This reading list is about book banning and censorship, focusing on challenges and banning in schools.
1. Kelly, Melissa. “Censorship and Book Banning inAmerica
1. Kelly, Melissa. “Censorship and Book Banning in
This article is about a teacher dealing with teaching a banned book and dealing with parents who want the book to not be taught. Melissa Kelly, the author of this article, brings up valid points; one is where she mentions banning Macbeth because it has witches and murder in it. She also talks about how to deal with this subject from an educator’s point of view on the second page of the article. I believe this article was intended for everyone, but I think it was more catered to educators who teach in secondary schools, elementary schools, etc. because it is giving advice on what to do when you’re in that situation of teaching a banned book and someone complains about it. This article is relevant to my issue because, she was teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which, as she states, is the fourth most banned book in schools. She also brings up the topic of banning books in general and seeing if it’s actually good to ban them or not. I think this is unique because of the point of view. She’s a high school English teacher and she was teaching a banned book and she had to deal with the consequences (parents). This article was very well written and it gives good, valid points about my issue.
2. Blume, Judy. “Judy Blume Talks Censorship.” Judy Blume on the Web. Judy Blume, 2007. Web. 2 Feb 2011. http://judyblume.com/censorship.php.
The purpose of this article/blog post/whatever you want to call it, is to let people know more about censorship and see how it effects readers, authors, etc. Judy Blume, the author of this article and author of many amazing books, talks about censorship in a personal way. She talks about where censorship comes from, why people are eager to jump on the banned books bandwagon, and she also gives us a little blurb at the end to inform us on who really gets screwed because of banning books. Again, I think the audience is everyone who reads it, but, I believe she mainly centers it on people who are keen to jump on that bandwagon and also to parents in general. This is very relevant to my issue because 1. it was written by an author who’s had their books banned and 2. it deals with censorship and book banning. I think that it’s unique because it’s written by an author who’s books have been banned at least once and she has a different view on banning books than most people. Judy Blume is an amazing writer and I didn’t really think that anything in this article was weak. She made very valid points and I like how the main focus of it, in the end, is about young readers who won’t be able to read the banned books and the books themselves.
3. Blume, Judy. “Is Harry Potter Evil?.” New York Times (1999): n. pag. Web. 2 Feb 2011. http://judyblume.com/censorship/potter.php.
This article does appear on Judy Blume’s website, but it was originally printed in the New York Times in 1999. This article focuses on the ludicrous action of banning books, Harry Potter in particular. This was written at the height of the Harry Potter series and schools across the U.S.
4. Bari, Sam. “Censorship: Is book burning next?.” Jamestown
This article focuses on the very controversial subject of the re-editing Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn”. Sam Bari, the author of this article from The Jamestown Press, discusses the action of editing out the ‘n word’ of Mark Twain’s classic. He says that the use of the word wasn’t a view of Mr. Twain’s but, it was used in dialogue to show how the people of that time referred to African Americans and to show that calling someone that word is not good not right. The audience I think would be anyone who enjoys Mark Twain and anyone who just enjoys reading, whether it is for fun or not. This article is relevant to my issue because while it doesn’t deal with actually banning a book, as I stated before in my first link, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the fourth most banned book by schools and the re-editing of this book is just so wild. I like how Mr. Bari says that the re-editing of this book takes away the message of the book. The use of the ‘n word’ was to show that calling someone that was wrong and shows that it shouldn’t be used at all.
5. Lancto, Craig. “Banned Books: How Schools Restrict the Reading
This lengthy article discusses how schools take it upon themselves to edit copies of various books whether they feel it is obscene or morally wrong or many other reasons. The author of this article is a former high school English teacher, so this subject is a very personal one for him. He doesn’t state this in the article, but you can tell by the attention to detail he put into writing the article. There are eight different sections within this article that discuss a different aspect of why books are being banned and how it stunts the growth of young people because something is “blacked out” or simple not allowed to be read at all. The author talks about newer books like Harry Potter and also discusses William Shakespeare and Ray Bradbury. All of these works/authors have been banned at one point or another and he’s basically trying to say that anything can, and probably will, be banned.
6. Adler & Robin Books. “Banned Books in the United States
This website is basically an overview on banned books. It discusses who bans them, why they are banned, and just how often books are banned in the United States United States United States
7. McKie, Robin. “US Schools Ban Darwin from class”. The Guardian (2002): n. pag. Web 21 Feb 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/feb/24/usa.schools.
This article discusses the incident of Charles Darwin being banned from various schools in the United States Darwin Darwin
8. Sheely, Erin. “Book Challenges and Censorship in School Libraries”. Omninerd (2007): . pag. Web 21 Feb 2011.
This essay is a very interesting one that discusses censorship and book challenges within school libraries. The author goes on to talk about how challenges on books and censorship in schools is fueled by emotions and it’s really an either or situation. You’re either on one side or the other. Some people feel that removing books is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution and others feel that freedom of expression is the principle. This essay is broken down into sections that discuss reasons for book challenges, the First Amendment and the American Library Association Bill of Rights, Censorship and Selection of Library Materials, When Challenges Come, and a small conclusion. The author also lists out the Library Bill of Rights within the essay. This essay is very helpful to a person who has little knowledge in this topic or even a person who has a vast knowledge. It contains information about this subject and it is all helpful and very well researched.
