Happy Banned Books Week!

deburnin

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm in the middle of Eragon I would so be reading a banned/challenged book right now. I can't find a 2010 list, but here's one from 2000-2009 if you feel like being a rebel :

Link

Elle1036

I always feel like these lists should be renamed "Books Worth Reading."

Thanks for sharing!

desertsun

Oh, Judy Blume...! 

I wish teenagers were reading her more, and vampire schlock less.

tafft1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:d43f925c-2058-42be-9e21-60bf5f610ca0">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh, Judy Blume...!  I wish teenagers were reading her more, and vampire schlock less.
Posted by desertsun[/QUOTE]

THIS x 100 . Seriously..half those books I read as a kid and I turned out just fine..I think.. />< But yeah I agree usually they are filled with must reads!

[Deleted User]

I see a lot of books on that list that were required reading when I was in high school.  And I agree, love Judy Blume (and can't wait till Ramona & Beezus comes out on DVD so I can watch it).

leia1979

I read some of these in elementary school (A Wrinkle in Time & Bridge to Terabithia) and many more in high school. How on earth are they so controversial?

Censorship sucks.

heyimbren

Fun fact: Harry Potter was banned at my elementary school and I love that series.

Actually, I think I read a fair amount of those books on the list. I will never understand the idea of censorship.

ALSO I'm so glad you posted about books Deb- I just finished The Hunger Games trilogy this weekend and I am DYING to know if anyone else has read it?! But I didn't want to create a new post over it...  I cried two nights in a row after I finished it. I thought they were amazinggggg. lovelovelove

bethsmiles

Harry Potter was banned at my elementary school too, but I LOVE those books. I grew up reading them; they were a huge part of my childhood. I've read a lot of the books on the banned book list. A lot of them were required in high school. In my freshman English class we had to read a book off of the banned books list.

calindi

That list brought back some good memories...  let's see how many I've read...

1, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 28, 29, 33, 43, 55, 64, 69, 71, 75, 84, 88, 90, 94, 99

#15, The Bluest Eye was horribly depressing and I didn't like it much.
#23, The Giver was one of my all time favorite books
#29 The Face on Milk Carton was a book I also loved and read several times
#33 Snow Falling on Cedars was such a beautiful book - I'd like to read it again, the details are foggy
#43 Blubber - fantastic book!
#55, Summer of my German Soldier was also a favorite, and arguably the first 'romance novel' I ever read.  They got much more vulger (and ban-worthy) after that
#69 Fahrenheit 451 is an absolutely fantastic book.  Ironically about censorship.

LadyMadrid08

Man, there are some fantastic books on that list!  Did anyone else read the Alice series?  The Agony of Alice, etc.  I really had fun with them.

There were a lot that were on my required reading in school like Brave New World, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Giver, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

It makes me sad that schools think banning books is really helping children grow.  I mean, my parents are conservative, but they always said as long as I'm reading it doesn't matter a whole lot what I read (although my mom was convinced Harry Potter was full of evil witchcraft and it might corrupt me).

Elle1036

My children will not be allowed NOT to read Harry Potter.  And many others on this list, as well.

LadyMadrid08

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:6b21a737-9965-496a-a1e9-4cd60035f9c9">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]My children will not be allowed NOT to read Harry Potter.  And many others on this list, as well.
Posted by Elle1036[/QUOTE]

<div>May I ask why?  Have you read the books yourself?</div><div>
</div><div>Edited to say: Don't mind me.  Just being incredibly thick.  HA!  I thought you were serious for a moment until I realized your pic is HP.</div>

deburnin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:4d044d86-2374-496b-a975-2a295d733f01">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Happy Banned Books Week! : May I ask why?  Have you read the books yourself? Edited to say: Don't mind me.  Just being incredibly thick.  HA!  I thought you were serious for a moment until I realized your pic is HP.
Posted by LadyMadrid08[/QUOTE]

<div>Psst, you read it wrong. Don't worry I did too the first time:</div><div>
</div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;" class="Apple-style-span">"My children will <strong>*not*</strong> be allowed NOT to read Harry Potter."</span></div>

calindi

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:6b21a737-9965-496a-a1e9-4cd60035f9c9">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]My children will not be allowed NOT to read Harry Potter.  And many others on this list, as well.
Posted by Elle1036[/QUOTE]

Bwahaha... oh man... Harry Potter is dangerous, man!

