The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

in ,
The Great Gilly Hopkins
By Katherine Paterson

A brat becomes an average kid with a strange family with this week's book.

Banned

#52 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1983 - Kansas - Challenged at Lowell Elementary School in Salina for the language "God," "damn," and "hell"

1985 - Minnesota - Challenged at Orchard Lake Elementary School in Burnsville because "the book took the Lord's name in vain" and had "over forty instances of profanity

1988 - Colorado - Challenged at the Jefferson County schools because "Gilly's friends lie and steal, and there are no repercussions. Christians are portrayed as being dumb and stupid."

1991 - Connecticut - Pulled but later restored at four Cheshire elementary school for being "filled with profanity, blasphemy and obscenities, and gutter language."

1992 - Texas - Challenged at Alamo Heights School District for language such as "hell" and "damn"

1993 - Kansas - Challenged at the Walnut Elementary School in Emporia by parents for graphic violence and language

1997 - Nevada - Challenged yet retained for explicit language in the Lander County School District

Sources

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved January 9, 2018 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Doyle, Robert P. "Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read." American Library Association, 2014.

"Katherine's Biography." Katherine Paterson's Website. AuthorsOnTheWeb; 2016. Retrieved on December 23, 2017 from http://katherinepaterson.com/biography/

Paterson, Katherine. "The Great Gilly Hopkins." Avon Books, 1978.

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

in

We begin with the book that taught us that Germans are people, too! Young Patty learns about the world in her small town.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, please do not be afraid to reach out.  You are not alone and please know that someone loves you and wants you to be okay.  Reach out at https://www.childhelp.org/hotline/ or call The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) or at your local school, shelter, or safe place.

Banned

1990 - Connecticut - Challeged in curriculum at Burlington and Hawinton schools for profanity and "subject matter that set bad examples and gives students negative views of life."

1996 - New Jersey - Temporarily removed from 8th grade supplemental reading list in Cinnaminson for "offiensive racial stereotypes."

2002 - Challenged for racism, offensive language, and being sexually explicit.

#55 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

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.

Greene, Bette. Summer of My German Soldier. Bantam Starfire. 1983.

Marshall University Libraries. "SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/books/summergerman.asp

Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

in

One boy's climb from apartheid to tennis champion. 

Banned

1993

California - Challenged at Amador High School in Sutter Creek

New Jersey - Challenged at Manasquan schools for a brief yet graphic homosexual passage

1996

Connecticut - Challenged at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington for brutal and graphic language

North Carolina - Temporarily pulled from Greensboro high school libraries after a resident sent letters to the school board and administrators, claiming the book could encourage sexual assault among children

1997 - California - Challenged but retained on a reading list for high school sophomores at Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton after parents referred to it as "pornographic and racially insensitive"

1999 - Ohio - Removed from Federal Hocking High School English in Athens for sexually graphic passage

2000

California - Removed from a sophomore reading list at Armijo High School in Fairfield for sexual content

Michigan - Kearsley school officials deleted six sentences describing a homosexual molestation scene in the book after parents found it offensive

2006 - California - Challenged but retained at East Union High School in Manteca after challenged for use of words such as "penis" and "anus" during a scene where young boys prostitute themselves for food

2007 - California - Banned from Burlingame Intermediate School

2010 - California - Challenged but retained in San Luis Obispo High School.

#39 on the ALA Top Banned Books 2000-2009

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

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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/

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

in
The Color Purple
By Alice Walker

We talk about the origin of the library's ebooks and an important book everyone should read.