12. “Teaching Banned Books.” ALAstore. alastore.ala.org. Web. 31 March 2011. http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=239
9. Monseau , Virginia Portsmouth , NH
This section of this book that deals with my topic is titled, “Censorship and the Young Adult Novel”. If the title didn’t give it away, it deals with censorship and the young adult novel, but it talks about it from a teacher’s perspective. This chapter of the book is broken into sections like, “Who is Objecting and What Are They Objecting To?” and “Results of Censorship: A Sampling of Recent Incidents”, and “How Censorship Can Be Dealt With: Authors Help”. There are other sections but the last section I mentioned, I felt really dealt with my topic because most people don’t know how to deal with censorship or know what to do when they are being challenged or asked about censorship. This chapter of the book was very helpful and is very important for people who are thinking about entering the teaching world. There are tips on how to deal with censorship and how to teach about censorship. There is also a list of the most censored books of the 1980’s, (this was published in 1992). This chapter is very relevant to my topic and it really helps get the subject of book banning more understanding.
10. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Scholastic, Inc., 1997. 1-309. Print.
This book is a prime example of what my topic is about. The entire Harry Potter series has been challenged and banned at some point in almost every country. There are many reasons as to why these books have been banned but the most popular reason is because it is about a wizard and there are scenes in the books where magic is practiced. Not everyone believes in magic and not everyone believes that magic is a good thing. This is why these books get banned, based on beliefs and morals. I decided to include this book in particular because it is the first book in the series and it is the book that sparked the world wide phenomenon that is Harry Potter and it also sparked the phenomenon of banning the books. These books brought book banning back into the spotlight but it quickly faded away when people chose to ignore it and simply read the book. This book is important to my topic because it is the reason why I want people to understand how complex the issue of book banning is.
11. “25 Banned Books That You Should Read Today.” The Professor’s Blog. degreedirectory.org, March 2011. Web. 31 March 2011. http://degreedirectory.org/articles/25_Banned_Books_That_You_Should_Read_Today.html
This is a blog that was started by a Professor. I don’t know his or her name or where/if he or her teaches. However, this website is very useful to my project because it is about banned books. It details 25 banned books that should be read. These books are also the most controversial books to be banned. In the list of twenty-five banned books there are classics like To Kill a Mocking Bird, Candide, and Frankenstein. There are also some contemporary books like American Psycho, the Harry Potter series, American Psycho, and And Tango Makes Three. This list is very important and integral to my topic because it lists books that have been banned for one reason or another, but it lists books that are ‘classics’ and books that are contemporary. It just shows that no matter what the time period was or who the author was, a book was banned because of material that wasn’t deemed right to read.
12. “Teaching Banned Books.” ALAstore. alastore.ala.org. Web. 31 March 2011. http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=239
This web page is part of the store of the American Library Association. I decided to include this in my list because there may be new teachers or potential teachers reading this and they might want to purchase this book. This book helps teachers deal with teaching a banned book in their class. The book is broken up into five parts ranging from dealing with the First Amendment to dealing with different cultures. This book also features twelve books that have been challenged at point or another. The author of the book, Pat R. Scales, uses these books as points to guide the reader through their decision on how to teach banned books. Some of the books included are: Blubber by Judy Blume, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, and The Goats by Brock Cole. There is also a foreward written by Judy Blume in the book and the website includes reviews of the book, that all contain high praise for this author’s methods and use of literature to help teachers teach a banned book properly.
13. “It’s a Small World After All: Book-Banning Around the Globe.” All Business. allbusiness.com. Web. 20 April 2011. http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-miscellaneous/4401927-1.html
This site I felt was very useful to my issue because it talks about the subject of book banning. The important thing about this site is the fact that it talks about how book banning happens everywhere and not just in the U.S. United States U.S.
14. “How Does Banning a Book Work?” How Stuff Works. history.howstuffworks.com. Web. 20 April 2011. http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/book-banning.htm
I actually kind of wish this website had surfaced towards the beginning of the semester because it honestly does belong towards the beginning of this list, but it is still so crucial to my issue and I included it because some people still might not understand how book banning works exactly. This website maps out the steps on how to ban a book, like you must challenge the book before it can be banned, and it also gives statistics like that the Harry Potter series has been the most challenged book series since the year 2000. This site also goes into great detail on the legal aspect of book banning and they are carefully labeled under titles like “Book Banning and the Law” and “Obscene Literature and the Miller Test”. This website is probably the most important out of all of the links listed here because it goes right to basics and explains in detail how books are banned.
15. “Ghandi’s sexuality shouldn’t be an issue.” The Independent. independent.co.ug. Web. 20 April 2011. http://www.independent.co.ug/society/book-review/4100-gandhis-sexuality-shouldnt-be-an-issue
I felt that this should be added because not only is it dealing with book banning, but it is a story that is currently in the headlines. It proves that book banning is a subject that people are still talking about and creating debates, or controversy. This website focuses on a book about Mahatma Ghandi. This is an online news article that discusses the controversy about this book and how it is already banned in India India
16. “Dorothy fights Kansas
I honestly chose to include this site because of the cartoon, but then I read the site and it actually pertained to my issue. Granted, the article isn’t that long, but it still talks about something that is currently happening in Kansas
