of sharing literary works, maybe they just need to make a section that is manned and ID for those who want to protect their children from books they feel inappropriate. As for stereotyping and sexual issues, well, that is today's society, you better not own a television with public access channels if you don't want any thing sexual entered into your household, because commercials are littered with sex. Stereotyping is an age old issue that is used to make people feel better and part of a group. Unfortunately, most people don't realize that they fit into several groups and that some of those same people that they don't like for stereotypical reasons may be in one of those groups they are in, they just don't know it. SCHOOL- that is a subject best left untouched. I personally believe that social conditioning, sexual issues, behavioral issues, religion and politics be left out of school. I send my children to school to learn reading, writing and arithimitic- not any of those other subjects. Who is the public school to decide when I should tell my child about sex, drugs, or social misdeviants. On the same note, many parents don't teach these things at home do to the increased drug usage and depression factors in the US. As for religion in schools, well who is to say that my child prays to the same God they want the students to pray too, or even if my child prays or believes in God. My children can learn those things at home and in church. I do not want someone who is there to teach my children a specific skill teaching them there values, morales or conditioning their beliefs. No one should. I only wish that more parents would take the time to teach their children themselves, then the schools would not feel the need to try to incorporate these subjects into their lesson plans. Michelle Mary <mhysmith wrote: Frank, I have not read all on the list but I can certainly answer on some. It is not a matter of banning or gross censorship - at least not in the sense that communist Russia or China did. This is actually silly to me in comparison. It is about what a public library puts on its shelves for the community - as in a large group of people. Obviously, we are not all the same, we do not react and perceive things all the same. Some people get offended on particular issues - we have to respect differences and differing opinions, even when we disagree. Libraries have limited space - there is a multitude of wonderful literature to fill them, even if you leave out the controversial and/or offending pieces. You can still buy the books, you can still read them. Libraries are places you take your kids and spend hours, desirably. A lot of these books are great but age appropriate only - that is next to impossible to control in a library if you allow your children freedom to explore. I don't like Howard Stern, I certainly would not want my young child pulling his book off the library shelf. You apparently have not read American Psycho. It is good but it is adult appropriate only and then there might be some adults even I would prefer not to read it. Am I frightened of serial killers? Will yes I am. I bought my daughter all the Scary Stories. She loved them and would laugh her head off. But then another child spent the night and she read her a story. The child literally went hysterical in fear. I had to call her mother and of course, I apologized and felt terrible. If some parents don't want those books on a child's library shelf, I can now respect that. Mark Twain's stuff is very racially stereotyping. Uncle Reemes was actually banned from presses for some years by liberals, Frank, for the same reason. The gays tried getting some of those books listed approved for early readers (1st and 2nd grade) and in our school libraries. I opposed that as I did not feel it age appropriate to start putting sexual issues on 6 and 7 year olds, and I resented the gay agenda being so bold as to think they had some right to try and mind mold my child. I also feel schools do not have any business trying to play social conditioners which they do a great deal of - if they would stick to the subjects of reading, writing and arthimetic, and simply treat all kids as equal, I think our kids would determine all the rest just fine on their own and be far better off than what they are now. Mary - " califpacific " <califpacific Monday, June 28, 2004 8:13 PM Re: Fear And Censorship Could some one on this list please explain to me why anyone would want to ban some of these books? I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks that they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind wants to ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? Some are classics. I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the death of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and one dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become circuses and pap. Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much thinking huh. I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a loss. Please explain this to me? With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you in the dark also?. Frank , Frank <califpacific> wrote: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. htm > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-20001 (formally wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " - Judy Blume > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > 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 > 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 Dieby 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 > 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 > 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 > 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) > 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 > 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 > 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 > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: 1990-2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Bravo Frank, religion is not a government issue. I will add to your example, if you are a Jehovah Witness