The Tutor.com Blog

Would you be surprised to know that one of the beloved characters of the 21^st century is in a frequently banned book? Would you be shocked to find out that curriculum classics are have been challenged in the past decade? Could you imagine a story about a kindergartener causing controversy? Check out this list of recently banned or challenged books.

• Stories of the lightning-scarred, Muggle-friendly wizard Harry Potter are one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the last decade. Some reasons for the ban? Promoting witchcraft and that Harry “lies, breaks rules, and disobeys authority figures, including the professors at Hogwarts.” The ALA reports that Harry Potter tops the list of the most challenged book of the 21^st century.
• One of the most frequently challenged books of 2009; Catcher in the Rye is the classic coming of age story and has been challenged for vulgar language, encouragement of rebellion and undermining of family values.
• The stories of this kindergartner “Junie B. Jones” have been challenged for use of non-traditional grammar and little Junie frequently talking back to adults and authority figures.
• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was replaced in Culpepper, VA as recently of January of this year due to sexual content. It’s also been banned for “being too depressing for students.”
• This 10^th grade reading list standard A Separate Peace been challenged. This “filthy trashy sex novel” has been removed from curricula due to graphic language.

Has there been a recent ban or challenge to a book that has surprised you?

It’s Banned Books Week. During this annual event, the American Libraries Association encourages people to celebrate the freedom to read while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning or removal of books from libraries across the country.

The Tutor.com team has previously shared some of our favorite banned books, and this year we are offering some ways to acknowledge and support this important week.

Ideas to Celebrate Banned Books Week

1. Buy Banned Books. Share the love! You can read these books yourself and then donate to a group or charity (children’s hospital, your local public or school library.)
2. Start a ‘Banned Book’ Club. Some of the most successful book clubs have a theme that help keep everyone on track. Instead of reading Oprah’s latest pick, each member of your club can select a book from the frequently challenged or banned list.
3. Movie Marathon. There have been some great movies based off and inspired by banned books. Grab some popcorn and check out a classic. We recommend To Kill A Mockingbird, but Harry Potter would also qualify!
4. Imagine “What if.” In this writing exercise, try to see if you can imagine what the plots of some famous novels would be, if the objectionable parts were removed. What shape would The Bermudez Triangle take, and what Brave New World would Bernard inhabit?

The ALA publishes a list of frequently challenged books. Some are classics, and others are more contemporary. Are some of your favorite books on this list?

image credit: ellen.w

September 26 through October 3^rd is ALA’s Banned Book Week.  This is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.  The ALA uses Banned Book Week to highlight the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

We asked around the Tutor.com offices to see which of our favorites were on the list of frequently challenged books.

Carolann DeMatos, our Art Director had a hard time narrowing it down to just one because she “can’t wait to read a book once someone tries to ban it.” But since she had to pick, D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover was her favorite for being beautifully written and for its insight into female emotion and behavior during this time period.

Jennifer Kohn, VP of Communications holds a special place for Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. It was the first book she ever read by Toni and has to read them all. She feels that Ms. Morrison is “one of the most important storytellers of this century.”

Our customer service coordinator Jake Ramsey gives his favorite banned book as Catch-22, by Joseph Heller.  He says “If you’ve never read it, it’s a little like M*A*S*H—if M*A*S*H were funnier, sadder, set during WWII, and a book instead of a movie.”  Also, most people assume Heller named the book after the concept, but it’s actually the other way around.  Before 1961, no one had ever described a no-win situation as a “catch-22.”

Kevin Donalds, our concise CFO gives his favorites as Slaughterhouse Five, In Cold Blood and The Lord of the Flies.

Creative Services Director Duane Romanell thinks his favorite  would be The Catcher In The Rye. ” I read it at a time when I was a young man (much like Holden Caulfield) dealing with a bunch of teenage angst, rebelling against parents and society, and trying to get a grip on my awkward social development. Children were innocent to him, and everyone else was basically a fake. He flunks out of boarding school, wanders the streets of NY for days, and eventually winds up in an institution where he’s finally forced to come to terms with his past. I didn’t see life quite in the same way as Holden, but I understood his feeling of isolation from a world he really didn’t allow himself to comprehend.”

What’s your favorite frequently challenged or Banned book? Did the list inspire you to read something you may have missed?