Name the Banned Book Contest: Question 3

American flag made up of banned books
The Birmingham Public Library is conducting a contest to celebrate Banned Books Week, September 30-October 6. Check the BPL blog every day during Banned Books Week and guess the passage from a book that was banned in America. If you guess correctly, your name will go in a drawing for prizes and the winners will be announced on the blog Monday, October 8. Prizes include library totes, gift certificates to the Friends Bookstore, a Friends gift membership, and a book bag or T-shirt of your choice from the Friends Bookstore. Good luck!

Trivia Question 3: What urban fiction book is this passage from?

I was left back when I was twelve because I had a baby for my fahver. That was in 1983. I was out of school for a year. This gonna be my second baby. My daughter got Down Sinder. She's retarded. I had got left back in the second grade too, when I was seven, 'cause I couldn't read (and I still peed on myself). I should be in the eleventh grade, getting ready to go into the twelf' grade so I can gone 'n graduate. But I'm not. I'm in the ninfe grade.

Post your answer in the comments section. Comments will remain hidden until the next morning when the answer is revealed.

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Answer to yesterday's trivia question:

book coverJudy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret about a teen girl on the cusp of womanhood is one of the most popular young adult books ever. Blume deals with religion, puberty, and a sudden interest in stinky old boys in a frank way that readers reluctant to talk to parents about these issues appreciate. Was ever a book more passed around in the school hallways than this one? Well, maybe Blume's own Forever, but that's another story for another time. Blume credits Are You There God? for growing her large and dedicated fan base that continues to read and pass down her many angst-riddled books to new generations. Are You There God? is on School Library Journal's Top 100 Children's Novels list, Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels, and dozens of more official and personal lists, I'm sure.

This book has been challenged and banned frequently in school libraries for being profane, immoral, offensive, and anti-religious. It was challenged in the Tuscaloosa school system for being "sexually offensive and amoral."

Comments

Shelly said…
Push by Saphire
Allie said…
It's from Push (renamed Precious) by Sapphire, upon which the film "Precious" is based.
Tressa Fancher said…
Correct. I found Push the book and Precious the movie very powerful and moving.