Banned

1984 - California - Challenged and retained in Oakland High School honors class for "sexual and social explicitness" and its "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality"

1985 - California - Rejected for purchase from Hayward school trustees due to language and sexual content

1986 - Virginia - Removed from Newport News school library for language and sexual content and placed in special section available only to those over eighteen or with parental permission

1989

Michigan - Challenged at the Saginaw public libraries for sexual content

Tennessee - Challenged as a summer youth program reading assignment in Chattanooga for language and "explicitness"

1990 - Wyoming - Challenged in Ten Sleep schools for optional reading

1992 - North Carolina - Challenged at New Bern High School as a reading assignment because of rape

1995

Connecticut - Challenged at Pomperaug High School in Southbury for sexual content

Florida - Challenged at St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine

Oregon - Challenged and retained in the Junction City high school due to language, sexual content, and "negative image of black men."

1996

North Carolina - Challenged and retained at Northwest High School in High Point for sexual content and violence

Texas - Challenged and retained at Round Rock Independent High School for violence

1997 - West Virginia - Removed from Jackson County School libraries

1999

Ohio - Challenged and retained at Shawnee School in Lima after parents called it vulgar and "X-rated"

Virginia - Removed from Ferguson High School library in Newport News, yet may be requested and borrowed with parental approval

2002 - Virginia - Challenged at Fairfax County elementary and secondary libraries along with seventeen other books by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for language, drug abuse, sexual content, and torture

2008 - North Carolina - Challenged in Burke County schools in Morgantown for homosexuality, rape, and incest

2013 - North Carolina - Challenged but retained at Brunswick County Advanced Placement English eleventh grade assignment for language, sexual content, or has literary value as age appropriate

Sources

Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

in

Welcome to the literary deconstruction of race and beauty in this book about… holy crap that's what this book is about?! Evan might talk about the armadillos that are trying to sex each other.

Banned

#34 on the 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

#15 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1994

Alaska - Removed from a Lathrop High School classroom in Fairbanks for graphic descriptions and language.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at West Chester schools as pornographic

Banned from Morrisville Borough High School English after complaints of sexual content and language

1995

Florida - Challenged at the St Johns County Schools in St Augustine

Massachusetts - Challenged at Lynn schools for sexual content

1998 - Maryland - Challenged on Montgomery County reading lists and school library shelves

1999 - New Hampshire - Removed from reading list for nnth and tenth grade at Stevens High School in Claremont after a parent's complaint about sexual content

2003 - California - Challenged, but retained at the Kern High School District in Bakersfield despite complaints of the book's sexually explicit material.

2005 - Colorado - Banned from the Littleton curriculum and library shelves after complaints about its explicit sex, including the rape of an eleven-year-old girl by her father.

2007 - Michigan - Challenged in the Howell High School because of the book's strong sexual content. In response from the president of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE), the county's top law enforcement official reviewed the book to see whether laws against distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors had been broken. The county prosecutor wrote, "Whether these materials are appropriate for minors is a decision to be made by the school board, but I find that they are not in violation of the criminal laws."

2009 - Indiana - Retained in the Delphi Community High School's curriculum despite claims of inappropriate sexual content and graphic language.

2011 - Connecticut - Challenged in the Brookfield High School curriculum because of sex scenes, profanity, and age-appropriateness of the book. Students in the high school have been reading Morrison's book since 1995.

2013

Alabama - In August, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw (R-Madison) also called for his state to bar students from reading the book, taking issue with the work’s language and content.

Colorado - Challenged in Legacy High School's Advanced Placement English classes in Adams County because it was a "bad book." A notice was sent home to let parents know what they would be reading and why and an alternate assignment was offered to those who wanted it. Half a dozen students of about 150 opted to read one of the alternative texts and received instruction on those works outside of class time.

Ohio - Challenged on a suggested reading list for Columbus high school students by the school board president because it is inappropriate for the school board to "even be associated with it." A fellow board member described the book as having "an underlying socialist-communist agenda."

2014

North Carolina - East Wake High in Wake County removed the book from readings lists along with The Color Purple after a parent complained. The books are retained in the school library.

2015 - Oklahoma - Challenged, but retained in the Durant high school library despite a parent's concerns over sexual and violent content.

