I’ve decided to read these books sometime this summer . . . well, maybe by December. They have the unique position of being among the most CHALLENGED books.
1. Huck Finn seems to top all the CHALLENGED books lists and not for the “racial” issues, but for the “vulgar language.”
I thought this Mark Twains comment was great: “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”
2. The Catcher in the Rye didn’t miss the censors’ attacks either. It’s been labeled “anti-white,” having too much sex, and, uh oh, OCCULT.
Salinger had this to say about the slash of the censor: “Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all my best friends are children. It’s almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.”
3-8 All six Harry Potters were attacked. Let’s see, these were supposed to promote “devil worship” and “witchcraft.” Gotta read all of these.
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky I can’t pass up because I’ve been one of those. I’m dying to see what kind of sexy, scatologcial stuff I missed growing up.
10. Since It’s Perfectly Normal has drawings of real bodies and seeks to reassure children that what they are experiencing during puberty is okay. It has drawn many of those icy censor stares.
11. The Chocolate Wars is among the top 100 CHALLENGED books (2000-2007). I find that amazing since it was published in 1974–after high button shoes, after the ’60′s even.
12. The Golden Compass stirred the religious pot a bit too much. It was attacked for being anti-Christian and promoting atheism.
13. Fade is another Cormier book and it has a bit of everything censors love to get all steamy about: lots of violence, incest (that’s a hot button) and murder–lots of murder. I’ll save this one to read on a November night.
So how do you feel about censored books? Do you think censors have a roll to play? What kind of roll? Does a censored book intice you to read it even more than the uncensored ones? How would you feel if one of your books were censored–pleased, upset, defensive?
Comments
1 FredTownWard // Jul 13, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Well, if you really want to truly earn all those pats on the back you are going to be awarding yourself, C. Lee McKenzie, perhaps you should consider reading what is unquestionably the most challenged book in all of human history:
The Holy Bible.
Just don’t expect a lot of praise from the usual Challenged Book crowd for doing so; they tend to get pretty quiet when the book being challenged is the Bible.
Or for something of a more reasonable length, stroll down to your local Christian bookstore and check out some of the marvelously well written recent Christian fantasy books for children by Wayne Thomas Batson, Bryan Davis, Donita K. Paul, etc., books that for the most part will never even be CONSIDERED for purchase by most public or public school libraries, or if they somehow manage to get past the Gatekeepers, will be ghettoized into some sort of religious section.
You can usually find the Narnia books there, too. Though you left them off your list, they certainly draw their fair share of challenges, but since these challenges don’t come from the usual suspects, the Challenged Book crowd doesn’t seem to shout about them as much.
I note with interest your emphasis on Huckleberry Finn being challenged for “vulgar language” rather than for “racial” issues. Is that because you feel uncomfortable criticizing those who challenge it with accusations of racism? Keep in mind that at least those who attack HF for “vulgar language” have a valid (if ultimately silly) point while those who condemn HF as racist have got it exactly bass ackwards, a more anti-slavery and anti-racist book than HF is difficult to imagine.
I used to defend the Harry Potter books quite vigorously, and then in the ultimate, “Hey, look at me!” stunt, J. K. Rowling decided to out Dumbledore as gay. Do you think she would have been as highly praised for outing Voldemort as gay? Me, neither.
Personally, I’m more than a bit dubious about the propriety of going into the sexuality or the sexual practices of characters in children’s books, but if you as author insist on doing so, have the guts to do it in the books themselves. And if you really want points for courage, do it in the first book of the series, the one you wrote while you were living in your car, not after safely publishing the last book, when you have more money than God.
Finally in regards to Philip Pullman, a man who has publicly admitted his goal of writing an anti-Narnia, a series of books that would subtly lead children AWAY from Christianity just as Narnia leads children subtly towards it, I’d have more respect for him if he had been clearer about his intentions from the start.
For an interesting read, you should scroll through the negative Amazon reviews of the final book in the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass. Amidst the usual rants you will find a surprising number of heartbroken parents who had read and loved the first two books with their children, but were horrified when Pullman completely dropped the mask in book 3 and uncertain how to break the news to their children that they’d been fooled.
Personally, I don’t think much of challenging children’s books; about the only time I’m even willing to consider it is in the case of outrageously inappropriate material or the cold calculated evil of a Philip Pullman, but it is a little tough to argue with the “usual suspects” when they can point out just how uncaring the Challenged Book crowd is when THEIR books get challenged or removed before they can ever be challenged.
2 Leigh Brescia // Jul 14, 2009 at 9:18 pm
First, I’d like to say that we all understood why your list was narrowed to only 13 books, and we know that there are a plethora of other challenged stories that could have easily been added.
Your post obviously struck a chord. . . .
Moving on. I know that Meg Cabot (so funny!) practically begged people to ban her, but if my books were challenged, I would probably be offended. It would be great for sales, but since I have yet to write something worth challenging, I would tend to believe that the people banning were wasting their time.
3 jana // Jul 15, 2009 at 9:14 am
Hey Guys!
At the moment I’m completing an Internship at NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship). The last days “The Kids’ Right to Read Project” interviewed Author Chris Crutcher, who spoke about his experinece as one of the most challenged authors of all time.
If you’re intrigued in such kind of stuff or wanna read more about the interview just visit our homepage (www.ncac.org) and join our blog (ncacblog.wordpress.com). It’s very interesting!
We’re glad about a lot comments as well as a lively discussion!
Greetings Jana
Leave a Comment