It's Banned Books Week (Sept. 25-Oct. 2nd)

About Banned Books Week

Information found at www.bannedbooksweek.org

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Click here to see a map of book bans and challenges in the US from 2007 to 2009. People challenge books that they say are too sexual or too violent. They object to profanity and slang, and they protest against offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups--or positive portrayals of homosexuals. Their targets range from books that explore contemporary issues and controversies to classic and beloved works of American literature.

According to the American Library Association, out of 460 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2009.

The top TEN Challenged books are as follows:

1) ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle

   Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, drugs, and unsuited to age group

2) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

    Reasons: homosexuality

3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group

4) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

    Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age group

5) Twilight (series), by Stephanie Meyer

 Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

6)Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

   Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

7) My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

   Reasons: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide, violence

8) The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn  Mackler

   Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

9) The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

   Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

10) The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

   Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

Go HERE to see what you can do to fight this censorship

During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events.

You can help as well to get the word out and stop this censorship.