One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

in

A man trying to escape prison finds himself locked up in the worst way in this psychadelic novel about conformity, individuality, and sanity.

Banned

#49 ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1971 - Colorado - Challenged in Greenley public school district as non-required reading.

1974 - Ohio - Five residents sued the board of education to remove the book from classrooms, saying it was "pornographic" and ”glorifies criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles, and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."

1975

New York - removed from Randolph public schools

Oklahoma - removed from Alton public schools

1977 - Maine - Removed from required reading list in Westport

1978 - Idaho - Banned from Freemont High School in St. Anthony and the instructor was terminated.

1982 - New Hampshire - challenged in Merrimack high school

1986 - Washington - challenged but retained in Aberdeen high school for use in honors English for promoting "secular humanism"

2000 - California - Parents at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District complained about profanity and sexual situations and petitioned to have the book removed. Parent of children aged 7,8, and 17 Anna Marie Buckner said "It teaches how very easy it is to smother somebody. I don't want to put these kinds of images in children's minds. They're going to think that when they get mad at their parents, they can just ax them out."

Sources

ALA. "Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century." ALA. 2018. Retrieved on 2018 Jaunuary 26 from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=136590

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 18 Jan 26 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Baldassarro, R. Wolf. "Banned Books Awareness: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey." world.edu. 2012. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from http://world.edu/banned-books-awareness-flew-cuckoos-nest-ken-kesey/

Biography.com. "Ken Kesey Biography.com." The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks. March 23, 2016. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from https://www.biography.com/people/ken-kesey-9363911

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

Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Viking. 1962; 2002.

Tran, Mai. "Parents Ask School District to Ban 'Cuckoo's Nest.'" LA Times. 2000. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/03/local/me-60611

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Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

in
Little Black Sambo
By Helen Bannerman

A crazy, racist little fairy tale, Sambo learns to steal from bullies and eat hella pancakes.

Banned

1956 - Canada - Removed by the Toronto, Ontario board of education after complaints from several groups that "the popular book was a cause of mental suffering to Negroes in particular and children in general."

1959 - New York - A black resident of New York City challenged the book at a school library, calling it racially derogatory. The book was eventually restored to library shelves.

1964 - Nebraska - School superintendent of Lincoln school system ordered it removed from open shelves due to the inherent racism of the book. The book was placed on reserved shelves with a note explaining it would be available as optional material.

1971 - Alabama - Montgomery schools banned the book for being "inappropriate" and "not in keeping with good human relations."

1972

United Kingdom - General attack in schools and libraries for symbolizing "the kind of dangerous and obsolete books that must go."

Canada - Hamilton, Ontario teachers ordered students to tear the story from their books; the Montreal-based Canadian National Black Coalition began a war to remove the book from school and library shelves; New Brunswick banned it entirely.

Texas - Dallas school libraries removed the book because it "distorts a child's view of black people."

Sources

Associated Press. "COMPANY NEWS; Sambo's to Alter Northeast Names." New York Times, 1981. Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/11/business/company-news-sambo-s-to-alter-northeast-names.html

Bannerman, Helen. "Little Black Sambo." Applewood Books, 1921. Bedford, Massachusetts.

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

Golus, Carrie. "Sambo’s subtext." Chicago Magazine. 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1010/chicago_journal/sambos-subtext.shtml

Pancake Parlour. "Helen Bannerman on the Train to Kodaikanal." Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://web.archive.org/web/20060820084143/http://pancakeparlour.com/Wonderland/Highlights/Thefuture/Short_Stories/Bannerman/bannerman.html