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

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J K Rowling

in ,

The Harry Potter that started it all! Join Evan as he talks about wizards, wizardry, how Hogwarts is a hellscape, and how unicorns are not innocent.

Banned

1999

California - Parent's objected to the book's use in two Moorpark elementary schools

Colorado - Parents objected at Douglas County schools

New York - Parents objected in suburban Buffalo among other districts

South Carolina - Challenged in schools because "the book has a serious tone of death, hate, lack of respect, and sheer evil."

2000

Ontario, Canada - Challenged but retained in the Durham School District because of witchcraft

Brisbane, Australia - Banned from Christian Outreach College library, being considered violent and dangerous

Alabama - Challenged but retained in Arab school libraries, claiming the author "is a member of the occult and the book encourages children to practice witchcraft."

California

Challenged but retained in the Simi Valley School District after a parent complained the book was violent, anti-family, had a religious theme, and lacked educational value.

Challenged but retained at the Orange Grove Elementary School for magic and bad experiences.

Challenged in the Fresno Unified School District by a religious group voicing concerns about sorcery and witchcraft.

Florida - Challenged in six Santa Rosa County schools in Pace for witchcraft.

Iowa - Challenged in Cedar Rapids school libraries because the book romantically portrays witches, warlocks, wizards, goblins, and sorcerers

Illinois - Challenged but retained in Frankfort School District 157-C after parents complained of lying and smart-aleck retorts to adults.

Michigan

Zeeland schools restricted the book to parental permission for fifth to eighth graders as well as no future installments would be purchased. Restrictions were overturned by the superintendent except one: teachers are prohibited from reading the book aloud to students below sixth grade. Restrictions place because the book contained an intense story line, violence, wizardry, and the sucking of animal blood.

Removed from Bridgeport Township public school for promoting witchcraft

New Hampshire - Challenged but retained in the Newfound Area School District in Bristol despite complaints the book was scary.

New York - Challenged at the Salamanca elementary school library for dark themes

Oregon - Challenged in Bend at Three Rivers Elementary school for witchcraft and concerns that the book would lead children to hatred and rebellion

Texas - Restricted to parental permission in the Santa Fe School District because of witchcraft promotion

2001

Florida - Challenged but retained in the Duval County school libraries despite complaint of witchcraft.

New Mexico - Burned in Alamogordo outside Christ Community Church as being "a masterpiece of satanic deception."

Pennsylvania - Challenged in Bucktown's Owen J. Roberts School District because the "books are telling children over and over again that lying, cheating, and stealing are not only acceptable, but that they're cool and cute."

2002

Moscow, Russia - Challenged by a Slavic cultural organization that alleged the stories about magic and wizards could draw students into Satanism

United Arab Emirates - one of 26 books banned from schools that contradicts Islamic and Arab values

Arkansas - Originally challenged for characterizing authority as "stupid" and portrays "good witches and good magic" and placed on restricted access. Parents of a fourth-grader filed a federal lawsuit against the restriction and the federal judge overturned the restriction.

Kentucky - A teacher's prayer group in Russell Springs proposed this for ghosts, cults, and witchcraft as well as fifty other titles for removal. 

2003 - Connecticut - Challenged but retained in the New Haven schools as it "makes witchcraft and wizardry alluring to children"

 

2006 - Georgia - Gwinnett County for guess what, but the school board rejected it. Georgia Board of Education ruled December 14, 2006 that the parent had failed to prove her contention that the series "promote[s} the Wicca religion and therefore that the book's availability in public schools does not constitute advocacy of a religion." On May 29, 2007, Superior Court judge Ronnie Batchelor upheld the Georgia Board of Education's decision to support local school officials. County school board members have said the bo oks are good tools to encourage children to read and to spark creativity and imagination.

2007 - Massachusetts - Removed from the St. Joseph School in Wakefield because the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate for a Catholic school.

2010 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Salvation Army post refusing to take donations of Harry Potter items because they “promote black magic and the occult.”

2019 - Tennessee - Rev. Dan Reehil, the pastor of St. Edward Catholic School, consulted with exorcists and the Catechism of the Catholic Church before making the decision to remove the book series from the school library due to the possibility of risking “conjuring evil spirits” as well as concerns that the book teaches Machiavellian approaches to problem solving. Students may still read the book on school grounds.

Sources

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

Willingham, AJ. “A Catholic school removes 'Harry Potter' from its shelves, claiming the books' spells are real.” CNN.com. CNN, September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019 from https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/us/harry-potter-catholic-church-st-edward-nashville-trnd/index.html

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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/