For the past 20 years, the American Library Association has collected reports of book challenges in the US.
A “challenge,” in ALA parlance means “a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness.”
The ALA has just released its list of the Top 10 most challenged books for 2009. In past years Harry Potter books have often found themselves at number one. (The series does top the ALA list of most challenged books of the decade—2000-2009.) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Of Mice and Men are also perennial challenge favorites.
But this year the highest (if dubious) honor goes to ttyl, a best selling young adult series written entirely as IMs—instant messages.
Here’s the full 2009 list. (Every year, I find it sobering all over again—and not really in a good way.)
1. ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
ON AN UNRELATED TOPIC– GOOD FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR ORDERING NEW RULES GRANTING HOSPITAL VISITING RIGHTS FOR SAME SEX PARTNERS
Here’s a clip from the NY Times report on the order:
The White House announced the rule changes, which will also make it easier for gay men and lesbians to make medical decisions on behalf of their partners, in a memorandum released Thursday night. In it, the president said the new rules would affect any hospital that participates in Medicare or Medicaid, the government programs to cover the elderly and the poor.
“Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindness and caring of a loved one at their sides,” Mr. Obama said in the memorandum, adding that the rules could also help widows and widowers who rely on friends and members of religious orders who care for one another. But he says gay men and lesbians are “uniquely affected” because they are often barred from visiting partners with whom they have spent decades.
It will take time to draft, says the White House. But it’s progress nonetheless.
I want to add a book to the list: Braille Porno Book for the Blind. They never saw that coming.
When I was a kid my older brother would read me James Bond books. My mom told him to leave out the nasty parts, like every female name, and he was kind enough to read everything.
What a silly society we live in.