The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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The Handmaid's Tale
By Margaret Atwood

We learn about the Handmaid and her/his tale about the alien artifact that brings water back to the world.

Banned

1990 - California - Challenged as assignment at Rancho Cotati High School in Rohnert Park as "too explicit for students"

1992 - Iowa - Challenged yet retained in Waterloo schools for profanity, sexually explicit material, and "statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled"

1993 - Massachusetts - Removed from Chicopee High School English class reading list for sex and profanity

1998 - Washington - Challenged with six other titles in Richland high school English classes for being "poor-quality literature and stress suicide, illicit sex, violence, and hopelessness."

1999 - Florida - Challenged but retained on advanced placement reading list in Chamberlain High School in Tampa

2000 - Pennsylvania - Upper Moreland School District downgraded the book from "required" to "optional" on the summer reading list for eleventh graders due to "age-inappropriate" subject matter.

2001 - Texas - Challenged but retained in the Dripping Springs senior Advanced Placement English courses as an optional assignment. Sexual encounters in the book upset some parents.

2006 - Texas - A parent complained to Superintendent Ed Lyman of the Judson school district that the book was "sexually explicit and offensive to Christians" and asked it be removed from an Advanced Placement English curriculum. A committee of teachers, students, and parents recommended the book be retained. The superintendent banned the book against the committee's recommendations. The committee appealed to the school board, which overruled the superintendent and retained the book.

2012 - North Carolina - Parents complained the book was "detrimental to Christian values" and the book was banned for "sexually explicit, violently graphic and morally corrupt" and challenged as required reading for Page High School International Baccaluraeate and optional reading in Advance Placement courses at Grimsley High School.

Sources

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

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki

in ,
This One Summer
By Mariko Tamaki

A book that in no way follows the plot of Three Men and a Baby (which is crazy) but was banned from a bunch of places.

Banned

General attack as a Caldecott Honor as the book is targeted at 12 and up and Caldecott books are targeted lower.

#1 on the ALA Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 for including "LGBT characters, drug use, and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes."

2016

Minnesota - Henning schools removed the book from the K-12 library; restored to 10-12 grades with parental permission

Florida - Seminole County schools removed the book from elementry schools and reviewed the book in high school library where it was retained

Sources

ALA. "Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016" http://www.ala.org/bbooks/NLW-Top10 Retrieved 2017April26

CBC Books. "This One Summer removed from 3 Florida high schools" http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/02/this-one-summer-removed-from-florida-high-schools.html Retrieved 2017April26

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. "Case Study: This One Summer" http://cbldf.org/banned-challenged-comics/case-study-this-one-summer/ Retrieved 2017April26

Diaz, Shelley. "“This One Summer” Restored to Henning, MN, School District Library, with Restrictions" School Library Journal. http://www.slj.com/2016/06/censorship/this-one-summer-restored-to-henning-mn-school-district-library-with-restrictions/ Retrieved 2017April26

Flood, Alison. "Minnesota school's ban on graphic novel draws free-speech protests" Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/25/minnesota-schools-ban-on-graphic-novel-this-one-summer-mariko-and-jillian-tamaki-protests Retrieved 2017April26

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

in

Books are banned in Nazi hotels and then we sorta get into the book.

Banned

1972 - Ohio - Strongsville School board voted it out with Cat's Cradle, overturned 1976 by SSB vs Minarcini by the US District Court

Sources

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/

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

in
Cat's Cradle: A Novel
By Kurt Vonnegut

The world is ending with the water freezing over and the library is getting sued as we continue with Kurt Vonnegut month!

Banned

1972 - Ohio - Strongsville School Board voted to be withdrawn from the school libraries. Overturned in 1976 by U.S. District Court in Minarcini Vs Strongsville City School District

1982 - New Hampshire - Challenged at Merrimack High School

Sources

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/

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

in

Vonnegut month continues with a tale of man machines and the library has a story about a machine who tried to assimilate a man for reasons.

Banned

1995 - Illinois - Challenged at Monmouth School District library as "pornographic trash"

Sources

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/

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/

Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly

in
Crazy Lady! (Trophy Newbery)
By Jane Leslie Conly

Crazy lady's in books, terrorists in supermarkets, and were-garous down in the swamp branch library.

Banned

1996 - Illinois - Challenged at Prospect Heights school libraries for "swear words"

1997 - California - restricted to parental permission at San Jose Unified School District for language including "damn, hell, and bitch."

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/

Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

in

It's a bunch of sports related small stories, and Granny Wendy would be mad.

Banned

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

1995 - South Carolina - Challenged in Charleston County for divorce, violence, AIDS, and homosexuality.

1999 - Alaska - Challenged and pulled but retained from Anchorage middle school libraries after a parent complained about lack of respect for parents and God as well as homosexuality and language.

2004 - Iowa - "In the Time I Get" was challenged and retained on the Solon 8th grade language arts class for discussion of AIDS.

Sources

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

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/

The Fighting Ground by Avi

in ,

A novel about the Revolutionary War meets a story about librarian spring break gone bad.

Banned

2000 - New Hampshire - Challenged yet retained by a "concerned Christian" as part of the John Fuller School curriculum in Conway

2008 - Florida - Banned from the shelves of Bay District school library in Panama City after a parent complained of profanities by soldiers.

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

Sources

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

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-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/

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

in
Whale Talk
By Chris Crutcher

Gathering a group of ragtag individuals is important, either to get confidence through sports or take down a conservationist construction worker with owls.

Banned

2005

Alabama - Removed for profanity from Limestone County high school libraries

Michigan - Challenged at Grand Ledge High School

South Carolina - Removed from the suggested reading list for a pilot English-literature curriculum by the superintendent of the South Carolina Board of Education

2007 - Iowa - Challenged at the Missouri Valley High School for racial slurs and profanity

Sources

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/