Every year, the American Library Association publishes the most "controversial" books of the year. These are books that have been challenged by parents, libraries, schools, principals, and people who seem to think they know what is and is not appropriate reading material (like how gay penguins will turn our children gay). The lists highlight the paranoia and blatant stupidity of people who have too much time on their hands.
The ALA also has a list of 100 most challenged books, and a list of challenged books from Radcliffe Publishing's list of 100 greatest books of the 20th century.
This is my challenge - to read books from the ALA "most challenged" list and the Radcliffe list. Books I've already read have been removed. I am also including 2006's list and may/may not include 2007/2008s. We'll see.
I am giving myself until Mar/April of 2009 to complete this challenge.
ALA Info on Challenged Books
I'm giving myself a year and a half to complete this project, since it is well over 100 books.
I'll try to review every book, including why it is on the challenged list and a few quotes.
And I'll even put in good effort to finish all the books, heh. Not every book is listed, because I've read some of them already. You can see the complete list here
Finished Books:
1) Lord of the Flies - William Golding (11/4/07)
2)The Color Purple - Alice Walker (11/6/07)
3)The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Anne Rice (11/11/07)
4)Beauty's Punishment - Anne Rice (11/15/07)
5)Beauty's Release - Anne Rice (11/20/07)
6)Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden (11/20/07)
7)The Agony of Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (12/20/07)
8)Alice in Rapture, Sort of - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1/24/08)
9)Gossip Girls - Cecily Von Ziegesar (1/30/08)
10) You know you love me - Cecily Von Ziegesar (2/7/08)
11) All I want is Everything - Cecily Von Ziegesar (2/10/08)
12) Reluctantly Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2/15/08)
13) All but Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2/24/08)
14) Alice in April - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (3/23/08)
15) Alice in between - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (3/23/08)
16) Go Ask Alice - Anonymous (4/15/08)
17) Alice the Brave - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (4/21/08)
18) Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (4/23/08) - I actually finished this much earlier but forgot to put it in.
Incomplete
1) Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (too fricking weird)
1) Lord of the Flies - William Golding (11/4/07)
2)The Color Purple - Alice Walker (11/6/07)
3)The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Anne Rice (11/11/07)
4)Beauty's Punishment - Anne Rice (11/15/07)
5)Beauty's Release - Anne Rice (11/20/07)
6)Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden (11/20/07)
7)The Agony of Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (12/20/07)
8)Alice in Rapture, Sort of - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1/24/08)
9)Gossip Girls - Cecily Von Ziegesar (1/30/08)
10) You know you love me - Cecily Von Ziegesar (2/7/08)
11) All I want is Everything - Cecily Von Ziegesar (2/10/08)
12) Reluctantly Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2/15/08)
13) All but Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2/24/08)
14) Alice in April - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (3/23/08)
15) Alice in between - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (3/23/08)
16) Go Ask Alice - Anonymous (4/15/08)
17) Alice the Brave - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (4/21/08)
18) Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (4/23/08) - I actually finished this much earlier but forgot to put it in.
Incomplete
1) Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (too fricking weird)
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (20 books) All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren Always Running by Luis Rodriguez American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher Blubber by Judy Blume Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard Carrie by Stephen King Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut Crazy Lady by Jane Conly Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite PreSchool-Grade 2-- A first title in a new line of books for children with homosexual parents , told in a straightforward manner. A young boy describes his father's relationship with his roommate, Frank (they "live together, work together, eat together, sleep together . . ."), and his own relationship with these men--shopping, gardening, and enjoying the zoo, beach, movies, etc. He believes that "being gay is just one more kind of loveDeenie by Judy Blume Fade by Robert Cormier Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers Family Secrets by Norma Klein Final Exit by Derek Humphry For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway Forever by Judy Blume Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell Gossip Girlsseries by Cecily Von Ziegesar (currently 12 books)Guess What? by Mem Fox Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea NewmanHow to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou : In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence In Cold Blood, Truman Capote In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris Jack by A.M. Homes James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George Miyax, like many adolescents, is torn. But unlike most, her choices may determine whether she lives or dies. At 13, an orphan, and unhappily married, Miyax runs away from her husband's parents' home, hoping to reach San Francisco and her pen pal. But she becomes lost in the vast Alaskan tundra, with no food, no shelter, and no idea which is the way to safety. Now, more than ever, she must look hard at who she really is. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs Native Son by Richard Wright On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey Ordinary People by Judith Guest Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Private Parts by Howard Stern Rabbit Run, John Updike Running Loose by Chris Crutcher Satanic verses, Salman Rushdie Sex by Madonna Sex Education by Jenny Davis Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Sons and Lovers, DH Lawrence The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell The Bluest Eye by Toni MorrisonThe Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier : Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? You wouldn't think that his refusal to sell chocolates during his school's fundraiser would create such a stir, but it does; it's as if the whole school comes apart at the seams. To some, Jerry is a hero, but to others, he becomes a scapegoat--a target for their pent-up hatred. And Jerry? He's just trying to stand up for what he believes, but perhaps there is no way for him to escape becoming a pawn in this game of control; students are pitted against other students, fighting for honor--or are they fighting for their lives? The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier The Dead Zone by Stephen King The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler The Giver by Lois Lowry The Goats by Brock Cole : Cole portrays this when fellow campers leave wimpy Howie Mitchell and ``real dog'' Laura Golden naked and scared on an island. When counselors arrive looking for them, Howie misunderstands and fears the return of their tormenters. He forces non-swimmer Laura to hang onto a log and float to the mainland. Reaching the safety of a deserted cabin, and realizing that they can't face returning to camp, they plot their survival until Parent's Weekend, when Laura's mother will visit, offering hope of sanctuary. Cole manages to instill just the right amount of suspense in their adventures through a potentially dangerous street kid, a cleaning woman who wants to turn them in to the police, and a sheriff who eventually snags them. Neither Howie nor Laura are initially likable kids, each either worrying or whining too much, but as they grow so does one's regard for them. The final distillation is a strong, well-blended story of modern day survival The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende The Jungle, Upton Sinclair The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky The Pigman by Paul Zindel The Stupids Die, Harry Allard The Stupids Have a Ball, The Stupids Step Out, The Stupids Take Off, The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney The Witches by Roald Dahl Their Eyes were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller Ulysses - James Joyce View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras Women in Love, DH Lawrence Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
RADCLIFFE PUBLISHING TOP 100 NOVELS OF 20TH CENTURY MOST CHALLENGED (NOT ON MAIN LIST - INCLUDED IN LIST ABOVE)
| A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess |
| A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway |
| All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren |
| An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser |
| As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner |
| Catch-22 by Joseph Heller |
| Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway |
| Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin |
| Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell |
| Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad |
| In Cold Blood, Truman Capote |
| Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison |
| Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence |
| Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov |
| Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey |
| Rabbit Run, John Updike |
| Satanic verses, Salman Rushdie |
| Sons and Lovers, DH Lawrence |
| The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck |
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| The Jungle, Upton Sinclair |
| The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien |
| The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer |
| Their Eyes were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston |
| Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller |
| Ulysses - James Joyce |
| Women in Love, DH Lawrence |
http://www.radix.net/~bobg/books/banned.1.html
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