Think for Yourself, Defy Convention, Read a Banned Book

What do all of these books have in common? Attempts have been made to ban them all.

Throughout history, individuals and groups have attempted to suppress reading material that conflict with their personal beliefs. Banned Books Week, September 29-October 6, 2007, calls attention to our freedom to choose books that others may have desired to censor and reminds us not to take this freedom for granted.

The list of books that people have attempted to ban is amazing. The Most Frequently Challenged Books list is filled with all types of books from the classics to popular children's fiction. Some of your favorite books may be on the list:

• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Any of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Any of the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• The Dead Zone by Stephen King
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Where's Waldo?

Why ban Waldo? Martin Hanford's Waldo books consist of page after page of intricately drawn scenes in which the reader seeks to discover Waldo amidst the cluttered illustrations. It seems silly, but believe it or not Where's Waldo? was one of the top 100 most banned books between 1990 and 2000.

What next Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman? Yes, Captain Underpants is on the list too.

Join us in celebrating banned book week. Think for yourself, defy convention, and read a banned book.

Links:

The entire list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000.