Mon
Sep 26 2011 9:07am

Banned Books Week: Which Book(s) Will You Celebrate?

This Saturday began Banned Books Week, and readers are celebrating the freedom to read what they want. There’s a YouTube channel that allows people to post themselves reading from their Banned Books selection.

We’ve already asked you to nominate the books you’d like to see canned; which of the books targeted for banning are your favorites?

(Remember that in addition to what you might expect—Nabokov’s Lolita, Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Burgess’s Clockwork Orange, authors such as Judy Blume, Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling, Richelle Mead, and Anne Rice have all been challenged.)

So how are you celebrating Banned Books Week?

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2 comments

1. Dolly_Sickles

view all by Dolly_Sickles | Monday September 26, 2011 09:33am EDT

I'm celebrating by bucking the system in my son's 8th grade Language Arts class, where he's in the process of producing an elaborate multi-genre report, and for the poetry entry he can't use one of our all-time favorites, Shel Silverstein. Ah, I love the smell of scared-teacher-in-the morning!

When I worked in HIV/AIDS advocacy/fundraising, one of my colleagues was Senator Jesse Helms' granddaughter, and we had great discussions about politics. She was his polar opposite, as liberal as he was conservative. And when the topic of his book burning incident at UNC came up, I was appalled. In reading over the list of banned authors, it saddens me to see some of the world's recent perennial favorites: J.K. Rowling, Maurice Sendak, Roald Dahl, Judi Blume, and Toni Morrison.

All I can say is that I have most of the titles published by each of these authors. Who knew I was so controversial ... guess you can just call me a maverick. :)