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

in ,

One of the most banned books of all time going back over a 130 years, let's learn about a little boy's life after faking his own murder and meeting up with a slave.

Banned

1885 - Massachusetts - Banned in Concord as "trash and suitable only for the slums."

1905 - New York - Excluded from the Brooklyn Public Library's children's colleciton because "Huck not only itched but scratched, and that he said sweat when he should have said perspiration."

1930 - Confiscated at the USSR border

1957 - New York - Dropped from New York City list of books recommended for senior and junior high schools partly for use of racial language

1969 - Florida - Removed from Miami-Dade Junior College required reading because it "creates an emotional block for black students that inhibits learning."

1976 - Illinois - Challenged for racism at the New Trier High School at Winnetka

1981 - Pennsylvania - Challenged for racism at the Tamament Junior High in Warrington

1982

Iowa - Challenged for racism in Davenport Public Schools

Texas - Challenged for racism at the Sprint Independent School District in Houston

Virginia - Challenged for racism at the Mark Twain Intermediate School in Fairfax County

1983 - Pennsylvania - Challenged for racism in State College Area School District

1984 - Illinois - Challenged for racism in Springfield

1988

Illinois - Removed from required reading in teh Rockford public schools for racial language

Louisiana - REmoved from required reading and school libraries in Caddo Parish for racism

Michigan - Challenged at the Berrien Springs High School

1989 - Tennessee - Challenged at the Sevier Country High School in Sevierville for racial language and dialect

1990

Pennsylvania - Challenged at Erie High School for racism

Texas - Challenged in Plano Independent School District for racism

1991

Arizona - Challenged in the Mesa Unified School District because of racial language and damages self-esteem of black youth

Louisiana - Removed from required reading at Terrebonne Parish Schools in Houma for racial language

Michigan - Temporarily pulled from Portage classrooms after some black parents complained their children were uncomfortable

1992

California - Challenged at Modesto High as required language for racist language

North Carolina - Challenged at the Kinston Middle School as unsuitable for age group due to racist language

1993 - Pennsylvania - Challenged at Carlisle schools for racial language

1994

Georgia - Challenged at Taylor County High School in Butler for racial language, bad grammar, and does not reject slavery. Raised a grade level.

Texas - Challenged but retained on high school level by the Lewisville school board

1995

California - Removed from required reading lists in East San Jose high school after objections from black parents over racial language that erodes their children's self esteem and affects the children's performance

Connecticut - Removed from eighth grade curriculum at New Haven middle school complained it undermined the self-esteem of black youth.

Washington, D.C. - Removed from curriculum of the North Cathedral School for content and language

Wisconsin - Challenged in Kenosha Unified School after a complaint was filed with the local NAACP of offensive to black students

1996

Arizona - Challenged as required reading in an honors English class at the McClintock High School in Tempe by a teacher on behalf of their daughter and other black students. In May 1996, a class action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, alleging the district deprived minority students of educational opportunities by requiring racially offensive literature as part of class assignments. In January 1997, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit stating he realized that "language in the novel was offensive and hurtful to the plaintiff," but that the suit failed to prove the district violated the student's civil rights or that the works were assigned with discriminatory intent. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled that requiring public school students to read literary works that some find racially offensive is not discrimination prohibited by the equal protection clause or Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ruling came in the case Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School District

Pennsylvania - removed from required reading list at the Upper Dublin schools because of its racial language

Texas - Banned from the Lindale Advanced Placement English reading list for "conflicting with the values of the community."

