Banned Books List

It's here - Banned Books week! I have gotten several very gratifying requests all day, including one from a student who actually checked one out with the intention of reading it. I have also gotten several requests for the list itself, too. There is a display of all the banned books right on top of the reference stacks; all ya gotta do is look. Still, if it's the raw info you're after, here you are (and thanks for reading the blog, by the way!):

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7. TTYL by Lauren Myracle
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
9. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

We don't have #1, #7 or #9. One and 9 are for an age group far below the Upper School: And Tango Makes Three is for very small children, and It's Perfectly Normal explains the changes your body goes through at puberty, and by seventh grade you're probably already there. That leaves #7. TTYL is a novel in text-message format. I don't object to the content - I just think the literary form itself is too ephemeral to have proven itself just yet. If it's still banned next year, then I'll buy it, but for right now it seems like a flash in the pan. And yet people were bothered enough by it to ban it!