I have never seen the point in censoring what a child reads, as long as the subject is age-appropriate (by age 13, I'd say most topics are age-appropriate because if you aren't talking about them at home already, they'll certainly talk about everything with their peers). Sure, if there are things someone disagrees with, talk about them with the child and why you disagree, but don't ban the book.  When you ban things, it gives it power and the child becomes curious about what's so important that you feel the need to prevent them from reading it.  If I ever have a daughter, and if she has a desire to read the Twilight series, we'll have a long talk about what constitutes a healthy relationship and why obsession over a boy is unhealthy.  But I'd never ban a child from reading anything - that's a sure-fire way to build rebellion.

heyimbren

I can understand not allowing young children to read more "adult" things at their age. That makes sense to me, because it'll be available to them later on.

But then again, my family let me read (and read to me) Greek mythology. Which is pretty heavy into sex.... But I think I turned out okay.

Yeah, my family never encouraged censorship in any way. My family is religious though, which is interesting. While on one hand, my school was totally into banning things, my family encouraged me to seek out different ideas. Then form opinions. So I decided to form the opinion that I love HP and it isn't going against my religious beliefs to enjoy a fictitious book.

Can someone please go to a library and borrow The Hunger Games and talk to me about it now? Please?

LadyMadrid08

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:c8be20ee-5255-46c3-b23d-a79bb2a09208">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Happy Banned Books Week! : Psst, you read it wrong. Don't worry I did too the first time: "My children will *not* be allowed NOT to read Harry Potter."
Posted by deburnin[/QUOTE]

<div>DOH.  Woops.</div><div>
</div><div>Bren, you seem pretty into this Hunger Games book (series?).  What is it about?</div>

heyimbren

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:41201882-0eba-4ed6-8d43-e0540cf12ac6">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Happy Banned Books Week! : DOH.  Woops. Bren, you seem pretty into this Hunger Games book (series?).  What is it about?
Posted by LadyMadrid08[/QUOTE]

AH YES! Someone finally took the bait ;)

It's kind of like apocolyptic sci-fi. Sounds weird, right?
Think of Orwell's 1984 book. Evil government and all that. Well the basic idea is that, in the book, only one country is left: Panem. It's broken up into 12 Districts, and every year to celebrate the Capitol (government) victory over past rebellioins, each district has to send two children (one girl, one boy) to compete in something called The Hunger Games. Only one kid gets to win, and the rest all get killed off (either by traps, lack of survival, or killed by the other kids). It's actually pretty dark for a teen/YA book. The first book is good, the second is good as well, but the third one just really broke my heart.

So anyways, it follows the story of a girl who volunteers to take her sister's place to compete in the Hunger Games.

deburnin

That series has become so popular we can't keep it on our shelves. Reminds me of the graphic novel series Battle Royale. I could barely make it through the first book of that series and never finished it. Hunger Games sounds interesting and would probably be a little easier to stomach since the images aren't drawn out for you.

heyimbren

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_happy-banned-books-week?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:6d624b30-ad0b-45ca-bf1b-c0f1b0260d3dPost:ab7f85d6-e625-40ea-9195-48fbe930f0e2">Re: Happy Banned Books Week!</a>:
[QUOTE]That series has become so popular we can't keep it on our shelves. Reminds me of the graphic novel series Battle Royale. I could barely make it through the first book of that series and never finished it. Hunger Games sounds interesting and would probably be a little easier to stomach since the images aren't drawn out for you.
Posted by deburnin[/QUOTE]

I find the emotions of it really heartbreaking. It isn't particularly graphic, but I find it sad knowing that similar things have/do/will happen IRL. Not to the same extent, perhaps, but still.

BreeB89

That list is ridiculous!

Like many of you, i read most of those as assigned readings in elementary school and highschool, so i'm confused how they are banned now....

c'mon HP? such a cool series! it got so many kids to read instead of playing video games and going on the computer, honestly it started a trend in young people which in my opinion is AMAZING!

Funniest books on there in my opinion......goosebumps! i read every single one of those books when i was a little kid, and i'm normal (i think)

Any book that get kids to read should not be banned!