Book List - Banned Books Week

So this past week (Sept. 24 - Oct. 4) has been Banned Books Week.  As the site will tell you Banned Books Week, organized by the American Library Association, started in the 1980s when the rise of neo-con, religious values lead interest groups to protest books with queer, sex-positive,  non-Christian, "witch craft", "racist", and overtly political messages.  I wrote witch craft and racist with quotation marks because these reasons have been used to ban Harry Potter and The Adventures of Huck Finn, which is especially troubling since Huck Finn might use the n-word but it's actually pointing out the wrongness of racism. The habit of banning books for racism when really they are criticizing racism in society has happened again in 2010.

This month's book list is the Top Ten Banned Books of 2010.  The majority of these are YA novels, the most banned book is for young children, and one book is a non-fiction book aimed at adults (though appropriate for YA audiences as well).

The Top 10 Banned Books of 2010

1. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson is an adorable book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin in a zoo.  I recommended this book for Pre-K/K aged children in my Book List - Gay Pride Month post in June.  It was banned for homosexuality, religious view point, and having material unsuitable to age group.
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a YA book and story of a 14 year old Spokane Indian boy who transfers from his reservation school to a rich, white school. It's semi-autobiographical and deals with family death, reservation life, and questions of community and identity.  This book was banned for racism, offensive language, religious view points, sex education, violence, being sexually explicit, and for being unsuited to age group.
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a classic sci-fi book suitable for YA and Adult readers.  It portrays a distopian world similar to that of The Giver where there is no violence, crime, poverty or individuality.  It's a critique of society and a warning to us on par with 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.  It was banned for insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and for being sexually explicit. 
4. Crank by Ellen Hopkins is a semi-autobiographical YA novel similar to Go Ask Alice.  It deals with teenage drug addiction and rape in a relatively realistic and completely unglamorized manner.  It was banned for drugs, offensive language, racism, and for being sexually explicit. 
5. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins is the YA story of Panem, a distopian future US where children fight gladiatorial games, and Katniss Everdeen the girl who volunteered to take her sister's place and challenged the government by refusing to play by their rules.  I reviewed it here.   The series has been banned for violence, being sexually explicit, and unsuitable for the age group.
6. Lush by Natasha Friend is a YA book where a 13 year old girl struggles to deal with her father's alcoholism and pressure from her mother and grandmother to hide it from everyone. It also deals with more typical teenage problems like crushes and puberty,  It was banned for drugs, being sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuitable for the age group.
7. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones is a YA book about a typical teenage girl dealing with relationships, crushes, issues with Mom, and understanding the difference between love and lust.  It's poetic and emotionally intense and banned for sexism, being sexually explicit, and unsuitable to age group. 
8. Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a famous non-fiction book about the author trying to survive on minimum wage in different parts of the country.  It examines the unfairness in the US, especially for women, and explains how important Welfare and a living wage really are.  It's been banned for drugs, inaccuracy, offensive language, political viewpoints, and religious viewpoints.
9. Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie is a YA anthology of stories by queer and young writers. It's autobiographical for the various writes and wonderfully edited by 22 year old Amy Sonnie.  It's been banned for homosexuality, being being sexually explicit. 
10. Twilight (Series) by Stephanie Meyer is the incredibly popular YA series about the age old tale of love between a human girl and a 100 year old sparkling vampire.  While I have objections to the series (like the quality of writing) they're a bit different then the reasons it was banned; violence, being sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to audience. 

Now I have two reasons I have problems with the list.  The lesser one being some of the books banned for being sexually explicit don't portray anything more intense then kissing and cuddling, the ones being banned for racism are attacking and exposing racism, and the idea that people ban books for positively portraying queer characters is offensive.  

But my main objection to this list is that it exists at all.  Books should not be banned, it's an issue of free speech and access to opposing speech and stories.  The idea of institutionally stifling or hiding voices that portray something different or something that some people find objectionable is repugnant.  This is especially true when these voices portray the experiences of real people or are something that many people face or deal with.  Teenagers go through puberty and the majority of them experience desire.  Addiction and rape happen (to adults, teenagers, and even children).  Not everyone is straight and queer people are victimized and bullied.  People of Color experience racism.  To ban books at all is wrong, but to ban them for showing the world as it really is, instead of how white, conservative Christians want it to be, is inexcusable. 

To See Where Books Are Being Banned Near You