A Few Words on Censorship or How I Named my Blog

Censorship: The system or practice of limiting or denying access to books, movies, letters, ect…

During the history of our nation many books have been challenged or banned by local, state and the federal government.  I choose the title of this blog based on my love of a few of these banned books.  While the US federal government has not banned a book since 1966, many books are still regularly challenged at school and public libraries.  A few of my favorites banned books include: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – a book about the dangers of censorship!  Yet while I read and enjoyed these books in school, it was not until I read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling my interest in banned and challenged books began to grow.  Rowling has the unfortunate distinction of being the most challenged author of the first decade of the 21st century.

I love the Harry Potter series and found the charges leveled against it ridiculous so I began investigating other books.  I found many of today’s current best sellers have been challenged or banned.  Although the US no longer bans books at the federal level, local challenges occur with surprising frequency.  In the US challenges are very easy to level against a book, though most public libraries refuse to pull books from their shelves today.  An individual or group decides a book is “bad” and attempts to have it pulled from the library’s shelf.  The librarian will then decide whether to agree with the group and pull the book or to ignore the request.  As you can imagine this process can be highly subjective.  In the case of school libraries it is most often administrators who make decisions about the availability of books.

The sad truth is humans have censored reading material since before Guttenberg’s printing press (1436) helped bring Europe out of the dark ages. While often individuals state censoring books is for the good of our society, I would argue it is usually fear that drives people to attempt to ban books.  As a parent and avid reader I understand this fear.  Books are dangerous!  Books can make a person question the ideas they hold dear; they open a the world to critical thinking and awaken the imagination.  In short, books have the power to make the impossible possible.

Books are our great equalizer.  The ability to read and think for yourself is at your fingertips at the local library.  Most libraries do interlibrary loans so you have even more options than you realize.  If you enjoy an e-reader, most libraries offer e-books for online checkout.  The world is open to you through the written word but only if you open the cover.  Fear of something gives it power which is why censorship is so dangerous.  Allow yourself the opportunity to try a book you think you will hate.  You may enjoy it and, if you hate it, then you know you hate it instead of just suspecting it.  No one is going to love everything put into print but we should all appreciate the ability to read whatever we want.  Our forefathers and millions of individuals around the world did not and do not have the access to the materials we have.  Don’t waste it.

Most weeks this blog will be a review of the materials I have read in the last week or two.  Up first George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons.  I will do my best to illuminate when a book I am reviewing has been challenged or banned but it is not always easy to find.  If you want more information on Banned Books Week or the ALA’s fight against censorship I highly recommend their website: http://www.ala.org.  Now I will leave you with the Top Challenged Books of 2013 (2014 is not yet out).  Are any of your favorites listed?

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
9.  Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
10. Bone (series), by Jeff Smith