Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

in
Two Boys Kissing
By David Levithan

Two boys try to set a world record for kissing after their friend is beaten in this YA novel. One lady tried to get it thrown out of libraries for sexual content.

National Book Award longlist

Stonewall Honor Book

Inspired by true events

Banned

Cover image of two boys kissing - author states that the cover shows what happens in the book and does not lie. When asked if this would discourage LGBT teens from openly reading or checking out the book from libraries, the author conceded this was possible but says that having the book in the library, representing the community, and normalizing the subject is more important.

#5 on the ALA's Top 10 Banned and Challenged of 2016

2014 - Virginia - A parent filed a complaint with Fauqier County Schools to remove the book after reviewing 46 sample pages on Amazon.com and disagreeing with the sexual content (claiming not the homosexual content). The school refused to remove the material from the libraries. On appeal to the school board committee, a unanimous vote allowed the book to stay in the school libraries.

2016 - "condones public displays of affection"

2019 - Iowa - Religious activist Robert Dorr checked out the book and two other from Orange City Public Library and posted a video of himself burning the books. Dorr was convicted of criminal mischief and forced to pay a fine.

Sources

Aviles, Gwen. “Religious activist convicted for burning LGBTQ library books.” NBCnews.com. August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019 from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/religious-activist-convicted-burning-lgbtq-library-books-n1040051

Request to Ban ‘Two Boys Kissing’ from Virginia High School Library Denied - School Library Journal

Spotlight on Censorship: ‘Two Boys Kissing’ - Intellectual Freedom Blog

This One Summer Tops ALA’s Top Ten Challenged Books List - Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

TWO BOYS KISSING - Marshall University Libraries

Two Boys Kissing - National Coalition Against Censorship wiki

Two Boys Kissing Stays on Shelves in Virginia School System (For Now) - Comic Boook Legal Defense Fund

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

in

A banned book unstuck in time and how the library kept its forest despite mutant dogs. #godwearspants or #godalmightypees

Banned

1972 - Michigan - Rochester banned for containing and making reference to "religious matters"

1973 - North Dakota - Challenged at many communities, but burned in Drake

1975 - New York - Banned in Levittown

1979 - Ohio - Banned in North Jackson

1982 - Florida - Banned in Lakeland for "explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language."

1984 - Wisconsin - Barred for purchase in Rancine by an administrative assistant for instructional services

1985 - Kentucky - Challenged in Owensboro for language a secont with an image depicting beastiality, a reference to Magic Fingers on a bed, and the line "The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty."

1986 - Wisconsin - Restricted in Racine to parental permission at the flour Racine Unified District high schools for "language, depictions of torture, ethnic slurs, and negative portrayals of women."

1987

Georgia - challenged in Fitzgerald for profanity and sexual reference

Kentucky - challenged in LaRue County for language and "deviant sexual behavior"

1988 - Louisiana - challenged in a Baton Rouge high school library as "vulgar and offensive"

1989 - Michigan - challenged in Monroe high schools for language and portrayal of women

1996 - Texas - challenged in Round Rock high school for being too violent

1998 - Virginia - banned in Prince William County high schools for profanity and sex

2000 - Rhode Island - Removed from Coventry high school reading list after a parent complained of language, violence and sex

2006 - Illinois - A school board member in Arlington Heights, elected on a platform to bring Christian values to board decision making, raised a controversy about several books based on excerpts of the books she found on the Internet

2007 - Michigan - Challenged in Livingston County at Howell High School for strong sexual content by the organization Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE). LOVE asked law enforcement to review the book for distributing sexually explicit conduct to minors. The county prosecutor said the book was not criminally liable, containing content of an artistic, literary, or political nature.

2010 - Missouri - Removed and later returned from Republic high schools, available only to parents. Teachers cannot acquire or read aloud from it. A resident said it taught principles contrary to the Bible.

Source

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

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

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

in
Their Eyes Were Watching God
By Zora Neale Hurston

We hear about a hallmark of African-American literature and a road trip into the wilds of Texas our librarian once took.

Banned

1997 - Virginia - Challenged for sexual explicitness, but retained on the Stonewall Jackson High School's academically advanced reading list in Brentsville. A parent objected to the novel's language and sexual explicitness.

Resources

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

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

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln and Christopher Collier

in
My Brother Sam Is Dead
By James Lincoln Collier

Spoiler alerts all around, Sam is totally dead at the end in the juvenile but ultimately compelling book set during the American Revolution!

Banned

1984 - Georgia - Challenged at the Gwinnett County school libraries because of language; an abridged version without profanities was substituted

1989 - Ohio - Removed from fifth grade New Richmond classes for language and did not represent "acceptable ethical standards" for the age

1991 - South Carolina - Challenged in Greenville County Schools for using the name of God and Jesus in a "vane and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual reference."

1993 - Kansas - Challenged at Walnut Elementary School in Emporia for profanity and violence

1994

California - Removed from the fifth grade at the Bryant Ranch Elementary School in Palcentia-Yorba Linda Unified School district because "the book is not g-rated. Offensive language is offensive language. Graphic violence is graphic violence, no matter what the context."

