I Finally Have A Goal In Life
I have a new mission, a new reason for existence.
Someday I want to be on the American Library Association's Banned or Challenged Books List. Because being controversial never goes out of style. In fact, it seems like just about everyone who IS anyone is doing it!
I found out yesterday that this week is Banned Books Week, and in between bouts of work I've been perusing the lists of Banned/Challenged Books over the years. The ALA's Web site defines "challenges" as ...formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
For those of you wondering what the difference is between a challenge and a banning, the ALA has more helpful information:
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.
I am intrigued by some of the books mentioned on the ALA's site. Huckleberry Finn is fifth on the list of Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999. I actually don't care for that book much, so even though I'm against censorship, I wouldn't really have cried if it had been taken off of my curriculum, back when I was in school.
(Oh, but wait. If I never read it, how would I know I didn't like it? Hmmm, a quandary.)
Moving on, I note that Madeleine L'Engel's fantastic novel A Wrinkle in Time is only a little further down on the same list as good ol' Huck. Strange, I guess people have a thing about stories where good battles against evil and imaginary characters abound.
Then there's The Giver, by Lois Lowry, which I believe my Aunt B told me was a "great book" when she encouraged me to read it a couple years ago. Sowing the seeds of rebellion as usual, eh, Aunt B?
By the way, To Kill A Mockingbird and Brave New World? Also on the list. Oh, those wacky, rabble-rousing social-commentary authors! Trying to raise our awareness and sense of conscience! Take them away!!
For the 21st Century, apparently we should all steer clear of the "Captain Underpants" series, and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou.
I know what you are all thinking. There's a series called Captain Underpants?? Shame knows no bounds.
But please, let's not get distracted from the main attraction! Join me in applauding the most frequently challenged book of the still-young 21st century (drum roll please)... The Harry Potter series!
I am probably one of the few people on the planet who still has not read a single one of the Harry Potter books. And it's not because I have an issue with the themes, or the characters, or anything. I just never got interested.
Oh well. I like being anomalous. Especially if I can't be controversial.
Yet.
Someday I want to be on the American Library Association's Banned or Challenged Books List. Because being controversial never goes out of style. In fact, it seems like just about everyone who IS anyone is doing it!
I found out yesterday that this week is Banned Books Week, and in between bouts of work I've been perusing the lists of Banned/Challenged Books over the years. The ALA's Web site defines "challenges" as ...formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
For those of you wondering what the difference is between a challenge and a banning, the ALA has more helpful information:
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.
I am intrigued by some of the books mentioned on the ALA's site. Huckleberry Finn is fifth on the list of Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999. I actually don't care for that book much, so even though I'm against censorship, I wouldn't really have cried if it had been taken off of my curriculum, back when I was in school.
(Oh, but wait. If I never read it, how would I know I didn't like it? Hmmm, a quandary.)
Moving on, I note that Madeleine L'Engel's fantastic novel A Wrinkle in Time is only a little further down on the same list as good ol' Huck. Strange, I guess people have a thing about stories where good battles against evil and imaginary characters abound.
Then there's The Giver, by Lois Lowry, which I believe my Aunt B told me was a "great book" when she encouraged me to read it a couple years ago. Sowing the seeds of rebellion as usual, eh, Aunt B?
By the way, To Kill A Mockingbird and Brave New World? Also on the list. Oh, those wacky, rabble-rousing social-commentary authors! Trying to raise our awareness and sense of conscience! Take them away!!
For the 21st Century, apparently we should all steer clear of the "Captain Underpants" series, and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou.
I know what you are all thinking. There's a series called Captain Underpants?? Shame knows no bounds.
But please, let's not get distracted from the main attraction! Join me in applauding the most frequently challenged book of the still-young 21st century (drum roll please)... The Harry Potter series!
I am probably one of the few people on the planet who still has not read a single one of the Harry Potter books. And it's not because I have an issue with the themes, or the characters, or anything. I just never got interested.
Oh well. I like being anomalous. Especially if I can't be controversial.
Yet.
posted by grackyfrogg @ 11:21 AM
7 Comments:
At 2:45 PM ,
Anonymous said...
The Giver is a wonderful book! So is Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. And so is Broken Drum by Edith Hemingway. (That last one won't be on a banned or challenge list...I just encourage you to read it) Captain Underpants is a favorite among 8 year olds and it fits them. Nothing awful just stupid bathroom humor about farts and such.
At my son's high school, they have the books that are banned by the curriculm on a special table in the library and the librarians encourage students to check them out. Talk about rebels!
Aunt B
At 5:22 PM ,
Quesse Lómë said...
I have yet to read Harry Potter as well. At first, I really didn't want to read something that elevated interest in the occult so much that community colleges were offering classes on the subject, but after contemplating them more, I realized that my immortal soul was in no danger of hellfire and damnation should I read Rowlings' novels.
However, I have yet to read them because I'm not one to typically jump on the trend wagon. If EVERYONE is reading them, well, they might be wonderful literature. Or they could be in the same category as slap-bracelets and "Hammer" pants.
At 5:51 PM ,
grackyfrogg said...
J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy is also on the list. probably (though this may surprise many Christians today) for the same reasons as Harry Potter. interesting, no?
i also have trouble with liking things that are "trendy." and it's a good point you make, quesse. trendiness does not equate to quality. neither, however, does it necessarily equate to a lack of quality.
i remember when i first read donald miller's Blue Like Jazz, for instance. loved it. then suddenly, about a year later, it came to my attention that donald miller was The Latest Thing in Christian non-fiction circles. he was The Guy! he was the most popular Christian writer around.
suddenly, i couldn't stand him.
but why? was his book suddenly awful? was his writing suddenly bad? nothing had actually changed, except that i hated it that EVERYONE liked him.
that says far more about me, than it does about mr. miller's work, doesn't it?
anyway, it's an intriguing question to consider.
oh, and aunt b, i did read The Giver after you reommended it. at your house, in fact. :) and you're right... it's good.
At 5:53 PM ,
grackyfrogg said...
ugh make that *recommended in the last post.
what a horrible proofreader i am. good thing i don't do it full-time or anything, like a job.
oh wait.
At 4:05 PM ,
Quesse Lómë said...
Good points, all of 'em. And I had to laugh at your "revelation" in the last comment. :)
I didn't intend to imply that Harry Potter sucks, but I'm somewhat wary still.
At 4:35 PM ,
grackyfrogg said...
oh, i didn't think you implied that at all. and it's ok to be wary of what you pick and choose to read. :)
in regards to what i was saying about trendiness vs. quality, i wasn't really referring to Harry Potter, i was just kind of thinking aloud, trying to figure out WHY i have a problem with a book or whatever when it becomes popular. why aren't i glad that it's popular, and that other people are finding enjoyment in it similar to what i've experienced?
know what i mean?
At 10:21 AM ,
rraven said...
That's such a good life goal that I'm thinking of plagerizing it. I guess any book that's banned gets a kiss of life in a way.
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