Blubber by Judy Blume

in
Blubber
By Judy Blume

Bullies abound in Judy Blume's Blubber and on our top ten list of the best bullies in literature.

 

Banned

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

1980 - Maryland - Removed from Montgomery County elementary schools

1981 - Arizona - Banned temporarily from Sunizona

1983

Iowa - Challenged in Des Moines schools for "objectionable" subject matter

Ohio - Challenged at Xenia school libraries for undermining "authority since the word 'bitch' is used in connection with a teacher

Texas - Challenged at Smith Elementary School in Del Valle for the words "damn" and "bitch" and showed children cruelly teasing a classmate

1984

Illinois - Banned but later restricted to parental permission at Peoria School District libraries for sexual content. language, and lack of social and literary value

New Jersey - Restricted at Lindenwold elementary school libraries for language

Pennsylvania - Removed from Hanover School District elementary and secondary libraries but later placed on "restricted shelf" at middle school libraries for being "indecent and inappropriate"

Wyoming - Challenged at the Casper school libraries

1985 - Montana - Challenged as profane, immoral and offensive but retained at Bozeman school libraries

1986 - Wisconsin - Challenged at Muskego Elementary school for language and "taunting (of an overweight girl) is never punished for her cruelty"

1991 - Ohio - Challenged at the Perry Township elementry school libraries because "bad is never punished. Good never comes to the fore. Evil is triumphant"

1998 - Alabama - Banned in Clements High School in Athens for language, but was later reversed

1999 - Texas - Removed from an elementary school in Arlington because educators objected to "verbal, physical, and sexual abuse of student upon student"

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. "Blume, Judy - Blubber." 2014

Ala Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

"Dances and Dames" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

in
The Catcher in the Rye
By J.D. Salinger

Advice and ghosts are in the library as well as the classic novel about a whiny jerk going out on the town and learning that life if full of hypocrisy, even himself.

Banned

1960 - Oklahoma - Teacher was fired in Tulsa from an 11th grade English position for assigning the book. Teacher appealed and was reinstated but the book was removed from the school

1963 - Ohio - Columbus parents asked the school board to ban the novel for being "anti-white" and "obscene." The school board refused.

1975 - Pennsylvania - Removed from reading list after parents complained about the language and content. The book was reinstated after the school board vote, orginally 5-4, was deemed illegal as they required a two-thirds vote in favor to remove a text.

1977 - New Jersey - Challenged and the board ruled the book could be read in an advanced placement class with parental permission.

1978 - Washington - Issaquah school removed it from their optional reading list

1979 - Michigan - Removed from the required reading list at Middleville.

1980 - Ohio - Removed from Jackson Milton school libraries in North Jackson

1982

Alabama - Removed from Anniston High School libraries and later reinstated

Manitoba, Canada - Removed from school libraries in Morris along with two other books as they violate committee's guidelines covering "excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things  concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult."

1983 - Montana - Challenged at Libby High School due to the book's contents

1985 - Florida - Banned from English classes at the Freeport High School in De Funiak Springs as being "unacceptable" and "obscene"

1986 - Wyoming - Removed from Medicine Bow senior high school English reading list because of profanity and sexual references

1987 - North Dakota - Banned from a required sophomore English reading list at Napoleon High School after parents and the local Knights of Columbus chapter complained of profanity and sexual references

1988 - Indiana - Challenged at the Linton-Stockton High School as being "blasphemous and undermines morality"

1989 - California - Muroc Joint Unified School District board in Boron High School removed the book from school reading lists after parents complain the novel was unsuitable because of profanity, blasphemy and promotion of anti-family values. Local resident and religious activist Patty Salazar said she supports the board action because the novel "doesn't belong in a public high school." "It uses the Lord's name in vain 200 times," she said. "That's enough reason to ban it right there. They say it describes reality. I say let's back up from reality. Let's go backwards. Let's go back to when we didn't have an immoral society."

1991 - Illinois - Challenged at Grayslake Community High School

1992

Illinois - Challenged at the Jamaica High School in Sidell for profanity, depiction of premarital sex, alcohol abuse, and prostitution

Iowa - Challenged at Waterloo schools for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Florida - Challenged at Duval County public school libraries for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at the Cumberland Valley High School after parent's objections of profanity and immorality.

