September 24th was the beginning of Banned Books Week. This annual event is aimed at celebrating freedom of speech. The reason I write about this is because you and I have probably read a banned book. I know I have and am pretty sure you have also.
As I look over a list of 50 banned books, I am laughing as I know that the ones I have listed below were read by my children in public school.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Native Son by Richard Wright
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 by George Orwell
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
These were taken from a list of 50 banned books that everyone should read (here). On this list were also about ten additional books, not counting the Harry Potter books as we have read all and seen the films, that myself or one of my children has read.
My point is we cannot allow someone else to make decisions about what is to be read by others. I should be able to choose what I read. I do think parents should exercise some discretion based on the age of their children but by the time a child is 15, most should be able to make their own choices.
September 27th, 2011 at 7:36 am
There’s a lot of great reading on that list! Why James and the Giant Peach, I wonder? Do you know why it’s on there? I’m intrigued.
September 27th, 2011 at 8:14 am
“violence, language, and disobedience towards adults” according to the web site.
September 27th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Ugh. I can’t believe some of these books were banned.
September 30th, 2011 at 9:19 am
This is pretty amusing. My kids read every one of these in public school as well.
October 2nd, 2011 at 10:22 pm
I read 11 of these in public school! And many more from the full list you linked to. James and the Giant peach was clearly a younger book, I think I read Anne Frank in middle school, and the rest were read in grades 10+ …when I think we were old enough to deal with reading them. I was not scarred by any of the books I read in high school from this banned list! Kite Runner did have some graphic parts (I read it a couple years ago) but that wasn’t the sole focus of the book. I wonder what books *are* allowed since so many of the books I read have been banned.