The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman Part 2

The second part of a book about a little girl who goes off to help her uncle dad with an armored bear to stop her evil mom monkey lady from going to heaven.


Banned

#8 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

2007

Halton, Ontario, Canada - trilogy was challenged at a Catholic school district that the books were "written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic, and anti-religion," pulled from public display be available for students who ask

Calgary, Alberta, Canada - publicly funded Catholic school district removed then returned the books to shelves for anti-religious content

Alamosa, Colorado - pulled then returned to shelves at Ortega Middle School for anti-religious content

Winchester, Kentucky - Challenged because of childhood alcohol and drug (wine and poppy) consumption and anti-religious

Lubbock, Texas - Challenged at Shallowater Middle School for being anti-religious

Oshkosh, Wisconsin - pulled from St John Neumann Middle School and Lourdes High School for "anti-Christian messages."

2008 - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - retained but added a sticker that said "representations of the church in this novel are purely fictional," and don't reflect real Roman Catholic Church or Gospel of Jesus Christ

OIF claims 513 cases where books were targeted for censorship, of which 74 were successfully banned or restricted.




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman Part 1

The first part of a book about a little girl who can talk to shiny camping equipment goes on a quest to fight an evil lady with a golden monkey from cutting out people's souls.


Banned

#8 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

2007

Halton, Ontario, Canada - trilogy was challenged at a Catholic school district that the books were "written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic, and anti-religion," pulled from public display be available for students who ask

Calgary, Alberta, Canada - publicly funded Catholic school district removed then returned the books to shelves for anti-religious content

Alamosa, Colorado - pulled then returned to shelves at Ortega Middle School for anti-religious content

Winchester, Kentucky - Challenged because of childhood alcohol and drug (wine and poppy) consumption and anti-religious

Lubbock, Texas - Challenged at Shallowater Middle School for being anti-religious

Oshkosh, Wisconsin - pulled from St John Neumann Middle School and Lourdes High School for "anti-Christian messages."

2008 - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - retained but added a sticker that said "representations of the church in this novel are purely fictional," and don't reflect real Roman Catholic Church or Gospel of Jesus Christ

OIF claims 513 cases where books were targeted for censorship, of which 74 were successfully banned or restricted.




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Talking about some heavy shit and a long story about a night in a haunted house.


Banned 

2002 - Fairfax, Virginia: Challenged in school libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for "profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture".

2003 - Massapequa, New York: Removed as a reading assignment in an elective sociology course at the Massapequa High School because of its "offensive content".

2004 - Montgomery County, Texas: Challenged in Montgomery County Memorial Library System along with 15 other young adult books with gay positive themes by the Library Patrons of Texas.

2005

Arizona - Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction sent a letter to charter and public school principals and district superintendents asking them to make sure the book is no longer available for containing sexual references, including a scene where a girl is forced to have oral sex with a boy during a party

Merton, Wisconsin: Retained in the Arrowhead HS curriculum as optional reading. Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction sent a letter to principals and district superintendents asking them to make sure that the book was no longer available to minors or any other students.

2006 - Arlington Heights, Illinois: Retained on the Northwest Suburban HS District 214 reading list along with eight other challenged titles. A newly elected school board member raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she'd found on the Internet. Chbosky's novel, which contains references to masturbation, homosexuality, and bestiality, got the bulk of the criticism.

2007 - Commack, New York: Challenged on the Commack High School summer reading list because the novel contains a two-page rape scene.

2008 - Portage, Indiana: Removed from Portage High School classrooms for topics such as homosexuality, drug use, and sexual behavior.

2009

Wyoming, Ohio: Challenged on high school district's suggested reading list.

Roanoke, Virginia: Restricted at the William Byrd and Hidden Valley high schools in to juniors and seniors. Freshman and sophomores will need parental permission to check out the book.