Washington - Challenged for being on the approved reading list in the Federal Way schools because it "promotes hate and racism"

1997

Indiana - Challenged at the Columbus North High School because the books is "degrading, insensitive, and oppressive"

New Jersey - Removed from Cherry Hill school classrooms after concerns were raised about racial language and depiction of African American characters. Reinstated later that year after the school board approved a new curriculum with a context of racial relations along with the works of Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes

Ohio - Challenged in South Euclid-Lyndhurst City Schools after a school complained that some classmates laughed at the racial language

Virginia - Challenged but retained at McLean High School in Fairfax despite a parent's complaint that the book offends African Americans

1998

Georgia - Challenged in the Dalton County schools for offensive language; Challenged in the Whitfield County for offensive language

Pennsylvania - The Pennsylvania NAACP called for the book's removal from required school reading lists across the state for racial language

1999 - Alaska - Recommended for removal because of racial language from the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District

2000 - Oklahoma - Challenged but retained at Enid schools after previously being removed in 1977

2001 - Illinois - Challenged in the Kankakee School District for racial language

2002 - Oregon - Challenged in the Portland schools by a black student who said he was offended by the racial language

2003 - Illinois - Challenged in teh Normal Community High School as being degrading

2004 - Washington - REmoved from reading lists in Renton high schools after a black student said the book degraded her and her culture. The novel was not required reading but was on approved book's list

2006 - Arizona - Challenged as required reading at Cactus High in Peoria. The student and mother threatened to file a civil-rights complaint of alleged racial treatment, segregation of the student, and the use of racial language in the classroom

2007

Michigan - Removed from Taylor school classes after complaints of racial language

Minnesota - Challenged but retained at Lakeville High School and the St. Louis Park High School in Minneapolis as required reading although staff was given training and alternate reading choices were made

Texas - Challenged at Richland High School in NOrth Richland Hills for racial language

2008 - Connecticut - Retained in Manchester School District with the requirement that teachers attend seminars about race before teaching the book

2016 - Virginia - The superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools confirmed the district had removed Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” after a parent voiced her concerns during a Nov. 15 school board meeting, reported WAVY-TV.

2018 - Minnesota - Duluth Public Schools removed the book from the curriculum for use of the "n" word.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Philips, Kristine. "A school district drops ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ over use of the n-word." Washington Post. Retrieved on 2018 February 9 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/07/a-school-district-drops-to-kill-a-mockingbird-and-huckleberry-finn-over-use-of-the-n-word/?utm_term=.f2df4a0b9d2d

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

in ,

Two boys join together to create a superhero by coercion and violence so they can escape responsibility for their actions and make a profit.

Banned

On the Top ten frequently challenged books lists of the 21st century in 2013, 2012, 2005, 2004, and 2002

#13 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 (as series)

2000 - Connecticut - Removed from Maple Hill School in Naugatuck due to concerns that is caused unruly behavior among children

2015 - Michigan - Arborwood Elementary School in Monroe removed the book from a book fair because a main character ends up gay

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

ttyl by Lauren Myracle

in

Three girls live their lives one text message at a time in this look into what makes teen girls tick. It's boys, right? Some booze? What's the religious one doing with her teacher? Find out in ttyl by Lauren Myracle.

Banned

2007 - New York - Challenged for offensive language, sex acts, drinking, and "crude references to male and female anatomy… and flirtation with a teacher that almost goes too far." Book retained for not glorifying the behavior.

2008 - Texas - parents challenged about sexual content, alcohol, porn, inappropriate teacher student relationships, and profanity. School offers opportunity for parents to limit access to particular books for their children.

2009 - Wisconsin - challenged for the sexual content

2010 - Connecticut - critics cut the style's misuse of grammar and offensive language.

2016 - Florida - Parents of students at Yulee Middle School in Nassau County brought the book series to the media after noticing "paragraphs about sex, to drinking alcohol and stripping" when their children brought the books home. Parent Billie Thrift told news outlet Action News Jax: "It's telling kids to rebel against parents. It's telling them it's OK to party, drink, cuss and do other obscene things in the book. She immediately didn't want to read it, but she was scared she was going to get a bad grade because she didn't finish reading the book she checked out. Personally, I think this is what's wrong with children today. It's books like this and stuff being exposed to our children and it being allowed to being exposed."

