Banned Books
I am anti-censorship and anti-book banning. So, I have a current goal... read everything on the ALA banned book list of 1990-2000. Let me know what you think of some of the books.
Sidenote: the ALA is ALL ABOUT literature and not banning... they just happen to be one of the few places that have this list. Some schools refuse to allow a good percentage of these books in their libraries... and depending on the state some public libraries refuse to have them too. Find out and ask.
Thanks Bruce for catching my goof.
1 Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz (own the whole set and can't wait to read them around a campfire to my niece and nephew--they traumatized me too! But I love 'em)
2 Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Haven't read it but damnit MAYA SHOULD NOT BE ON THIS LIST!)
4 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (I think everyone should read Mark Twain)
6 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (My first truck was named Lenny from the character-a buddy of mine named hers George)
7 Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling (own it and read it)
8 Forever by Judy Blume (Judy Blume is another name who shouldn't be on this... any woman out there didn't read Judy?)
9 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (One of my Faves)
10 Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11 Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12 My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (another must read)
14 The Giver by Lois Lowry (gave me new appreciation for WWII)
15 It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16 Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine (loved the series when I was little)
17 A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18 The Color Purple by Alice Walker (not a favorite but a good book)
19 Sex by Madonna (hate Madonna... wouldn't touch it)
20 Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (Why the fuck is this on the list? It is one of my favorite childhood series!)
23 Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (one of the reasons I picked Alice for a handle, also one of my favorite books in the world)
24 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25 In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26 The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27 The Witches by Roald Dahl (Roald Dahl can do no wrong and his books are GREAT!)
28 The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29 Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry (read it)
30 The Goats by Brock Cole Kaffir
31 Boy by Mark Mathabane
32 Blubber by Judy Blume (read it)
33 Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34 Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35 We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36 Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (I have read it... not a fav... but decent)
38 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (GOOD BOOK)
39 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40 What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (everyone should read this book)
42 Beloved by Toni Morrison
43 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (GOOD BOOK)
44 The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45 Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46 Deenie by Judy Blume
47 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (own it, makes me cry everytime-excellent)
48 Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49 The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50 Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51 A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (and Where the Sidewalk Ends are some of the best childrens poem collections EVER)
52 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (own it-favorite)
53 Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)(porno with a plot, I own the entire series and I love 'em)
54 Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55 Cujo by Stephen King
56 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57 The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell (believe it or not... read it)
58 Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59 Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60 American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61 What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (EXCELLENT)
63 Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64 Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65 Fade by Robert Cormier
66 Guess What? by Mem Fox
67 The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68 The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney (GOOD BOOK)
69 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (EXCELLENT)
70 Lord of the Flies by William Golding (every child should read this)
71 Native Son by Richard Wright (good book)
72 Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73 Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74 Jack by A.M. Homes
75 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76 Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77 Carrie by Stephen King (Not a fan of King, but this was a good one)
78 Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79 On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80 Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81 Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82 Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83 The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (everyone needs to read Twain)
85 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86 Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87 Private Parts by Howard Stern
88 Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford (the waldo you look at the pages to find?)
89 Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene (okay, this is on the list but not all quiet on the Western Front.... okay)
90 Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91 Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92 Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93 Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94 The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95 Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96 How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97 View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98 The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99 The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100 Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Must of mis-counted something... only have 99, tell me if you see my goof-up.
posted by FantasticAlice @ 1:13 PM
17 Comments:
Foist off...Fade by Robert Cormier and Guess What? by Mem Fox are on the same line at number 65. I believe that's your "goof".
Secondly, how Maya Angelou got on this list is beyond my comprehension. These ALA people should be banned themselves. I have three words for them: Get a life!
Some of those are some really good books. How could they possibly ban some of those? Maybe they aren't that intellectual and feel these certain books make them feel less secure of themselves.
I am confused-I went on the site of the ALA, and they seemed like they were pretty free speech oriented. You mean to tell me that these books ARE NOT in public libraries?
From what I can see, its a bunch of busy bodied conservatives who are neo-nazi in their book burning fascism, and pressure the ALA into the ban..
Help me understand, Alice!
“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime . . . .” — Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
“Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856–1941), Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357 (1927)
This was in the ALA Web site....
Man, this post has me fired up, Alice-if they can ban books..Whats next?
I am going to go and watch "Footloose" again...
Oh. My. GOD.
I cannot believe the amount of books on that list that absolutely SHOULD NOT be on there!!!!
I have read James and the Giant Peach to MY 3 YEAR OLD for chrissakes!
Un-fecking-believable!
Now I'm fired up!!!
I have to admit Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz tramatized me as a elementary school child. lol. no. but it is SICK, twisted.
i do love other books on this list though.
funny, i was just looking at the ALA website earlier, before reading this post. and they did seem rather open and liberal. i was exploring in the context of the Patriot Act and they seemed very opposed, and for privacy, and promoting rebelling against the Act, etc.
wait, this list isn't banned by the ala, it is "banned books week" this is a list of books that have been banned throughout history. not by the ALA.
the chocolate war caught my eye also. i read it in middle school. i connected with it at that time in my life i think.
and as far as maya angelou being on here, i have read things written by her that talk about who i would call kids engaging in sex. i mean, this was a long time ago that i read some of this stuff, but i remeber getting very vivid visual images as i read the stuff.
I SWEAR I am going to my library with this list, and so help me, if they aint there, I am going to run AMOK!!!
Anastasia Krupnik series is on that list? What? I love that series. I still read one every now and then when I'm depressed. And I loved Julie of the Wolves growing up- I wanted to be Julie! And I was in my high school production of Flowers for Algernon...this list is insane.
House of Spirits by Allende is really good. Ordinary People-own it. Pretty good, but I only read it once...
The rest I've either never read or you already know about
Bruce-thanks for the correction. I made a note that the ALA is anti-ban, they just have the list.
September-WELCOME! I think it may be some ultra-conservatives out there.
Twolf-You are just so cute when your pissed! Attack boy, Attack!
JK-WELCOME! I will keep people posted on the subject as it comes up.
Erin-Maybe James was molesting the catapillar and spider... hell, I don't know why any of Roald Dahls books are on that list.
Paul-Yeah, a LOT of those books helped me to connect with myself at those ages (ie, Judy Blume) I made the correction on the ala list thing.
Megan-my first book will be the House of Spirits-since you recommended it so highly. I LOVED Julie of the Wolves.
Everyone-this list is BUNK!
Its stuff like this that makes the conservative right look like a bunch of goosetepping Morons!
(Still pissed at the ban stuff..)
You should start a book club ... we'll all read one banned book per week and discuss it's evilness! LOL!
I noticed a few of those books were made into movies ... I hate when the movie does not follow the book and only thing on common is the title!
i have worked in a bookstore for the past 8 years. I am happy to say that we have at one time or another carried ALL of these books and that most of the booksellers have read them too. well, i haven't actually seen the joy of gay sex but even if we don't have that one we have another that still has pictures!!!
philip pullman, author of his dark material trilogy has a movie coming out sometime in the next 2 years. just wait. the shit will hit the fan. they kill god. in a story for children. the harry potter drama will go away forever when parents realize that they have allowed their children to read pullman, hype free, for the past SEVEN YEARS!!!
anyway, get ready to add those to your list!
the scary stories series i bought back when i was in middle school, maybe even in elementary school... at a school book sale... and some of those like catcher in the rye and of mice and men were required reading in most highschools here in texas.
Robert Cormier is there a few times...one of the first authors to write novels for intelligent adolescents.
Chocolate War is a classic
Fade is incredible
We all Fall Down is a haunting tale
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