UPDATE: I just finished reading A Day No Pigs Would Die. A three-hanky read if ever there were one. Woof. If you haven't read it, do so. It's short and moves quickly. I do see why some squeamish, prudish people might want to ban it, but phooey on them.
The Banned Books Meme.
Bold the ones you've read. Did you all know that Judy Blume is the most banned author?
Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel (yes, even the newest one. And like PS, my mom gave me the first three after she'd read them and yes, I was too young for the first two.)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (and I read it to my son often)
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Blubber by Judy Blume
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) (well, one of them anyway.)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney (no, but I saw the tv movie.)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
Carrie by Stephen King
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell (how does this one get banned? betting? what?)
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Through My Glasses, Dorkily
13 years ago
21 comments:
Oh, oh, oh! You should read Julie of the Wolves. It's such an amazing book, and it's fridiculous that it's challenged.
Maybe it is the bad words in "How to eat fried worms". Kid L just read my copy and the kids call one another bastard.
Ah, that makes sense. And it also explains why I didn't remember it.
Damn, am I the only one who ever read Summer of My German Soldier? That was the MOST depressing book ever.
You must read To Kill A Mockingbird and Bridge to Terebithia. I have read so many of these and read them for high school english, too.
Wow who knew so many great books had been banned. Looks like I have a new reading list. Thanks.
Why isn't "What to Expect When You're Expecting" on the list?!
That was the DAMN scariest book ever. Entire chapters were based on syndromes and diseases that only occur once every five million births.
You know, I've read more of them than I though I had, which surprised me. And I usually aim to do things like this just for spite. :-)
LOL, Susie Sunshine. I have a friend who termed that book "What Fear to Monger When You're Fear-Mongering."
Okay, would someone please tell me why Where's Waldo? is on the list?
There's one instance of partial female nudity in a Where's Waldo book (now *there's* something to pore over those pages for).
I love this meme! Though I think I read that Alvin Schwartz (Scary Stories series) is actually the most banned author... okay, I checked; here's the link:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=95082
Feh. ALA has stupid long links. Here's the link again, but you have to cut and paste it in parts & take out the spaces:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?
Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement
/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=95082
Raising my hand over here for Summer of my German Soldier and Julie of the Wolves.
And then (I've seen this topic on other blogs but can't resist bringing it up again, in this context) why ISN'T Curious George on the list? Or Love You Forever? Or Rainbow Fish? Or...???
Julie--Or The Giving Tree! Feh. Notice how the tree who sacrifices everything cheerfully to that callous Boy is female??
Elswhere, ha! Yes!
And while we're at it, I'd also like to ban Polly Pocket: It's Fun to be a Bridesmaid. The title says it all.
Yuck. And golly. I loved K's of The Rabbit Lived idea - she got all banned books for her kid's library.
This is all so bizarre - what are people so afraid of?
Liz, please oh please make To Kill a Mockingbird the next book on your reading list. It was one of my all-time favorites.
I can't believe Alvin Schwartz is the most banned author ever... His scary stories series was my favorite when I was a kid and now whenever I can get my husband to go with me to a used bookstore, he buys up every Alvin Schwartz book he can get his hands on (he wrote a lot and many are out of print). I think we have every one.
My vote for banned book: Max's Bath by Rosemary Wells. The board book version. I think I've read it aloud at least 100 times and it SUX. I'm told I moan lines from it in my sleep.
Blogger must have eaten my post! Yes, I read Summer of My German Soldier, and also the sequel.
Somebody did ban The Giving Tree -- I saw it on one of the lists. Love You Forever is just a horror we'll have to live with, however.
Oh, A Day NO Pigs would die. One of my favorites, though it's definitely not a happy tale! Robert Newton Peck was a favorite of mine--anybody read the Soup books?
I totally love The Giver. Amazing book. And I think my mom teaches it to her grade six class...
It has all those horrible ideas like "questioning authority" and the like.
ohhhhhhh......
I'm a school librarian, and anytime you mention that a book is on "the banned book list," it gets even the most reluctant reader to read. If you've never read anything by Chris Crutcher, I suggest you do. He is awesome. Lots of bad words and reality. I must say, I never really liked A Day No Pigs Would Die.
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