Society

Banned Books Awareness: “50 Shades of Grey”

Some call it fan fiction, while others call it “mommy porn;” but the fact is that whatever you call it, Fifty Shades of Grey, a New York Times #1 bestselling novel by E. L. James, has become an international hit. The trilogy was originally conceived as fan fiction based on characters from...

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Banned Books Awareness: “The Dirty Cowboy”

Last Thursday (4/19/2012), the Annville-Cleona School Board in Pennsylvania voted 8-0 to remove an award-winning children’s book, The Dirty Cowboy, by Amy Timberlake, from its elementary schools after a student’s parents objected to its illustrations. Read on and share the Knowledge: http://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/column/2012/04/23/banned-books-awareness-the-dirty-cowboy/

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Banned Books Awareness: “The Book of Negroes”

Lawrence Hill wrote one of the bestselling and most-popular Canadian novels of all time; but what does he do for an encore? Hill, who will be in Edmonton this coming Tuesday (4/17/12) to deliver the University of Alberta’s annual Henry Kreisel lecture, knows how to follow up a smash...

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Across the Great Divide: “The Ghost of Belle Isle”

  Prompted by the unseasonably warm weather scores of people are venturing outdoors, eager to get a jump on summer fun. For many in the Detroit area that also includes picnics and other activities on historic Belle Isle. But unknown to few, besides some lifelong citizens of the Motor...

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Banned Books Awareness: The Daily Newspaper

The wit of cartoonists like Tom Toles, Mike Thompson, and the widely-popular Doonesbury strip by Gary Trudeau have amused and engaged readers for decades with their humorous take on the issues and subjects of the day, often poking fun at both sides of the debates. Doonesbury is well known...

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Banned Books Awareness: “The Chocolate War”

Referred to as “Watergate at the high school level” by attendees of the National Council of Teachers of English during a 1975 convention, at its core The Chocolate War (1974) is a brilliantly-crafted novel that focuses on the issues of conformity and the use of coercion to enforce cultural norms. A New...

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Banned Books Awareness: “Literacy is a Lifestyle”

March is National Reading and Grammar Month here in the United States. It is built around the birthday of Dr. Seuss, as March 2 is honored with a National Read Across America Day. Libraries and schools from coast to coast held reading parties and celebrated the written word; but...

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