West Bend, Wisconsin: Challenged at the West Bend Community Memorial Library as being "obscene or child pornography" in a section designated "Young Adults." The Library board unanimously voted 9-0 to maintain, "without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access," the book in the young adult section at the West Bend Community Memorial Library. The vote was a rejection of a four-month campaign conducted by the citizen's group West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries to move fiction and nonfiction books from the young adult section to the adult section and label them as containing sexual material.

2011 - Clarkstown, New York: Challenged, but retained, at the Clarkstown North High School despite a parent's complaint about the teen coming-of-age novel, which deals graphically with teenage sex, homosexuality, and bestiality.

2012 - Grandview Heights, Ohio: Challenged as assigned reading at the Grandview Heights High School because the book deals with drugs, alcohol, sex, homosexuality, and abuse.

2013

Tampa, Florida - Challenged on a summer reading list for incoming freshmen at Wharton High School in Tampa (FL) because "it deals with sexual situations and drug use."

Glen Ellyn, Illinois: Removed from 8th-grade classrooms at Hadley Junior High School because of concerns about sexually explicit content and language. In June, the Glen Ellyn Elementary Dicstrict 41 School Board overturned the decision and returned the book to library shelves. Most board members were willing to reinstate the book after assurances from district administrators that a revised parental notification letter would be sent at the start of each school year warning parents that their children could be getting access to sometimes mature content in classroom libraries.

2015 - Wallingford, Conneticut - parent complained about the book’s depiction of homosexuality, sex, masturbation, and a “glorification of alcohol use and drugs,”

2016

Florida - Parents at Pasco Middle School complained about the book's sexual content after a long-term substitute teacher assigned it without reading; after being reviewed, the book was removed from the middle school but retained at the high schools, according to the superintendent

Iowa - The review committee, in a 10-0 decision, has voted in favor of keeping The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Dubuque school curriculums. KWWL reports that at the meeting, over 40 participants stood up and spoke about their personal connection to the book. When the parent who filed for the review, Jodi Lockwood, spoke she asked to rescind her request.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom To Read. 2014.

American Bookseller’s Association

Marshall University

ALA Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books

NBC

Huffinton Post

Banned Books Awareness

New York Daily News

ABCActionNews/Tampa Bay Times

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Bridge to Terabithia
By Katherine Paterson

A young boy makes a new friend and is drawn deeper into an evil world of Satanism and the occult, learning sometimes sacrifices must be made.

Banned

1986 - Nebraska - Challenged in Lincoln schools as 6th grade recommended reading because of inclusion of “profanity,” including the phrases “Oh Lord” and “Lord” as expletive.

1990 - Burlington, Connecticut: Challenged as suitable curriculum material because it contains “language and subject matter that set bad examples and give students negative views of life.”

1992

Apple Valley, California: Challenged in Unified School District because of “vulgar language.”

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Challenged in school district because of “profanity and references to witchcraft.”

Cleburne, Texas: Challenged because of “profane language.” School board voted to retain book in libraries, but not to include it as required reading.

1993

Oskaloosa, Kansas: Challenge led to new policy requiring teachers to examine all required material for profanities, list each profanity and note number of times it is used in book, and forward list to parents, who must then give written permission for children to read material.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Challenged because of “offensive language.”

1995 - Medway, Maine: Challenged because book uses “swear words.”

1996 - Pulaski Township, Pennsylvania: Removed from 5th grade classrooms of New Brighton Area School District due to “profanity, disrespect for adults, and an elaborate fantasy world” that “might lead to confusion.”

2002 - Cromwell, Connecticut: Challenged in Cromwell middle schools (along with another Newbery Award-winning book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond and the Harry Potter books in general) because they are “satanic [and] a danger to our children.” Argues that the “witchcraft” supposedly displayed in the books equates with the religion of Wicca, and because Wicca is an organized religion, it violates the First Amendment concept against the establishment of religion by the government.

