Books that were once popular and
acceptable are now being challenged by parents and even teachers. Those same
books that students grew up reading in schools are now in the banned list for
numerous reasons, ranging from too much violence to encouraging risky behavior.
In some parts of the US, this list of books is banned from schools.
4.
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” By Maya Angelou
Summary: In her autobiography, Angelou recounts all of the
hardships she went through in her youth.
Why
it’s banned: Too much sex, an intense
scene of childhood rape, depictions of sexuality and racism.
Where
it’s banned: Marshall University,
Huntington, WV
3.
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
Summary: A feminist novel about an abused and uneducated black
woman’s struggle for empowerment.
Why
it’s banned: Socially offensive,
sexual and social explicitness, troubling ideas about race relations, man’s
relationship to God, African history and human sexuality.
Where
it’s banned: Pomperaug High School,
Southbury CT; Newport News, Virginia School Library; and public libraries in
Saginaw, Michigan
2.
“James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl
Summary:
When James loses his parents, he is
forced to live with his cruel aunts. After meeting an old man with magic
crystals, James drops the crystals on the peach tree and realizes his life will
forever be changed.
Why
it’s banned: Crude language and
encourages children to disobey parents and other adults.
Where
it’s banned: Thackery’s Bookstore,
Toledo, Ohio; pulled from an elementary school in Charlotte Harbor, Florida;
Stafford Country, Virginia
1.
“Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank
Summary: Set in World War II, Frank describes what it was like
hiding in a cramped attic with her family along with other Jews as they feared
being discovered by the Nazis.
Why
it’s banned: Socially Offensive. In
1983, four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee called for the
rejection of this title due to it being a “real downer.”
Where
it’s banned: Culpeper County Public
Schools in VA
*article featured on thescribeonline.com
in October 2011
*article featured on dgotay.tumblr.com
in August 2011
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