Banned Books

Such a sexy topic! And such fun to teach! 10-12 year olds are electrified by our sessions on challenges to library materials. First, I start with the easy stuff: holding up copies of their favorites, including The Giver by Lois Lowry, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, and many more. (For a complete list, year by year, visit The American Library Association's site.) But then it gets more complicated. What if a book contains racial stereotypes? The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder is hugely problematic in its treatment of Native American Indians. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with its terrible racial epithets, is another. What if a book portrays religion in a way that is offensive to a family's beliefs? (His Dark Materials, including The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, shows up often on these lists.) If I have set up the discussion properly, at least one child will emerge with the line that I love: "Well... it's okay for those parents to tell their OWN child not to read the book, but they can't tell everybody who uses the library that they can't read it." Home run!

Many of the titles that people object to feature gays or lesbians. We proudly own many in the library. Click here to see them.

One special note: Our recent author visit with Lauren Myracle was mesmerizing. She is ranked #3 on that ALA list of most frequently challenged books and told an amazing story. Scholastic wanted to include her newest novel (Luv Ya Bunches) in their book club flyers, with the proviso that she change one character's parents from a lesbian couple to a straight one. Integrity prevails; Lauren undoubtedly forfeited enormous profits; and the look on the faces of the girls who have same-sex parents was priceless.