I Read Banned Books!

Saturday was the start of Banned Books Week, an annual tradition for raising awareness about banned books. I'm a reader. I love to read anything I can get my hands on. I might not enjoy the book by the end, but I'll still try to read it, just for the sake of reading it. In fact, I'm currently working my way through several lists of books (though I haven't made much progress since that initial list; most of the books I read aren't on any of those lists.

Back in April, ProgressiveU launched a bonus point opportunity for people to review banned books for the Between the Lines column. As a result, all sorts of people on ProgressiveU read more banned books and gave their opinions of them. [Side Note: If you want to continue this challenge, feel free to sign up for the Work Study Program.]

The list hasn't changed much this year. The top ten banned books are (with reasons for why they were banned beneath):
1) “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2) The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3) “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language
4) “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
5) “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism
6) “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,
7) "TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8) "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit
9) “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10) "The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

The funny thing about people who ban books is that they don't get it. These stories often tell things how they really are, and if children and teenagers, even other adults, aren't exposed to them, aren't we denying the problem exists (or, in some cases, causing the problem in the first place)? Yes, Huck Finn contains a great deal of racism, but how can you really appreciate that time in history unless you are aware of that racism? Why say that Tango is Anti-Family, when there are two parents raising a child together? It's not like it's telling everyone to go and become gay, just representing how things might be outside of this narrow interpretation of family.

Yes, some of the books are unsuitable for the age group they are in. Some are just plain... weird. But banning them probably isn't the answer. Not buying them, not bringing them attention; that's the way to go about it. Don't think that you are protecting people by banning books.

I encourage all of you to read what you want, but even if you don't want to read something... leave it for the rest of us.