Sources:

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014

University of Minnesota, Dr. Roggenkamp;

ALA Newbery Winners;

ALA Banned Books 1990-1999;

Banned Books Awareness “Bridge to Terabithia”;

American Bookseller’s Association “Connecticut Residents Seek to Ban Two Newbery Medal Winners from School”

Be a friend of the library and support us on Patreon

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin is here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and cry and he’s all out of bubble gum and ass. Because aliens don’t have asses. But don’t tell him, it’s a secret.


Banned

2012 - South Carolina - Aiken - teacher suspended for reading off the approved list after a complaint from a parent that the book was pornographic

2014 - Colorado - Grand Junction - Parent complaint to school board because of violence, language, and renouncing of religion. School kept the book.

Author’s Morman beliefs (according to author)

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/19/south-carolina-teacher-suspended-for-reading-enders-game-to-middle-school-students/

Gazette http://gazette.com/colorado-school-panel-rejects-book-ban-for-middle-school-students/article/1540207

Subscribe on iTunes or our feedburner RSS feed to get new and old episodes or donate to the Patreon for even more!

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Meet Margaret. She's a godless child about to embark on the mystery of puberty and boys and other sinful stuff that's really boring in retrospect.

OR

Margaret only wants three things: drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Kidding. She wants religion, boobs, and her period. What a long, strange trip.


Banned 

1980 - Arizona - removed from Gilbert elementary and jr high required parental consent

1982

Alabama - Challenged in the Tuscaloosa School System

Wisconsin - Challenged in Fon du Lac school systems because the book is "sexually offensive and amoral"

1983

Minnesota - Restricted in Zimmerman to students with parental permission. After the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union sued the Elk River, Minnesota school board (1983), the Board reversed its decision.

Ohio - Challenged at the Xenia school libraries; "is built around just two themes: sex and anti-Christian behavior"

1985 - Montana - Challenged as profane, immoral, and offensive but retained in Bozeman school libraries

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Chocolate War
By Robert Cormier

High school cults, library wars, evil teachers, and chocolate. Oh yeah, we had fun with this one.


Banned

1981 - Michigan - Challenged and temporarily removed from the English curriculum in two Lapeer high schools because of "offensive language and explicit descriptions of sexual situations in the book."

1982 - Maryland - Removed from Liberty High School in Westminster for language, violence, and degradation of schools and teachers

1983 - Rhode Island - Challenged at the Richmond High School as being deemed "pornographic" and "repulsive"

1984

Arizona - Removed from Lake Havasu High School freshman reading list. The school board said the teachers were not setting good examples, fostering disrespect in the classroom and failing to support the board. 

South Carolina - Banned from the Richland Two School District middle school libraries in Columbia due to language but later reinstated for eighth graders.

1985

New York - Challenged at Cornwall High School as "Humanistic and destructive of religious and moral beliefs and of national spirit"

Pennsylvania - Banned from the Stroudsburg High School library for being "blatantly graphic, pornographic, and wholly unacceptable for a high school library"

1986

Florida - Removed from Panama City school classrooms for language

Massachusetts - Challenged at Barnstable High School in Hyannis for profanity, masterbation and sexual fantasies, and "ultimately for its pessimistic ending." The novel fostered negative impressions of authority, schools, and religious schools.

1987 - California - Challenged at Moreno Valley Unified School District libraries for profanity, sex, and themes that encourage disrespectful behavior.

1988 - Florida - West Hernando Middle School principal recommended all Cormier's books removed.

1990

Connecticut - Challenged as suitable curriculum material in Harwinton and Burlington schools for profanity and setting bad examples and giving negative views of life

New Hampshire - Suspended from classroom use at Woodsville High School in Haverhill for language, masturbation, sexual fantasies, and derogatory characterizations of a teacher and religious communities

1992 - Connecticut - Challenged at New Milford for language, sex, violence, subjectivity, and negativism

1993 - Arizona - Challenged at Kyrene elementary for masturbation

1994

Georgia - Returned to the Hephzibah High School in Augusta after lack of educational content and a parent said "If they ever send a book like that home with one of my daughters again I will personally burn it and throw the ashes on the principal's desk."

