Book Banning

            Most of us have heard of such famous novels as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier. These are just a small example of some of the great novels out there, but the renown of these books isn’t the only thing they all have in common. These books are frequently banned or challenged in schools all over the country. There are plenty of other books that are banned or challenged along with these, some of which that really don’t deserve it. A large number of books that are challenged have a powerful message behind them; a message that should be expressed. But if one of the books has even a pinch of something that could be considered inappropriate for a child, they are thrown out like yesterday’s trash. I believe that the rules for banning books shouldn’t be as strict as they are.
            The American Library Association has a list on there website of the 100 most challenged books between 1990 and 2000. While the list is a few years old, it still holds relevance, because practically all the books on this list are still banned or challenged today (The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000). I may not have read or heard of all the books on this list, but there is a fair number that I’ve either read, or know exactly what they are about. For example, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The book is about a small part of the lives of George and Lenny, two migrants drifting from place to place, trying to make some money. And through all the challenges they go through, they never forget about their dream to one day own a ranch, growing crops and taking care of animals (Steinbeck, John). To me, the message of the book seems to be that you should never let go of your dreams, no matter how hard the journey to them is. That’s definitely something that people should believe in, but because of a few language issues, this book is often banned from schools. A few words are no reason to ban a book. This novel was one of the most powerful I’ve ever read, and it really bothers me to hear that it’s often challenged.
            Another book that I’ve read from the same list is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This book revolves mostly around a few days of Holden Caulfield’s life in New York after being expelled from school. During the novel, Holden thinks about many people from his past, even meeting up with some of them, while trying to find places to stay, because if he returns home, his parents will find out that he’s been expelled from another school. In the midst of this, he endures some of the hardships of the streets and real life (Salinger, J.D.). This is, in my opinion, the best book I’ve ever read, and it too is frequently banned or challenged, because of offensive language and sexual content (Banned and/or Challenged Books…). But, having read it, I can tell you that the language of the book isn’t bad enough to ban the book. The word “godamn” may be used frequently in the novel, but by the time a person is at a good enough reading level to read this book, the word godamn is nothing close to shocking.
            I will admit, some of the books on this list should be banned without question, like The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell and Sex by Madonna, but along with the books that don’t deserve to be on this list, this book also contains some children’s books that I believe shouldn’t be banned either, like the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine, and the Where’s Waldo books by Martin Hanford, both of which I have read some of, and I know that neither deserves to be on this list (The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000). The only possible reason I could think of to ban these books would be that they might contain slightly too much violence for some parents, but I’ve read these books before, and the amount of violence in them is actually not that much. I personally believe that people are confusing the attempts to spook the children with violence. And the only reason I could find that Where’s Waldo could be banned is that, allegedly, in one of the books, a character has an exposed breast, but no evidence, including a specific book or page number, has been given supporting the claim (Muns, Raleigh).
            The list also contains such children’s books as Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman, a story of a girl named Heather and her lesbian mothers (Newman, Leslea), and Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite, about a young boy dealing with the divorce of his parents, because his father is gay (Willhoite, Michael). These books are both banned because of homosexual content, but that isn’t a reason to ban these books. These books aren’t about sex; they revolve around a relationship, never referring to any sex involved. If a children’s book was based around a heterosexual relationship, it wouldn’t get banned because of it, but since the relationships in these books aren’t heterosexual, they automatically get banned. People assume that when a homosexual relationship is referred to, it instantly means sex, rather than love. If they thought of it as a relationship more so than sex, like they do with with books containing heterosexual relationships, maybe these books wouldn’t be as challenged. They don’t deserve to be.
            Some novels are also banned because of content that may be considered racist, like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I do not doubt that these books contain racism and racist terms, but racism is a real problem. Racism actually exists in our society. We can’t hide that. So why ban a few books that dwell upon racism from the past? These books can give a whole new perspective on what life was like for African Americans back then. If a few racist words must be spoken to put the point across, so be it. Those terms were used back then, so it only makes sense that they be used. Besides, without the use of those words, you wouldn’t receive all of what was experienced back then. It is impossible to fully understand what happened through these books, but they come as close as they can, and that is why they shouldn’t be cast aside. They are powerful novels, along with plenty more just like them, and there is no truly valid reason that they should be banned from schools.
            An endless number of messages and opinions can be expressed through literature. Religion, racism, holding onto your dreams, the hardships of life, life choices; I could go on. Whether you want to read stories about these things, or write your own views down, you have the right to do it. But banning these books is taking that right away. And when it’s so easy for a book to be challenged, it may stop a lot of people from writing what would’ve been a great piece of literature.

“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” –Judy Blume (Blume, Judy).

So many great books will never be written. So many powerful novels will never be read. All because people are afraid to let their children see a little bit of the real world.
          If sexual content was portrayed in a children’s book, I could see it being banned, but, as long as its not pornographic, if something like that was in a book, say that a high school student should read, it shouldn’t be banned. Kids are thought that when they’re younger, so they know what it is. It’d be like teaching a kid how to add, but never letting him use the knowledge. And when it comes to offensive language, kids can hear these words everywhere. In school, on the streets, from movies and music. So why should a book be banned from schools for containing the language, when it surrounds the students regardless of where they are? Why not let them at least learn and expand their reading abilities as they see them, instead of just hearing it? All the reasons that books are challenged or banned are part of real life, and you can’t ban life.




Work Cited

"The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000." www.ala.org. 2000.  American Library Association. 14 Nov 2007 <http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm>.

"Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century." www.ala.org. American Library Association. 14 Nov 2007 <http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/reasonsbanned.htm>.

Blume, Judy. "Judy Blume Talks About Censorship." www.judyblume.com. 2001. 15 Nov 2007 <http://www.judyblume.com/censors.html>.

Muns, Raleigh. "The Rouge Librarian: Where's Waldo?." www.thecurrentonline.com. 17 Oct 2005. The Current Online. 14 Nov 2007 <http://media.www.thecurrentonline.com/media/storage/paper304/news/2005/10/17/Features/The-Rogue.Librarian.Wheres.Waldo.Not.In.The.Libraries.Because.Hes.Been.Banned-1023500-page2.shtml>.

Newman, Leslea. Heather Has Two Mommies. Alyson Books, 1989.

Salinger, J.D.. The Catcher in the Rye . Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Spangler, 1937.

Willhoite, Michael. Daddy's Roommate. Alyson Books, 1991.