Subject: round up the usual subjects...
From: Will Hochman (Hochman@scsu.ctstateu.edu)
Date: Thu Sep 14 2000 - 06:38:33 GMT
>
>
>Harry Potter, Huckleberry Finn among controversial library books!
>
>BC-Banned Books, Bjt,0657!
>Harry Potter, Huckleberry Finn among controversial library books!
>With BC-Banned Books-List!
>By HILLEL ITALIE"
>Associated Press Writer"
> NEW YORK (AP) - Harry Potter made the list. So did "The Catcher in the Rye"
>and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The most popular children's books?
>No. The ones adults most wanted removed from library shelves in the 1990s.
> "This just proves no book is safe from censorship attempts," said Judith
>Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual
>Freedom.
> The top 100 titles were compiled and released in advance of the 20th annual
>Banned Books Week, which runs Sept. 23-30. The ALA, the American Booksellers
>Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors are among
>the sponsors.
> The most disputed books were the popular "Scary Stories" titles, horror
>tales by the late Alvin Schwartz. Objections included violence, cannibalism
>and causing children to fear the dark. A complaint from the school district
>in Campbell County, Wyo., said the books made kids believe "ghosts are
>actually possible."
> Also in the top 10 were such classroom standards as Maya Angelou's "I Know
>Why the Caged Bird Sings," J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," John
>Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and Mark Twain's "The Adventures of
>Huckleberry Finn."
> "The fact that teachers assign them is one of the reasons there's so much
>concern," Krug said. "They deal with issues a lot of parents don't want to
>know about."
> The Harry Potter series, which Christian groups have attacked because of
>its themes of witchcraft and wizardry, comes in at No. 48. It was removed
>this year from a public school in Bridgeport Township, Mich.
> According to the ALA, more than 5,000 complaints were recorded at school
>and public libraries in the 1990s. Krug said that represents about 20
>percent to 25 percent of all challenges, although she does note the annual
>number has declined slightly over the past years.
> "A lot of people are now spending more time thinking about Internet
>content," she said.
> "Sexually explicit" was the most common objection raised about books at
>libraries, followed by "unsuited to age group" and "occult theme or
>promoting the occult or Satanism." Others included violence, promotion of
>same-sex relationships, racism and anti-family values.
> Krug said about 5 percent of those complaints lead to a book being banned.
> "Usually, when the rest of the community hears about a complaint it speaks
>out in support of keeping the book," she said.
> But many books, even famous ones, do get removed. In 1997, Angelou's memoir
>was taken off the ninth-grade English curriculum in Anne Arundel County,
>Md., because it "portrays white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid
>people."
> In 1993, "Catcher in the Rye" was removed from a California school district
>because it "centered around negative activity." Four years later, the
>superintendent of the Marysville, Calif., Joint Unified School District
>banned Salinger's novel "so that we didn't have that polarization over a
>book."
> The list includes such children's favorites as Maurice Sendak's "In the
>Night Kitchen" and R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series. Acclaimed adult novels
>on the list include Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," Kurt Vonnegut's
>"Slaughterhouse-Five" and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's "Beloved."
> Also cited are William Golding's "The Lord of the Flies," Aldous Huxley's
>"Brave New World" and Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," removed in 1996
>from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas, because
>it "conflicted with the values of the community."
> ---"
> On the Net:
> The complete list can be found on the American Library Association's site:
>http://www.ala.org/bbooks
> American Booksellers Association: http://www.bookweb.org
> AP-ES-09-13-00 0106EDT!
>
>
>
>With BC-Banned Books, Bjt!
>
>BC-Banned Books-List,0242!
>With BC-Banned Books, Bjt!
>By The Associated Press"
> Books most frequently challenged in school and public libraries during the
>1990s, with title, author and some reasons for objections:
> !
> 1. "Scary Story" series, Alvin Schwartz, violence, occultism, cannibalism.
> 2. "Daddy's Roommate," Michael Willhoite, "promotes a dangerous and ungodly
>lifestyle."
> 3. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou, "portrays white people
>as being horrible, nasty, stupid people."
> 4. "The Chocolate War," Robert Cormier, "contains profanity, sexual
>situations, and themes that allegedly encourage disrespectful behavior."
> 5. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain, "offensive and racist
>language."
> 6. "Of Mice and Men," John Steinbeck, "blasphemous," "offensive and racist
>language."
> 7. "Forever," Judy Blume, a sexual "how-to-do book for junior high
>students. It glamorizes (sex) and puts ideas in their heads."
> 8. "Bridge to Terabithia," Katherine Paterson, "profanity, disrespectful of
>adults, and an elaborate fantasy world (that) might lead to confusion."
> 9. "Heather Has Two Mommies," Leslea Newton, a "skillful presentation to
>the young child about lesbianism/homosexuality."
> 10. "The Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger, profanity, sexual references,
>"centered around negative activity."
> ---
> Source: American Library Association
> AP-ES-09-13-00 0106EDT!
>
-- Will Hochman Assistant Professor of English Southern Connecticut State University 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515 - * Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message * UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
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