New York - Challenged at Hudson Falls schools for rape, masturbation, violence, and degrading treatment of women

1995

Massachusetts - Challenged at Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans for profanity and sexually explicit language

Pennsylvania - Challenged at Stroudsburg school sytstem that the book will "foster disobedience."

1996

California - Removed in Riverside Unified School District as inappropriate for seventh and eighth grade to read without sclass discussion for mature themes, sexual situations, and smoking

Pennsylvania - Removed from East Stroudsburg after complaints for language and content

1998

Oklahoma - Banned from Broken Arrow schools as the "antithesis of the district's character development curriculum."

Texas - Removed from Greenville Intermediate School library for "blasphemy, profanity, and graphic sexual passages"

1999 - New York - Challenged on required reading list at Colton schools for masturbation, profanity, disrespect of women, and sexual innuendo

2000

Colorado - Challenged at Silverheels Middle School's supplemental reading material in South Park after parents objected to sexually suggestive language

Massachusetts - Challenged on the eighth grade reading list at Lancaster School District for language and content

Ohio - Challenged at Maple Heights School for teaching immorality

Pennsylvania - REtained as optional reading at Rice Avenue Middle School in Girard after a grandmother found the book offensive and didn't want her grandchild reading it.

Virginia - Challenged in York County due to sexually explicit language

2001

Florida - Challenged but retained at the Dunedin Highland Middle School in St. Petersburg after objections of profanity, masturbation, sexual fantasy, and segments of the book that were considered denigrating to girls

Ohio - Challenged at a Beaver Local Board of Education in Lisbon as "pornographic" 

2002 - Virginia - Challenged along with seventeen other tiles in Fairfax County elementary and secondary libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools after the group contended the book had profanity, drug abuse, sexually explicit content, and torture.

2006

Connecticut - Challenged and retained at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford parents thought it was unsuitable, had language, sexual content, and violence

North Carolina - Challenged for "vulgar and sexually explicit language" by Wake County parents who received support of the ban from Called2Action, a Christian group that says its mission is to “promote and defend our shared family and social values.”

2007

Indiana - Challenged at Coeur d'Alene School District after parents say the book should require parental permission.

Illinois - Challenged at required reading at John H Kinzie Elementary School in Chicago

Maryland - Removed from Harford County High School because it's message of bullying is overshadowed by vulgar language including homophobic slurs. In Nov. 2007, the superintendent reversed the decision. 

Ohio - Challenged at Northridge School in Johnstown because "if these books were a movie, they would be rated R. Why should we be encouraging them to read these books?"

Oregon - Lake Oswego junior high school because the novel is “peppered with profanities, ranging from derogatory slang terms to sexual encounters, and violence.”

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Banned Books Awareness, AVClub, Marshall University Libraries, Time.

Subscribe on iTunes or our feedburner RSS feed to get new and old episodes or donate to the Patreon for even more!

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J K Rowling

The Harry Potter that started it all! Join Evan as he talks about wizards, wizardry, how Hogwarts is a hellscape, and how unicorns are not innocent.


Banned

1999

California - Parent's objected to the book's use in two Moorpark elementary schools

Colorado - Parents objected at Douglas County schools

New York - Parents objected in suburban Buffalo among other districts

South Carolina - Challenged in schools because "the book has a serious tone of death, hate, lack of respect, and sheer evil."

2000

Ontario, Canada - Challenged but retained in the Durham School District because of witchcraft

Brisbane, Australia - Banned from Christian Outreach College library, being considered violent and dangerous

Alabama - Challenged but retained in Arab school libraries, claiming the author "is a member of the occult and the book encourages children to practice witchcraft."

California

Challenged but retained in the Simi Valley School District after a parent complained the book was violent, anti-family, had a religious theme, and lacked educational value.

Challenged but retained at the Orange Grove Elementary School for magic and bad experiences.

