Every year more and more books are put on banned books list and challenged by parents. Every year school districts decide to remove books from their curriculum or even ban them because they are deemed ‘inappropriate.’ No books should be banned, but as long as they are we will celebrate them. These are twelve banned books that you should read.
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This is a novel about a modern Native American living on a reservation. It takes the reader through the struggles of a modern day Native American, such as alcoholism and poverty. For generations the Native Americans have suffered an injustice and this novel touches on that. And it’s banned from some schools because of violence, sexual content, and strong language.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a high schooler who struggles with depression and a few other things that I cannot get into with spoiling it. The novel is set up in a very interesting way, with the main character, Charlie, writing letters to a stranger who he thinks is trust-worthy enough to tell his story. The proposition to ban this book was brought before a school district in Connecticut by a parent concerned about the sexual content and alcohol use in the story. It is a book about high schoolers and if parents are under the impression that every kid in high school has never drank or had sex then they are kidding themselves.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Parents in Michigan wanted to ban The Diary of a Young Girl because it involves “pornographic” passages. Never mind documentation of the true story of a Jewish girl hiding from Nazis during the Holocaust. Never mind that the Holocaust is one the biggest tragedies and injustices to ever happen. Never mind that Anne Frank died in a concentration camp along with an estimated 6 million other Jews. Never mind that it is completely natural for a teenage girl to want sex, or even think about sex.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This novel is often regarded as the first great American novel. The good story and great prose aside, the book embodies a period in American history, making it a history lesson as well as a story. But the Baptist Church of South Carolina did not really focus on the educational value of The Great Gatsby, instead focusing on the mere suggestion of sex and strong language.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Looking for Alaska was John Green’s first novel and it won the Micheal L. Printz Award. But a Tennessee school district has banned it due to strong language, unsuitable religious views, and sexual explicit content. It even got the first place on a list of controversial books, beating Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James. The author, John Green, addressed the issue in one of his YouTube videos of his channel Vlogbrothers. He brought to light the fact that a lot of times these things are taken out of context, a teacher shows a staff member at a school one page or excerpt of the book and does not bother to read the pages around it. He even says “If you have a world view that can be undone with a novel, let me submit that as the problem is not with the novel.”
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This Pulitzer-prize winning novel is deemed by many to be degrading, profane, and racist. Some go as far to say that it promotes white supremacy. We’d have to ask the question, have they have even read the book? While the story does involve racism it, in no way condones it.
The Giver by Louis Lowry
This books is often planned because of violence and sexual content. The main case being that the main character, twelve-year-old Jonas, goes through something of a sexual awakening. Obviously every persons going to be different but many have their adolescent sexual awakening around the ages of eight to twelve. It is unrealistic to think that exposing children to this will harm them in anyway, eventually they too will have the same experience and possibly already have.
1984 by George Orwell
It’s very ironic that this novel was banned given it’s themes of warning against totalitarian censorship. That being said the book was challenged in 1981 by parents in Jackson County Florida because it’s ‘procommunist’. At the end of the day the message in 1984 is that no book should be banned because the amount of knowledge available should never be limited.
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson is one of only three people who has won the Hans Christian Anderson Award and Astrid Lindgren Award. Despite this her book, according to the American Library Association, is one of the most frequently challenged books. Some of the grievances include that the story is satanic, even though whatever ‘magic’ in the story is from the main characters’ imagination. There are also some who want to ban the book because it faces death head on.
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Some parents, usually for religious reasons, want to ban the Harry Potter series because it it glorifies witchcraft. Even though the author is a Christian and has never condoned witchcraft outside of fiction and the story itself is, at its root, about good and evil. Even though it’s fostered a love of reading in a whole generation.
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Actually many of Shakespeare’s plays have been challenges such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear because of references to sex and violence. However, Twelfth Night was pulled from school in Merrimack, New Hampshire because it had girl dressing up as a boy.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
This book was actually burned, along with other books by Tolkien, in New Mexico outside Christ Community Church in 2001. Sure burning books is an expression of free speech but isn’t being able to read the book in the first place a form of freedom that shouldn’t be infringed upon. They claimed it promoted sacrilegious beliefs, even though the books never mention God, any other gods, or even a false idol. Much like the Harry Potter series the magic preformed in The Lord of the Rings in no way resembles witchcraft.
So there you have it. Here are twelve books and series that have been banned. If you’re an author out there who has had their book banned, remember, you’re in good company.