On the ALA Top ten frequently challenged books lists of the 21st century since 2007 for offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group, drugs, and nudity

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

in

Talking about some heavy shit and a long story about a night in a haunted house.

Banned 

2002 - Fairfax, Virginia: Challenged in school libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for "profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture".

2003 - Massapequa, New York: Removed as a reading assignment in an elective sociology course at the Massapequa High School because of its "offensive content".

2004 - Montgomery County, Texas: Challenged in Montgomery County Memorial Library System along with 15 other young adult books with gay positive themes by the Library Patrons of Texas.

2005

Arizona - Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction sent a letter to charter and public school principals and district superintendents asking them to make sure the book is no longer available for containing sexual references, including a scene where a girl is forced to have oral sex with a boy during a party

Merton, Wisconsin: Retained in the Arrowhead HS curriculum as optional reading. Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction sent a letter to principals and district superintendents asking them to make sure that the book was no longer available to minors or any other students.

2006 - Arlington Heights, Illinois: Retained on the Northwest Suburban HS District 214 reading list along with eight other challenged titles. A newly elected school board member raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she'd found on the Internet. Chbosky's novel, which contains references to masturbation, homosexuality, and bestiality, got the bulk of the criticism.

2007 - Commack, New York: Challenged on the Commack High School summer reading list because the novel contains a two-page rape scene.

2008 - Portage, Indiana: Removed from Portage High School classrooms for topics such as homosexuality, drug use, and sexual behavior.

2009

Wyoming, Ohio: Challenged on high school district's suggested reading list.

Roanoke, Virginia: Restricted at the William Byrd and Hidden Valley high schools in to juniors and seniors. Freshman and sophomores will need parental permission to check out the book.

West Bend, Wisconsin: Challenged at the West Bend Community Memorial Library as being "obscene or child pornography" in a section designated "Young Adults." The Library board unanimously voted 9-0 to maintain, "without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access," the book in the young adult section at the West Bend Community Memorial Library. The vote was a rejection of a four-month campaign conducted by the citizen's group West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries to move fiction and nonfiction books from the young adult section to the adult section and label them as containing sexual material.

2011 - Clarkstown, New York: Challenged, but retained, at the Clarkstown North High School despite a parent's complaint about the teen coming-of-age novel, which deals graphically with teenage sex, homosexuality, and bestiality.

2012 - Grandview Heights, Ohio: Challenged as assigned reading at the Grandview Heights High School because the book deals with drugs, alcohol, sex, homosexuality, and abuse.

2013

Tampa, Florida - Challenged on a summer reading list for incoming freshmen at Wharton High School in Tampa (FL) because "it deals with sexual situations and drug use."

Glen Ellyn, Illinois: Removed from 8th-grade classrooms at Hadley Junior High School because of concerns about sexually explicit content and language. In June, the Glen Ellyn Elementary Dicstrict 41 School Board overturned the decision and returned the book to library shelves. Most board members were willing to reinstate the book after assurances from district administrators that a revised parental notification letter would be sent at the start of each school year warning parents that their children could be getting access to sometimes mature content in classroom libraries.

2015 - Wallingford, Conneticut - parent complained about the book’s depiction of homosexuality, sex, masturbation, and a “glorification of alcohol use and drugs,”

2016

Florida - Parents at Pasco Middle School complained about the book's sexual content after a long-term substitute teacher assigned it without reading; after being reviewed, the book was removed from the middle school but retained at the high schools, according to the superintendent

Iowa - The review committee, in a 10-0 decision, has voted in favor of keeping The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Dubuque school curriculums. KWWL reports that at the meeting, over 40 participants stood up and spoke about their personal connection to the book. When the parent who filed for the review, Jodi Lockwood, spoke she asked to rescind her request.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom To Read. 2014.

American Bookseller’s Association

Marshall University

ALA Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books

NBC

Huffinton Post

Banned Books Awareness

New York Daily News

ABCActionNews/Tampa Bay Times

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/