Challenged in the Fresno Unified School District by a religious group voicing concerns about sorcery and witchcraft.

Florida - Challenged in six Santa Rosa County schools in Pace for witchcraft.

Iowa - Challenged in Cedar Rapids school libraries because the book romantically portrays witches, warlocks, wizards, goblins, and sorcerers

Illinois - Challenged but retained in Frankfort School District 157-C after parents complained of lying and smart-aleck retorts to adults.

Michigan

Zeeland schools restricted the book to parental permission for fifth to eighth graders as well as no future installments would be purchased. Restrictions were overturned by the superintendent except one: teachers are prohibited from reading the book aloud to students below sixth grade. Restrictions place because the book contained an intense story line, violence, wizardry, and the sucking of animal blood.

Removed from Bridgeport Township public school for promoting witchcraft

New Hampshire - Challenged but retained in the Newfound Area School District in Bristol despite complaints the book was scary.

New York - Challenged at the Salamanca elementary school library for dark themes

Oregon - Challenged in Bend at Three Rivers Elementary school for witchcraft and concerns that the book would lead children to hatred and rebellion

Texas - Restricted to parental permission in the Santa Fe School District because of witchcraft promotion

2001

Florida - Challenged but retained in the Duval County school libraries despite complaint of witchcraft.

New Mexico - Burned in Alamogordo outside Christ Community Church as being "a masterpiece of satanic deception."

Pennsylvania - Challenged in Bucktown's Owen J. Roberts School District because the "books are telling children over and over again that lying, cheating, and stealing are not only acceptable, but that they're cool and cute."

2002

Moscow, Russia - Challenged by a Slavic cultural organization that alleged the stories about magic and wizards could draw students into Satanism

United Arab Emirates - one of 26 books banned from schools that contradicts Islamic and Arab values

Arkansas - Originally challenged for characterizing authority as "stupid" and portrays "good witches and good magic" and placed on restricted access. Parents of a fourth-grader filed a federal lawsuit against the restriction and the federal judge overturned the restriction.

Kentucky - A teacher's prayer group in Russell Springs proposed this for ghosts, cults, and witchcraft as well as fifty other titles for removal. 

2003 - Connecticut - Challenged but retained in the New Haven schools as it "makes witchcraft and wizardry alluring to children"

 

2006 - Georgia - Gwinnett County for guess what, but the school board rejected it. Georgia Board of Education ruled December 14, 2006 that the parent had failed to prove her contention that the series "promote[s} the Wicca religion and therefore that the book's availability in public schools does not constitute advocacy of a religion." On May 29, 2007, Superior Court judge Ronnie Batchelor upheld the Georgia Board of Education's decision to support local school officials. County school board members have said the bo oks are good tools to encourage children to read and to spark creativity and imagination.

2007 - Massachusetts - Removed from the St. Joseph School in Wakefield because the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate for a Catholic school.

2010 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Salvation Army post refusing to take donations of Harry Potter items because they “promote black magic and the occult.”

2019 - Tennessee - Rev. Dan Reehil, the pastor of St. Edward Catholic School, consulted with exorcists and the Catechism of the Catholic Church before making the decision to remove the book series from the school library due to the possibility of risking “conjuring evil spirits” as well as concerns that the book teaches Machiavellian approaches to problem solving. Students may still read the book on school grounds.


Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Willingham, AJ. “A Catholic school removes 'Harry Potter' from its shelves, claiming the books' spells are real.” CNN.com. CNN, September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019 from https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/us/harry-potter-catholic-church-st-edward-nashville-trnd/index.html

Subscribe on iTunes or our feedburner RSS feed to get new and old episodes or donate to the Patreon for even more!

