Better late than never: Celebrate banned book week

October 1, 2005

Guest Post by Morbo

The American Library Association’s annual “Banned Book Week” ends today. Just to torque off the kook right, consider reading one of the books on this year’s list.

Here they are, with descriptions from the ALA:

1. “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, religious viewpoint, being unsuited to age group and violence.

2. “Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, offensive language and violence.

3. “Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture” by Michael A. Bellesiles, for inaccuracy and political viewpoint.

4. “Captain Underpants” series by Dav Pilkey, for offensive language and modeling bad behavior.

5. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, for homosexuality, sexual content and offensive language.

6. “What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Sones, for sexual content and offensive language.

7. “In the Night Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak, for nudity and offensive language.

8. “King & King” by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, for homosexuality.

9. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, for racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and unsuited to age group.

10. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, for racism, offensive language and violence.

Two thoughts on this list: One, gun control advocates cheered when Bellesiles’ book came out because it appeared to debunk the common argument of the gun nuts that everyone was armed to the teeth during the colonial and founding periods. Bellesiles’ research has been called into question, and to my mind, he has not sufficiently addressed the concerns raised about his claims. I do not recommend relying on the book when responding to National Rifle Association members. At the same time, Bellesiles must be given the opportunity to defend his assertions. Banning the book is not the answer.

Two, while several of these titles have been on the list for years, “Captain Underpants” is new, and I’m surprised to see it there. My son, who is 7, has every book in that series. They are crammed full of scatological humor, talking toilets, bad puns and so on — just the kind of thing boys at his age love. They are completely harmless.

I really wish people would lighten up.

“In the night kitchen” is one of the greatest childrens book ever written. My kids loved that book when they were little. Captain Underpants was just right for my son who was a reluctant reader. What is wrong with some people. ARRG

  • I’m with Judy. In the night kitchen is a great work of imagination, artistry, and psychological depth. My kids all grew up with it, and they all managed to become productive (and creative) contributors to society.

    That makes me sick.

  • As I recall, there’s a penis shown in it. Visible body parts (even if shown in nonsexual contexts) are a major threat to our moral fiber, or something.

    If they want to get into competitive banning, I recommend banning the entire Regnery catalog. That’d do a lot of good for the country right off the bat.

  • Bellesiles’ book wasn’t banned. The publisher withdrew it from circulation because of substantial evidence (confirmed by about a dozen professional historians and other researchers) that Belleisles had made up the probate data that formed the core of his argument. A revised edition by a smaller press is now back in print, and people are free to buy and read it if they please.

  • What My Mother Doesn’t know is an absolutly wonderful book, and when I first read it, I couldn’t believe that it was so controversial, my mom had to explain to me that people don’t like to hear the truth…and this book was great: it’s written from the perspective of a teenage girl, and it has a lot of her experiences and feelings in it and it’s all sooo true, and I guess it scares people.

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