Ruby Bridges Goes to School by Ruby Bridges
A little girl did a brave thing, and the world should remember to be kind.
Read MoreA little girl did a brave thing, and the world should remember to be kind.
Read MoreAuthor Spiegelman interviews his father, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, while representing various groups in the story as animals.
Read MoreA collection of tales about humans making it to Mars and being pretty disappointed for the most part.
Read MoreWhat happens when some folklorists gather together all the children's rhymes and have them illustrated by a master children's illustrator?
Read MoreA memoir of a great writer dealing with racial issues, poverty, domestic violence, and a lot of moving around and learning.
Read MoreA small New England town is rocked by the scandal of everyday life in one of the most forgotten popular books of the twentieth century.
1957 - Tennessee - Knoxville activated a city ordinance that said the City Board of Review could block items deemed obscene. Local booksellers were forbidden to sell it. One newsstand owner challenged the ordinance and it was ruled unconsitutional.
1958
Ireland - Banned until the introduction of the Censorship of Publications Bill in 1967.
Canada - Temporary ban lifted
1959 - Rhode Island - The Rhonde Island Commission to Encourage Morality in Youth bought action against Bantam and three other New York paperback publishers. The Rhode Island Superior Court upheld the decision, which was later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bantam Boos, Inc, et al, v. Joseph A Sullivan, et al.
Callahan, Michael. "Peyton Places' Real Victim." Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 2017 Nov 1 from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/03/peytonplace200603
Doyle, Robert P. "Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read." American Library Association, 2014.
Metalious, Grace. "Peyton Place." Northeastern Univsersity Press. Boston, 1956, 1999.
An angsty kid meet some new friends in this heartbreaking tale of whiny smokers cussing a lot.
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."
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
We talk about the origin of the library's ebooks and an important book everyone should read.
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
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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.
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.
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
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed
"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Some library news, an autobiography steeped in racial overtones, crimes against children and sex, and then a little alien abduction in the library.
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.
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
"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0