Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks)

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

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 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Welcome to the literary deconstruction of race and beauty in this book about… holy crap that's what this book is about?! Evan might talk about the armadillos that are trying to sex each other.


Banned

#34 on the 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

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

1994

Alaska - Removed from a Lathrop High School classroom in Fairbanks for graphic descriptions and language.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at West Chester schools as pornographic

Banned from Morrisville Borough High School English after complaints of sexual content and language

1995

Florida - Challenged at the St Johns County Schools in St Augustine

Massachusetts - Challenged at Lynn schools for sexual content

1998 - Maryland - Challenged on Montgomery County reading lists and school library shelves

1999 - New Hampshire - Removed from reading list for nnth and tenth grade at Stevens High School in Claremont after a parent's complaint about sexual content

2003 - California - Challenged, but retained at the Kern High School District in Bakersfield despite complaints of the book's sexually explicit material.

2005 - Colorado - Banned from the Littleton curriculum and library shelves after complaints about its explicit sex, including the rape of an eleven-year-old girl by her father.

2007 - Michigan - Challenged in the Howell High School because of the book's strong sexual content. In response from the president of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE), the county's top law enforcement official reviewed the book to see whether laws against distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors had been broken. The county prosecutor wrote, "Whether these materials are appropriate for minors is a decision to be made by the school board, but I find that they are not in violation of the criminal laws."

2009 - Indiana - Retained in the Delphi Community High School's curriculum despite claims of inappropriate sexual content and graphic language.

2011 - Connecticut - Challenged in the Brookfield High School curriculum because of sex scenes, profanity, and age-appropriateness of the book. Students in the high school have been reading Morrison's book since 1995.

2013

Alabama - In August, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw (R-Madison) also called for his state to bar students from reading the book, taking issue with the work’s language and content.

Colorado - Challenged in Legacy High School's Advanced Placement English classes in Adams County because it was a "bad book." A notice was sent home to let parents know what they would be reading and why and an alternate assignment was offered to those who wanted it. Half a dozen students of about 150 opted to read one of the alternative texts and received instruction on those works outside of class time.

Ohio - Challenged on a suggested reading list for Columbus high school students by the school board president because it is inappropriate for the school board to "even be associated with it." A fellow board member described the book as having "an underlying socialist-communist agenda."

2014

North Carolina - East Wake High in Wake County removed the book from readings lists along with The Color Purple after a parent complained. The books are retained in the school library.

2015 - Oklahoma - Challenged, but retained in the Durant high school library despite a parent's concerns over sexual and violent content.




"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

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/


The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Two boys join together to create a superhero by coercion and violence so they can escape responsibility for their actions and make a profit.


Banned

On the Top ten frequently challenged books lists of the 21st century in 2013, 2012, 2005, 2004, and 2002

#13 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 (as series)

2000 - Connecticut - Removed from Maple Hill School in Naugatuck due to concerns that is caused unruly behavior among children

2015 - Michigan - Arborwood Elementary School in Monroe removed the book from a book fair because a main character ends up gay




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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


Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers

Fallen Angels
By Walter Dean Myers

We go into combat with this view of the Vietnam Conflict/War/Murder Forest through the eyes of a young man dealing with stuff.


Banned

#36 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

#11 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1990 - Ohio - Challenged for language at Bluffton schools

1992 - Georgia - Jackson County High School restricted the book because of language and sensitive material

1994 - Pennsylvania - Challenged at West Chester schools

1995 - Ohio - A parent complained about sexually explicit language and it was removed from Middleburg Heights

1997 - Ohio - Challenged but retained at Lakewood High School after a parent's complaint of violence and language

1999

California - Removed from Lafton Unified School District for violence and profanity

Michigan - Removed from required reading from Livonia public schools for language

2000 - Texas - Challenged but retained at Arlington school district's junior high libraries after parent's complaint as unsuitable for age group

2002 - Mississippi - Banned from George County schools for profanity

2003

Virginia - Challenged in Fairfax school libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for "profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture"

Indiana - Banned at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis for profanity

2005 - Kansas - Removed from Blue Valley School District high school curriculum in Overland Park.