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

As a treasure hunt type of novel, when the action revs up, you find yourself turning the pages faster and faster to see what happens next, then going back to see what pop culture references you missed. And that is what makes half this book fun, the references. If you were a child of the 80s that grew up on movies, TV and video games as your primary child rearing devices, this book should hit every chord in your brain bringing back memories on nearly every page. If you don’t know a lot about that kind of stuff... well, the story is enjoyable, just get ready to skip a lot of sections describing in detail various video game scenarios and tricks. A solid book that leans heavily on nostalgia, but still makes you wonder what is going to happen next.



"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee

A novel told from the point of a young girl that deals with racism, sexism, classicism, and violence in the deep south. Join our narrator as he gets into the issues of his homeland and also shares stories about rolling in tires and old pianos in gymnasiums.


Banned

deals with racial injustice, class systems, gender roles, loss of innocence, language, violence, rape, incest and authority

1966 - Virginia - Hanover for immoral use of rape as a plot device

1968 - #2 National Education Association list receiving the most complaints from private organizations

1977 - Minnesota - Eden Valley School Committee for being too laden with profanity, temporary ban

1980 - New York - Vernon-Verona-Sherill School District where "Reverend Carl Hadley threatened to establish a private Christian school because public school libraries contained such "filthy, trashy sex novels" as A Separate Peace and To Kill a Mockingbird"

1981 - Indiana - Warren where "three black parents resigned from the township Human Relations Advisory Council when the Warren County school administration refused to remove the book from Warren junior high school classes. They contended that the book "does psychological damage to the positive integration process and represents institutionalized racism""

1984 - Illinois - Waukegan School District over racial slurs.

1985

Missouri - Kansas City and Park Hill Junior High School for profanity and racial slurs

Arizona - Casa Grande School District "by black parents and the NAACP who charged the book was unfit for junior high use."

1990s - New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada for racial language, “The terminology in this novel subjects students to humiliating experiences that rob them of their self-respect and the respect of their peers. The word ‘nigger’ is used 48 times [in] the novel… We believe that the English Language Arts curriculum in Nova Scotia must enable all students to feel comfortable with ideas, feelings and experiences presented without fear of humiliation… To Kill a Mockingbird is clearly a book that no longer meets these goals and therefore must no longer be used for classroom instruction.”

1995

California - Santa Cruz Schools for racial themes

Louisiana - Caddo Parish's Southwood High School Library for language and objectionable content

1996

Mississippi - Moss Point School District over racial epithet.

Texas - Lindale advanced placement English reading list for “conflicted with the values of the community.”

2000-2009 - #21 on ALA's most frequently challenged books

2001

Georgia - Glynn County School Board for profanity

Oklahoma - removed from Muskogee High School for racial slurs after years of complaints from black students and parents, but returned

2004

Illinois - Normal Community High School as "being degrading to African Americans."

North Carolina - Durham for racial slurs.

2006 - Tennessee - Brentwood Middle School for profanity, sex, rape and incest as well as racial slurs promoting "racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy"

2007 - New Jersey - Cherry Hill Board of Education for objections "to the novel’s depiction of how blacks are treated by members of a racist white community in an Alabama town during the Depression and feared the book would upset black children reading it."

2009 - Canada, Ontario - St. Edmund Campion Secondary School in Brampton due to language and racial slurs

2016 - Virginia - The superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools confirmed the district had removed Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” after a parent voiced her concerns during a Nov. 15 school board meeting, reported WAVY-TV.

2017 - Mississippi - Removed from the 8th grade course work in Biloxi schools due to "some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable

2018 - Minnesota - Duluth Public Schools removed the book from the curriculum for use of the "n" word.


Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Caron, Christina. "‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Removed From School in Mississippi." New York Times. Retrieved Oct 16, 2017 from

Philips, Kristine. "A school district drops ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ over use of the n-word." Washington Post. Retrieved on 2018 February 9 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/07/a-school-district-drops-to-kill-a-mockingbird-and-huckleberry-finn-over-use-of-the-n-word/?utm_term=.f2df4a0b9d2d

Subscribe on iTunes and get new and old episodes or donate to the Patreon for even more!


"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/