Pennsylvania - Challenged but retained at the Palmyra schools for language and violence

1996

California - Retained at the Antioch elementary school libraries after a parent complained about profanity and violence

Colorado - Challenged in the Jefferson County Public Schools in Lakewood for profanity, references to rape, drinking, and battlefield violence

1998 - Virginia - Challenged at the McSwain Elementary School in Stauton for language and Tucker-Capps Elementary School in Hampton for language and violence

2000 - Illinois - Challenged in the fifth grade Oak Brook Butler District 53 curriculum because of violence and language

2009 - Georgia - Regained in Muscogee County elementary school libraries after parental concerns about profanity

#27 Top 100 Banned/Challenged 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/

Beloved by Toni Morrison

in
Beloved
By Toni Morrison

We read an award winning book about a ghost haunting the life of an ex-slave and then talk about ghosts in the library.

Banned

1996 - Texas - Challenged but retained for violence at Round Rock Independent High School

1997 - Maine - Challenged for language at the Madawaska School District

1998 - Florida - Challenged at the Sarasota County schools for sexual content

2000 - Illinois - After a board member promised to bring Christian beliefs to board decision making at the Northwest Suburban High School District 214, a number of titles were challenged and retained. The board member had based her decisions on excerpts from the Internet.

2007

Indiana - Parents asked for parental permission for student access for five books at the Coeur d'Alene School District

Kentucky - Pulled from the senior Advanced Placement English class at Eastern High School in Louisville after two parents complained of bestiality, racism, and sex. Students had to start over with Scarlett Letter for their AP exams.

2012 - Michigan - Challenged but retained at Salem High School Advanced Placement English classes after numerous considerations of district officials including appropriate for age, accuracy of the material, objectivity of the material, and necessity of covering the material.

2013 - Virginia - Challenged at the Fairfax County schools because parent complained for beastility, gang rape, and an infant's gruesome murder

2016 - Virginia - Came into focus during legislation over whether or not parents should be notified about school materials. Excerpts of the novel were read on the state senate floor depicting the novel as a work of, as Senator Richard Black put it, "moral sewage."

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks)

in
Go Ask Alice
By Anonymous

A story of order and a nightgown with little anchors then a book about an anonymous diary full of lies about drugs and a life not worth living.

Banned

#18 on Top Challenged books 2000-2009

1974 - Michigan - Removed from school libraries in Kalamazoo due to language and sexual content.

1975

Michigan - Removed from school libraries in Saginaw due to language and sexual content

New York - Removed from school libraries in Levittown due to language and sexual content

1977

New Jersey - Removed from school libraries in Trenton due to language and sexual content

Texas -  Removed from school libraries in Eagle Pass due to language and sexual content

1979 - Utah - Challenged at the Ogden School District

1980 - New Jersey - Removed from school libraries in North Bergen due to language and sexual content

1982 - Florida - Challenged at Safety Harbor, St Petersburg Middle School Library where written parental permission was required to check out

1983

Colorado - Challenged at the Pagosa Springs schools after a parent objected to language, subject matter, "immoral tone and lack of literary quality"

Minnesota -Challenged at the Osseo School District in Brooklyn Park after a school board found the book's language "personally offensive."

1984 - Mississippi - Challenged at the Rankin County School district for language and sexual content

1986

Georgia - Challenged at the Central Gwinnett High School library for encouraging students to "steal and take drugs"

Georgia - Along with 40 other books, the Gainesville Public Library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room

Michigan - Removed from the school library in Kalkaska for language

1988 - Maine - Challenged at King Middle School in Portland

1993

New Jersey - Removed from Wall Township Intermediate School library by the Superintendent of Schools for language and "borders on pornography" after responding to an anonymous letter in 1987 and removing the book.

New York - Challenged as required reading for language at Johnstown High School

West Virginia - Removed from Buckhannon-Upshur High school English class for language

1994 - Massachusetts - Banned in Dudley at Shepherd Hill High School ninth grade reading list for language, drug use, and sexual content

1995

Alaska - Challenged in Wasilla at Houston Junior and Senior High School

Ohio - Banned from Plain City's Jonathan Alder School District

Virginia - Removed from Warm Springs sophomore English class for language and "indecent situations"

1998 - Rhode Island - Principal in Tiverton middle school confiscated the book from a class while reading. The book was later returned by the school board.

1999 - Texas - Removed from Aledo Middle School library and restricted at the high school library to parental permission after a parent complained about drug use, language and sexual content

2000 - Pennsylvania - REtained as optional reading for eighth graders at Girard's Rice Avenue Middle School after a grandmother found the book offensive for "filth and smut"

2008 - South Carolina - Challenged at Berkeley County's Hanahan Middle School for language, sexual content, drug use, and blasphemy

Sources

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

'Go Ask Alice' Is Still Awash in Controversy, 43 Years After Publication

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 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 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/