These 51 books are targets for book bans. Here's why you should read them now
By: USA TODAY Network staff
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
These 51 books are targets for book bans. Here's why you should read them now
As journalists, it's our job to seek out the truth even when it's uncomfortable. We value diverse perspectives, are open to new ideas and respect intellectual freedom . So it should come as no surprise that the thought of banning a book would make us riled.
What happens when a book is challenged in school boards and public libraries? Titles can be removed from school curriculums or library shelves. Most public schools and libraries have boards made up of elected officials or members appointed by elected officials. It is by the power of these officials that a book can go from challenged to banned in a school district or public library. Even if it happens only once, it is one time too many.
Sure, there is the argument that we can bypass places such as public libraries and purchase a book. But that is true only for those with the financial resources to do that. For many, particularly children and young adults, school and public libraries are the only means to access literature.
With that in mind, USA TODAY staff looked at challenged and banned books and chose those that are meaningful to them. In the books' defense, we've written why they deserve a place in our schools, libraries and society.
Banned books explained: Book bans are on the rise. What are the most banned books and why?
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BUZZ NOTE: This article continues with naming the 51 books and providing descriptive paragraphs that are reviews of each book. It is therefore too long to copy and paste so I suggest that you continue by clicking on the SEEDED CONTENT link to check out each book that you wish to read about. However here is a list of the 51 books in the order that they appear in the article:
'All Boys Aren’t Blue,' by George M. Johnson
'Gender Queer,' by Maia Kobabe
'The Hate U Give,' by Angie Thomas\
‘Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,’ by Becky Albertalli
'Kafka on the Shore,' by Haruki Murakami
'Twilight,' by Stephenie Meyer
'I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,' by Erika L. Sanchez
'The Odyssey,' by Homer
'Speak,' by Laurie Halse Anderson
'Nineteen Minutes,' by Jodi Picoult
'Blubber,' by Judy Blume
'Lord of the Flies,' by William Golding
'Of Mice and Men,' by John Steinbeck
'A Light in the Attic,' by Shel Silverstein
'Eleanor & Park,' by Rainbow Rowell
'Two Boys Kissing,' by David Levithan
'Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice,' by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard
'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky
'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' by Maya Angelou
'The House on Mango Street,' by Sandra Cisneros
'Maus,' by Art Spiegelman
'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,' by Mildred D. Taylor
'Animal Farm,' by George Orwell
'Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,' by Susan Kuklin
'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,' by Sherman Alexie
'Goosebumps' (series), by R.L. Stine
'Bridge to Terabithia,' by Katherine Paterson
'Brave New World,' by Aldous Huxley
'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,' by Judy Blume
The Catcher in the Rye,' by J.D. Salinger
'Persepolis,' by Marjane Satrapi
'The Glass Castle,' by Jeannette Walls
'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,' by Mark Haddon
'The Things They Carried,' by Tim O'Brien
'The Golden Compass,' by Philip Pullman
'Beloved,' by Toni Morrison
'To Kill a Mockingbird,' by Harper Lee
'The God of Small Things,' by Arundhati Roy
'The Outsiders,' by S.E. Hinton
'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' by Mark Twain
'50 Shades of Grey,' by E.L. James
'The Color Purple,' by Alice Walker
'The Giver,' by Lois Lowry
'A Separate Peace,' by John Knowles
'The Bluest Eye,' by Toni Morrison
'The Handmaid's Tale,' by Margaret Atwood
'1984,' by George Orwell
'The Hunger Games' (series), by Suzanne Collins
'A Wrinkle in Time,' by Madeleine L’Engle
'Born a Crime,' by Trevor Noah
'Harry Potter,' (series) by J.K. Rowling
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I've either read or watched the movies adapted from the books twelve of the books in the list, and I think I'm still normal. I can't believe that these ones that I've read or watched the movies The Odyssey, Lord of the Flies, A Light in the Attic, Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, 1984, and Harry Potter are on that list. Although I've read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Handmaid's Tale I can understand why they would be on the list. I'm surprised D.H.Lawrence's works aren't on that list.
Or for that matter Will's 'Taming of the Shrew':
Petruccio: Come, come, you wasp, i’fath you are too angry.
Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruccio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.
Petruccio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherine: In his tongue.
Petruccio: Whose tongue?
Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell,.
Petruccio: What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, Good Kate, I am a gentleman.
Katherine: That I’ll try.
The Handmaid's Tale? Why do you understand that one being banned? I personally can't understand banning any book but this list is going after classics like "Of Mice and Men".
The Hunger Games????? Somebody doesn't like dystopian fiction, do they?
I wouldn't read Twilight if you paid me but my daughter and her friends did and I was just glad they were reading
While the Handmaids Tale might be a cautionary dystopian nightmare for liberals, progressives and anyone who values their personal freedoms, much of it could be considered an instruction manual for religious conservatives. If it didn't paint them as the villain's it would likely be required reading in the right wing conservative Christian theonomy millions of fundamentalists pray for.
I keep saying that this book is not meant to be a how-to manual for the ultra right wing Christians...but nobody's listening
I have never read that one or watched the show. I was a little surprised to see 1984 on the list. I thought it was like a right wing bible.
I am surprised they haven't wanted to ban Tom Sawyer.
I really liked the book. I like the TV show as well, tho I'm getting a little tired of close-ups of Elizabeth Moss's brooding face.
But Trout, what the Handmaid's Tale is about is what the conservatives are doing. They want to ban it because it shows them up as being as dystopian as the book.
Like the Handmaid's Tail, they just don't want people to realize it.
Which is why it shouldn't be banned. This sickness has to be exposed
"Book burners are a bunch of goddamn phonies" - Holden Caulfield
I wish these people would stop telling everyone else how they should live even down to what they can read.
It is none of their business.
the people that want to ban books and the people that want to inject their warped version of religion into schools are one and the same.
Throughout history religious zealots have excused and used the most heinous atrocities from conversion at the point of a sword to inquisitions and torture all in the name of "saving" people from themselves and/or eternal damnation. It shouldn't be that surprising that the world is still besieged by such sick fundamentalists determined to force their imaginary beliefs on everyone around them in one form or another.
Why would the Outsiders be banned...
To me this is just people deciding that because they don't like it it should not be available to others. Ridiculous. I wish libraries would start telling these people to go pound sand.
I guess there's still a lot of old racist white guys that fear latinos with switchblades...
All one need do is look to the societies, countries, or governments that actively supported the burning of books to realize they were inevitably failed societies, countries, and governments.
Fear and ignorance will never breed success.