Pacific Views

Ten books your [U.S.] kids aren't supposed to read.

One of the favorite pastimes of moralists in the US [usually, but not always, from the religious right] is trying to tell parents what books their kids should and shouldn't read. Every year, school boards and public libraries have to deal thousands of requests to pull books from their shelves or make books inaccessible to most children.

Each year, the American Library Association puts out a list of the 10 most-challenged titles from the previous calendar year. The 2005 list has just come out and, once again, the big winners are offensive language and sex!

• "It's Perfectly Normal" for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
• "Forever" by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
• "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
• "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
• "Detour for Emmy" by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
• "What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
• Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
• "Crazy Lady!" by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
• "It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families" by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

This magpie especially recommends the Captain Underpants series. It was a huge hit with our friend N's 10-year-old son.

Via LISNews.

Posted by Magpie at March 13, 2006 01:22 AM | Censorship | Technorati links |