1993 - California - Challenged and retained at Corona Norco Unified School district because it is "centered around negative activity."

1994

Wisconsin - Challenged but retained at the New Richmond High School for use in some English classes

New Hampshire - Challenged as mandatory reading in the Goffstown schools for language and sexual content

1995 - Florida - Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools

1996 - Maine - Parent challenged over the word "fuck" ("f" word) at teh Oxford Hills High School

1997

Georgia - Challenged but retained at the Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick after a student objected to profanity and sexual content.

California - Removed by school superintendent required reading curriculum of the Marysville Joint Unified School District  to get it "out of the way so that we didn't have that polarization over a book."

1999-2000 - Georgia - Vanned and reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah after a parent complained about the sex, violence, and profanity

2000 - Alabama - Challenged but retained at the Limestone County school district after complaints of language

2001

South Carolina - Removed by a Dorchester District 2 school board member in Summerville because it "is a filthy, filthy book."

Georgia - Challenged by a school board member for language but retained in Glynn County

2005 – Maine - Challenged, but retained as an assigned reading in the Noble High School in North Berwick.

2009 – Montana - Challenged in the Big Sky high School in Missoula

2010 - Florida - Challenged but retained in the Martin School District after a parent's complaint for language

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

in

Some library news, an autobiography steeped in racial overtones, crimes against children and sex, and then a little alien abduction in the library.

Banned

1983 - Alabama State Textbook Committee because the work preaches "bitterness and hatred against whites."

1987 - Raleigh, North Carolina because of complaints about and eight-year-old gets raped

1988 - Strong, Maine for rape

1990 - Bremerton, Washington for the "graphic" depiction of molestation

1991 - Banning, California after parents complained about child molestation and rape

1992 - Pleasanton, California for sexually explicit language

1993

Haines City High School, Florida library and English curriculum for rape of an eight year old

Columbus, Mississippi as "too sexually explicit to be read by children"

Hooks High School, Texas

1994

Castle Rock, Colorado because it is a "lurid tale of sexual perversion"

Des Moines, Iowa after a parent objected to inappropriately explicit sexual scenes

Austin, Texas because "the book is pornographic, contains profanity, and encourages premarital sex and homosexuality." Children required parental permission.

1995

Gilbert Unified School, Arizona after parents complained it did not represent "traditional values"

Volusia County County Schools, Florida because "It is sexually explicit and promotes cohabitation and rape"

Caddo Parish, Louisiana because of books language and objectionable content. Students petitioned and demonstrated and got it reinstated.

Hendersonville, Beech High School, Tennessee

Danforth High School, Wimberley, Texas

Southlake, Carroll School, Texas deemed it "pornographic" and full of "gross evils"

1996

Moulton, Alabama by School Superintendent, who decided "the poet's descriptions of being raped as a little girl were pornographic."

Round Rock Independent High School, Texas for being too violent.

1997

Folsom Cordova School District, California for containing sexually explicit passages

Wayne County High School, Georgia for the novel's sexual explicitness

Richfield High School, Minnesota for being too explicit

Turrentine Middle School, North Carolina where parents complained of profanity and sexual references

Union Township, Ohio for description of rape at age eight and other sexual content

Mukilteo, Washington for being sexually explicit

1998

Brooksville, Florida for passage about author's rape at age eight and sexual content

Anne Arundel County, Maryland after parents complained the book "portrays white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid people - if a child didn't have negative feelings about white people, this could sow the seeds." Challenge overridden after sexually explicit complaints.

Alamance, North Carolina

1999 - Unity Elementary School, New Hampshire for being "too sexually explicit."

2000 - Poolesville High School, Maryland for sexual content and language

2002

Montana for underage sex, rape, and homosexuality

Fairfax County, Virginia by Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for profanity, drugs, explicit sexual content, and torture.

2006

Annapolis, Maryland for rape scenes and being too mature for age group

Fond du Lac High School, Wisconsin for underage rape and unwanted pregnancy

2007

Coeur d'Alene School District, Idaho

Manheim Township, Pennsylvania for sexual references

2009

California

Ocean View School District for being inappropriate for children

Newman-Crows Landing School District after a trustee questioned staff qualifications to teach a novel depicting African American culture.

