My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville
The library looks at a pre-YA classic about an alien invasion, talks about our favorite alien invasion movies, and discusses some potential ways to stop aliens in their tracks.
Read MoreLittle Bill (series) written by Bill Cosby and Varnette P. Honeywood (illus.)
Several lessons are learned including dealing with bullying, losing something you worked hard for, being a good sport, and not being a rapist.
Read MoreAttack of the Vampire Weenies by David Lubar
We're talking short stories with bite that kill little kids in this episode that will make you believe mimes can be vampires.
Read MoreBad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel
Bad Kitty runs for neighborhood president and learns a lot along the way including some ways to not say swear words.
Read MoreHow to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
When a boy is bet he can't eat worms, he does despite his friends not being his friends through the pure evil that is the male ego.
Read More
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
David did a bad thing and gets cursed by an old lady while figuring out who his friends are and what middle fingers are for.
Banned
#92 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1991 - California - Challenged at Thousand Oaks Library for language
1993
California - Challenged at San Ramon's Golden View Elementary school for profanity, frequent use of obscene gestures, and inappropriate subject matter
Indiana - Removed from Clay City's Jackson Township Elementary School due to "unsuitable words."
New York - Removed from Red Creek's Cuyler Elementary school library because "the age level and use of some swear words may make it inappropriate for younger children."
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Sachar, Louis. The Boy Who Lost His Face. Yearling Books. New York, 1989.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
A young girl befriends wolves and makes her way across the tundra looking for where she belongs.
Banned
#91 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1982 - Missouri - Challenged for "socialist, communist, evolutionary, and anti-family themes" in Mexico.
1989 - Colorado - Challenged as sixth grade reading because "the subject matter was better suited to older students" in Littleton school libraries
1994 - Arizona - After a Erie Elementary School teacher in Chandler chose the book for an Antarctic unit, some parents challenged the book for a passage "in which a man forcibly kisses his wife."
1995 - California - Challenged in Palmdale school libraries for description of a rape
1996
California - Challenged in Ramona's Hanson Lane Elementary School for including an attempted rape of a thirteen-year-old girl
Pennsylvania - Removed for a graphic martial rape scene from the sixth-grade curriculum of the New Brighton Area School District in Pulaski Township
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. Harper & Row. New York, 1972.
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Help support the podcast on Patreon
"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
An autobiographical tale of a young Japanese girl and her family escaping Korea and surviving after World War II.
Banned
2006 - Massachusetts - Dover-Sherborn Middle school took it off the sixth grade reading list for rape, violence against women by Korean men, and distorted presentation of history. The Dover Regional School Committee voted unanimously to keep it on the list but are looking for other texts for balanced experience.
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Watkins, Yoko Kawashima. So Far From the Bamboo Grove. HarperTrophy. New York, 1986.
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Help support the podcast on Patreon
"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss
A young girl in Holland spends two years in an upstairs room hiding from Nazis during World War II.
Banned
1993 - Indiana - Liberty Elementary School removed the item from required reading list for fourth graders after an investigation about profanity.
1996 - Maine - Challenged for profanity in Sanford as a sixth-grade assigned reading.
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Reiss, Johanna. The Upstairs Room. HarperTrophy. New York, 1972.
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed
Help support the podcast on Patreon
"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: House Guest, Part 4
Alice fights off animals trying to get in their house, hangs with a puppy, and converses with a caterpillar smoking a hookah