Top 15 "Challenged" Books of 1990-2000
The ALA has compliled a list of the most-challenged (for removal — i.e. banning) books for 1990 through 2000. In order, they are:
Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Wow. Some remarkable literature — and some junk — disrupted by ignorance. Sad.
Get the rest of the list at the ALA.
Comments:
For the record, Judy Blume books are superficial and contrived. Perhaps banning books isn’t always a bad thing?
Amanda!
Sure, let’s ban ’em. Hell, let’s have a burning. NOT.
I love you, Giles.
Hey, can we burn all of those Danielle Steele books while we’re at it?
Truly, truly sad. My wife is a librarian, and she sees this stuff everyday.
Oh, and you’re way off about Judy Blume, Amanda.
The most interesting irony of all, I think, is that Fahrenheit 451 is a “banned” book. This book, for those who are not familiar with it, is set in a society where the main entertainment consists of “wall screens” with programs with no point or plot. In this society, books are burned if found. Therein lies the irony of this banned book. Written over fifty years ago, it describes life without books as being void of individuality and meaning.