Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

in
Jacob Have I Loved
By Katherine Paterson

Banned for language and moral/religious reasons, we get into the story of a little girl with family problems and the old man she thinks is taking her friend.

Banned

1989 - New Jersey - Challenged at Bernardsville schools for being offensive to several parents on moral and religious grounds.

1993 - Pennsylvania - Challenged in the Gettysburg public schools for offensive language

Sources

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. Jacob Have I Loved. HarperTrophy, 1980.

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

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska
By John Green

An angsty kid meet some new friends in this heartbreaking tale of whiny smokers cussing a lot.

Banned

2008 - New York - Challenged, but retained for the 11th grade Regents English classes in Depew despite concerns about graphic language and sexual content. The school sent parents a letter requesting permission to use the novel and only 3 students were denied permission.

2012 - Tennessee - Challenged as required reading for Knox County High Schools' Honors and as Advanced Placement outside readings for English II because of "inappropriate language." School Superintendent Dr. James P. McIntyre, Jr. said that a parent identified this as an issue and the book was removed from the required reading list. He didn't say whether the book was still in the schools.

2013

Colorado - Parents of Fort Lupton Middle and High School challenged the books use in a 9th grade classrooms for sexual and alcohol content

Tennessee - Banned as required reading for Sumner County schools by the director of schools because of a sex scene that was "a bit much" and  "inappropriate language." The book was retained in the libraries.

2014 - New Jersey - Challenged in the Verona High School curriculum because a parent found the sexual nature of the story inappropriate.

2015 - Wisconsin - Challenged, but retained in the Waukesha South High School despite claims the book is "too racy to read."

2016

Kentucky - Marion County parent complained about book being included on 12th grade english, "calls the novel “filth” and lists his fear that the book would tempt students “to experiment with pornography, sex, drugs, alcohol and profanity.”" The book was removed from circulation until the school committee reached a decision. "Another resident has written to the local paper describing the novel as “mental pornography” and detailing the number of times the “‘f’ word” is used (16) and the the “‘sh’ word” is used (27)."

New Jersey - Challenged, but retained in the Lumberton Township middle school despite a parent questioning its "sexual content."

Sources

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

Guardian - John Green fights back against banning of Looking for Alaska

Guardian - US battle over banning Looking for Alaska continues in Kentucky

Marshall University Libraries - Banned Books - Looking for Alaska

National Coalation Against Censorship - Looking for Alaska Under Fire in Kentucky

NJ.com - N.J. school district bans John Green's 'Looking for Alaska'

Office of Intellectual Freedom Blog - Here and Here

School Library Journal - Ban on John Green’s ‘Looking for Alaska’ Sparks Anger

School Library Journal - John Green Says ‘Looking for Alaska’ Challenged by Colorado Parents

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/

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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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/

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier

in
We All Fall Down
By Robert Cormier

A group of boys trash a house and nearly kill a girl, and that's just in the first few paragraphs. Book was banned for alcohol, violence, and sexual content.

Banned

#41 on 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

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

1994 - California - Pulled from school libraries in Stockton after parents complained it glorified alcoholism and violence, contains a violent rape scene, and profanity

1998 - Ontario, Canada - Complaint from a parent in Simcoe County for violence

2000

Florida - Removed from Carver Middle School library in Leesburg after parents complained about content and language

Texas - Restricted in Arlington middle and high schools for parental permission for violence

2001 - Pennsylvania - Challenged in Tamaqua Area School District for not being age appropriate.

2003 - Kansas - Removed from a Baldwin ninth grade class by the superintendent because "it was clear to him it wasn't fit for his own daughter or granddaughter" after complaints of profanity and sexual content.

2005 - New Jersey - Challenged and retained at Cherry Hill Public Library's young adult section by a parent claiming the book was unfit for the age group with "deplorable" content.

Sources

We All Fall Down the Center of Controversy in Arlington School Libraries - American Libraries

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

We All Fall Down By Robert Cormier - Freedom to Read Canada

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 - ALA

100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999 - ALA

We All Fall Down (Robert Cormier novel) - Wikipedia

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier - Google Books

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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 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/