What books are banned in this country? Some people really are paranoid.

Who Challenges Books?

Throughout history, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted—and continue to attempt—to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs.

In his book Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, Nat Hentoff writes that “the lust to suppress can come from any direction.” He quotes Phil Kerby, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, as saying, “Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second.”

According to the The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books, Challenges by Initiator, Institution, Type, and Year, parents challenge materials more often than any other group. See Background Information, below.

What's the Difference between a Challenge and a Banning?

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

How is the List of Most Challenged Books Tabulated?

The American Library Association (ALA) collects information from two sources: newspapers and reports submitted by individuals, some of whom use the Challenge Database Form. All challenges are compiled into a database. Reports of challenges culled from newspapers across the country are compiled in the bimonthly Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom (published by the ALA, $40 per year); those reports are then compiled in the Banned Books Week Resource Guide. Challenges reported to the ALA by individuals are kept confidential. In these cases, ALA will release only the title of the book being challenged, the state and the type of institution (school, public library). The name of the institution and its town will not be disclosed.

The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006

The following books were the most frequently challenged in 2006:

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 546 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006” reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

* “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
* “Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
* “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
* “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
* “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
* “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
* “Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language;
* “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
* “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; and
* “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

ALA

God knows what it would take to actually get a book banned in this country? What's that book where there are instructions on how to make bombs? "The anarchist cookbook." I think the government came pretty close to banning that one.

I think what people are usually talking about is when a library stops carrying a certain book, or a bookstore takes a certain book off their shelves.

I remember in high school we had a substitute teacher in English class. I guess my teacher left one of the books she was reading on her desk, and a couple of students overheard the sub say she thought they got it banned.

A lot of books go challenged in our schools. I'm actually pretty glad we were able to do books like Brave New World and 1984 in my English and British Literature classes back then. They have done more to shape my views than anything. I also loved reading, on my own time, Animal Farm.

I got bored by Utopia though, which was also a book we were reading in Brit Lit. Although Lord of the Flies was entertaining.

Your exaclty how I define a modern liberal. I've always said that liberals read different books, and many of the books I make examples of when I state this theory is the same ones you listed.

Is Snow Crash in your list too?

I've never heard of Snow Crash.

I usually either read pure history, historical fiction; or I read crazy stuff with Dragons and magic - funny stuff like that.

It's kind of science fiction/post cyberpunk so it probably wouldn't be up your alley.

I don't know. It depends on the author's goal in writing the book. I've read enough pure facts to not be lectured about the world I live in. I want someone to tell me a great story and entertain me, tell me some more truth; or tell me their take on something true.

I got no use for books like "A Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy," or "1984." I did listen to Mike Malloy read 1984 to me over the radio. I enjoyed it very much, as Mike and his wife are very good at it. If all he did was read books and not tell me what he thinks of the world, I would be a big fan.