2006 - Illinois - Arlington Height's Northwest Suburban High School District was removed after a school board member elected for her promises of Christian values raised the controversy based on excerpts from eight books she had read on the Internet

2007 - Indiana - Challenged at Coeur d'Alene School District after parents said the book should require parental permission

2008 - North Carolina - Challenged at Chinquapin Elementary School in Duplin County for language, racial epithets, and homophobia

2013 - Ohio - Challenged at Danbury Middle School in Toledo for language and descriptions of combat




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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


When Dad Killed Mom by Julius Lester

When Dad Killed Mom
By Julius Lester

We delve into the lives of two kids being disrupted by their dad shooting their mom in the face and the secrets that get revealed.


Banned

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

2002 - Wyoming - Teton County Board of Education voted to ban the book from Jackson Hole Middle School (JHMS) library after a parent's complaint about being unsuitable for age group



"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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


Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan

Daughters of Eve
By Lois Duncan

A group of young girls become a frightening force for feminism as we discuss Lois Duncan, water heater's breaking, and dude's being jerks.


Banned

1997 - West Virginia - Removed along with 16 other title from Jackson County school libraries

2000 - Virginia - removed from Fairfax County middle school libraries for violence, risky behaviors, and "seeks to prejudice young vulnerable minds on several issues"

2005 - Indiana - Challenged at Lowell Middle School for profanity and sexual content

2007 - New Mexico - Superintendent of Clovis Municipal Schools removed the book from elementary schools after rumors of parent's displeasure and having a formal review which found issues with language and "suggestive material." Duncan (author) agreed the book was not for elementary schools.

Book covers many challenging topics such as sex, language, domestic violence, feminism, anti-feminism, rape, murder, violence, vigilante behavior, sexism, abortion




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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


ttyl by Lauren Myracle

Three girls live their lives one text message at a time in this look into what makes teen girls tick. It's boys, right? Some booze? What's the religious one doing with her teacher? Find out in ttyl by Lauren Myracle.


Banned

2007 - New York - Challenged for offensive language, sex acts, drinking, and "crude references to male and female anatomy… and flirtation with a teacher that almost goes too far." Book retained for not glorifying the behavior.

2008 - Texas - parents challenged about sexual content, alcohol, porn, inappropriate teacher student relationships, and profanity. School offers opportunity for parents to limit access to particular books for their children.

2009 - Wisconsin - challenged for the sexual content

2010 - Connecticut - critics cut the style's misuse of grammar and offensive language.

2016 - Florida - Parents of students at Yulee Middle School in Nassau County brought the book series to the media after noticing "paragraphs about sex, to drinking alcohol and stripping" when their children brought the books home. Parent Billie Thrift told news outlet Action News Jax: "It's telling kids to rebel against parents. It's telling them it's OK to party, drink, cuss and do other obscene things in the book. She immediately didn't want to read it, but she was scared she was going to get a bad grade because she didn't finish reading the book she checked out. Personally, I think this is what's wrong with children today. It's books like this and stuff being exposed to our children and it being allowed to being exposed."

On the ALA Top ten frequently challenged books lists of the 21st century since 2007 for offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group, drugs, and nudity




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman Part 2

The second part of a book about a little girl who goes off to help her uncle dad with an armored bear to stop her evil mom monkey lady from going to heaven.


Banned

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

2007

Halton, Ontario, Canada - trilogy was challenged at a Catholic school district that the books were "written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic, and anti-religion," pulled from public display be available for students who ask

Calgary, Alberta, Canada - publicly funded Catholic school district removed then returned the books to shelves for anti-religious content

Alamosa, Colorado - pulled then returned to shelves at Ortega Middle School for anti-religious content

Winchester, Kentucky - Challenged because of childhood alcohol and drug (wine and poppy) consumption and anti-religious

Lubbock, Texas - Challenged at Shallowater Middle School for being anti-religious

Oshkosh, Wisconsin - pulled from St John Neumann Middle School and Lourdes High School for "anti-Christian messages."

2008 - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - retained but added a sticker that said "representations of the church in this novel are purely fictional," and don't reflect real Roman Catholic Church or Gospel of Jesus Christ

OIF claims 513 cases where books were targeted for censorship, of which 74 were successfully banned or restricted.




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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