Most of us aren’t surprised by “Fifty Shades of Grey” being the fourth most-challenged book of 2012, but would you expect a children’s book to make number one? Dav Pilkey’s “Captain Underpants” has been repeatedly banned or challenged due to concerns over offensive language and charges of being “unsuited...
We know that the mentality behind censorship and the banning of books is shortsighted and narrow-minded; but when that ignorance causes those words to completely disappear from the world, it’s just nauseating. That’s what is happening to rare nationalist works that were banned by the British during India’s quest...
Some label it as historical romance; while others argue that it doesn’t have all of the required elements, thus making it simply an historical novel- but all would agree that the 1936 work by Margaret Mitchell is one of the quintessential works of American literature. However, as one has...
The United States’ third-largest school district, Chicago Public Schools, denies that it banned the book, saying that it “only removed copies from classrooms.” They can euphemize it any way they like, but it’s still censorship. Labeling the graphic novel as “inappropriate,” CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett also ordered mandatory training for...
“It’s a new age of book banning,” says ACLU lawyer, Tony Rothert. It’s well established that religion is often used as the justification behind many of the book challenges and outright bans occurring in schools and public libraries. It’s also been seen right here in this series that the...
When someone mentions The Wizard of Oz many no doubt imagine families gathered around the television to share in the full-color glory of this timeless classic; but did you know that the book that the beloved movie is adapted from has been in the sights of censors since it...
Americans tend to arrogantly think that censorship is something that only happened in Stalinist Russia or, currently, the Middle East; America, of course, is proclaimed to be the land of the free. That stuff doesn’t happen here. Many other countries think that censorship only happens within the borders of...
Literature marks the times. Whether an epic historical fiction or a dime store yarn, a novel reflects the time in which it is published as much as it does the period it is set in. The intricacy and subject matter of the literature we enjoy also evolves with us...
“For all the talk about inalienable human rights and guaranteed freedoms, the only true freedom is the freedom of thought. The moment you are able to read an entire universe of wonder and possibility opens up to you. No longer will you be confined to the dark, subjugated to...
Here’s a list of books that were banned before they even had a chance to be published; the censorship was based solely on the title of the book and not the content. …okay, not really. I just thought I’d end the day with some lighthearted humor. It’s a bit...