2016 - Illinois - Parents and residents wished it be removed from Lemont High School due to sexual content. The school board said the students could read other books in place.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. "66. Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. American Library Association, 2014. pg 98-99

Raw Story - Illinois parents call for ‘smut’ book ban: ‘We can’t have 18-year-olds reading about sexual issues’

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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 Witches by Roald Dahl

in
The Witches
By Roald Dahl

When a young boy meets up with some witches, he might be losing his damn mind. Roald Dahl, you so crazy!

Banned

#22 ALA Banned List, 1990-199

perceived misogyny. Dahl says that witches can only be women. "I do not wish to speak badly about women," the author writes. "Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women. There is no such thing as a male witch. On the other hand, a ghoul is always a male... both are dangerous.  But neither of them is half as dangerous as a REAL WITCH."

"the children misbehave and take retribution on the adults and there's never, ever a consequence for their actions"

Devalues the life of a child

1987 - Amana, Iowa for being “too sophisticated and did not teach moral values”

1989 - Billings, Montana attempt was made wherein Dahl commented the parents had no sense of humor

1990 - Goose Lake, Iowa for violence, mouse turning, and the word “slut”

1991 - Dallas, Oregon for possiblity of turning kids to witchcraft or the occult

1992

Escondido, California for fear of desensitizing kids to violence and increasing the interest in witchcraft

La Mesa-Spring Valley, California for depiction of witches as ordinary women that children cannot defend against and promoting Wiccan and witchcraft

1993

Spenser, Wisconsin for desensitizing children to crimes related to witchcraft

Pennsylvania - Challenged at Pine Forge Elementary School in Boyertown area

1994 - Challenged but retained in Battle Creek, Michigan despite a parent claiming it is “satanic.”

1995 - Stafford, Virginia for “crude language” and encouraging children to be disobediant

1997 - Wichita Falls, Texas for satanic themes

1998 - Dublin, Ohio - “derogatory to children, hurtful to self-esteem, and conflicted with the the [challenger’s] family’s religious and moral beliefs.”

Sources:

Christian Science Monitor

SHmoop

ALA

LA Trobe University

SkepticFiles

Karolides, Nicholas J. et al. 120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature. Checkmark Books, 1997. pg 314-320.

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. American Library Association, 2014. pg 145.

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

in ,

Meet Margaret. She's a godless child about to embark on the mystery of puberty and boys and other sinful stuff that's really boring in retrospect.

OR

Margaret only wants three things: drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Kidding. She wants religion, boobs, and her period. What a long, strange trip.

Banned 

1980 - Arizona - removed from Gilbert elementary and jr high required parental consent

1982

Alabama - Challenged in the Tuscaloosa School System

Wisconsin - Challenged in Fon du Lac school systems because the book is "sexually offensive and amoral"

1983

Minnesota - Restricted in Zimmerman to students with parental permission. After the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union sued the Elk River, Minnesota school board (1983), the Board reversed its decision.

Ohio - Challenged at the Xenia school libraries; "is built around just two themes: sex and anti-Christian behavior"

1985 - Montana - Challenged as profane, immoral, and offensive but retained in Bozeman school libraries

Sources

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 Giver by Lois Lowry

in

In a world where everything is the same, one boy gets his mind hole blown open when he meets The Giver.

Banned

1994 - California - Four parents complained violent and sexual passages were inappropriate at Bonita United School District in La Verne and San Dimas and the book was temporarily banned

1995 - Montana - Because of infanticide and euthanasia, students at Columbia Falls require parental permission

1996 - Ohio - Challenged at Lakota High School in Cincinnati

1999

Florida - Challenged but retained at Lake Butler public middle school after a parent complained of infanticide and sexual awakening discussed in the book.

Ohio - Challened at the Troy Intermediate School in Avon Lake after a patron objected to the "mature themes" of suicide, sexuality, and euthanasia

2003 - Missouri - Challenged in Blue Sprints after parents called the book "lewd" and "twisted" and "pleaded for it to be tossed out of the district." After a review by two committees and a recommended retention the controversy continued.

2006 - Kansas - Challenged but retained at the Seaman Unified School district 345 elementary school library.

2007 - California - Two parents in Mt Diablo School District in Concord complained of the descriptions of adolescent pill-popping, suicide, and lethal injections given to babies and the elderly.

Sources

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

The Giver Banned - Slate.com 

Banned Books Awareness

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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