do we ban Christmas and all connected because they don't celebrate or believe in CHristmas? This is how I explained it to a friend of mine when we had this same debate... califpacific <califpacific wrote: , jim twist <jimtwist2004> wrote: > To someone who is a very religious fundamentalist Christian , who takes the Bible very very seriously ,exposing children to stories with witchcraft as a theme,and Harry Potter does practice spells and such, is like blasphemy. It runs counter to thier religion and is therefore considered Satanic. Others such as myself ,I am Catholic and did not keep my kids from Goosebumps or Potter etc ,seperate religion from fantasy, but some people view these works as pro witchcraft and therefore an assault on thier religion.An extremist along these lines would have problems with Casper the friendly Ghost I hope I am making sense,I dont agree with it I just am trying to relay what the thinking is. jim Thanks Jim, I suspected some of this but didn't know for sure. I wish that some of the people who do believe like this would speak up as it doesn't seem quite right for us to be discussing what " they " believe and so on without any input from them. To what you did write, though... If I understand it, some people believe that to read about ghosts. spells, witches, etc. in fiction and fantasy is an affront to their religious views and then those things should be banned for everyone else also? Is this actually being done? getting them banned I mean. Is that imposing someone else's religious beliefs on me? Some of these may sound silly but try and see the point rather than the example given. If my religion disapproves of dancing or even music does that mean that it should be banned for you too? What if I am a buddhist of an escetic sect and cannot condone the killing of insects, do we ban the books on yard plants and pest control? What if I am Hindu? Do we ban all books that do not hold cattle as holy? What if I am a zoaraster? A Druid? Or of a religion that I and another person just made up yesterday? I thought that religion was a personal issue rather than a societal/government issue? I thought that in our society and system of government, that government and religion were completely seperate. Aren't local libraries part of the local govenment? Private libraries can about whatever we want them to be but public libraries should be designed to please which religious groups? Who gets to decide which groups? I think that we should look at those type questions if we think that there is some question as to what we all agree on or not and if not then what should it be like? thank you for your response, Frank > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:--- In , jim twist > <jimtwist2004> wrote: > > Some of these Harry Potter ,goosebumps , Stephen King etc have a > supernatural theme that would offend a very fundamentalist persons > sensabilities. That is why anything with witches and ghosts is on > there. jim > > > > > > I am sorry Jim, but I really don't get it. > > What is wrong with supernatural themes? > > And I don't have a clue what this means: > " that would offend a very fundamentalist persons sensabilities " . > > thanks for the reply though, > > Frank > > > > > > > > > > > > califpacific <califpacific> wrote:Could some one on this list > please explain to me why anyone would > > want to ban some of these books? > > > > I am not familar with all of them on the list. Some are childrens > > books. I remember my youngest daughter being in love with the Judy > > Bloome books years ago. Can you imagine what kind of mind thinks > that > > they know best and what is " appropriate " and yet that same mind > wants to > > ban some of these. Do they think that " Are You There, God? It's Me, > > Margaret " or " Where's Waldo? " is subversive? > > > > Some are classics. > > > > I do know that in the last 25 to 30 years I started to see the > death > > of good literature in the USA. Little by little it became pap and > one > > dimensional like a cheap movie. Nor do I see much intellectual > > thought and discussion in our society any more. It has all become > > circuses and pap. > > > > Now it looks like they are going after the well written books from > > the past. Someone, somewhere sure doesn't want people doing much > > thinking huh. > > > > I am not trying to be funny. I just can't see how many of these > books could be on anybody's wish list of banned books. I am at a > loss. Please explain this to me? > > > > With so many members someone should know something. Or all of you > in the dark also?. > > > > Frank > > > > > > , Frank > > <califpacific> wrote: > > > > > http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently. > > htm > > > > > > The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001 (formally > > wriitten challenge to ban the book from the library) > > > > > > " t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is > the > > books that will never be > > > written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the > fear > > of censorship. > > > As always, young readers will be the real losers. " — Judy Blume > > > > > > > > > Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz > > > Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite > > > I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou > > > 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 > > > 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 Dieby 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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) > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > 1Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office > for > > Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual > > Freedom, American Library Association. (See Background Information: > > 1990–2000 under The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000.) The > > ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim > comprehensiveness > > in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge > > reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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