Friday, September 20, 2013

{Giveaway Hop} Banned Book Week Hop

Ah, my favorite time of year. Why? Well, there's Fall and Halloween, rainy days made for reading books, and BANNED BOOK WEEK. Now, don't mistake this to mean I'm in favor of banning books. I'm not. And every year, this being my third to participate, Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer co-hosts a tour with another blogger, this year it's Mary at Bookhounds, not necessarily celebrating the week, but getting the word out about banned books, why certain books are banned, and what books have been banned in the previous year. Each blogger will post something different, but EVERY blogger will be hosting a giveaway relating to a banned or challenged book. That means me too!


Let me start by saying, all information I gathered can be found on the American Library Association's website. If you're interested in learning more about banned and/or challenged books, I highly suggest checking them out.

To begin, I am in no way support the banning of books. I do; however, agree that school libraries should keep in mind the age of their students when choosing which books they house. But, on the flip side, public libraries and book stores have no business banning any book from their shelves. Here's a very simple rule: If you don't want to read it, don't. But don't tell me I can't.

Now, I as a parent have an obligation to my two beautiful daughters (perhaps not the one who's moved out, but...) to know what they're reading. I have an obligation to keep an open communication link between each of us, and this I take very seriously. I make an effort to know their personalities, the things they can handle, and the things that might cause them trouble. And here's an example:

I have an 18 year old who was mature enough to read Ellen Hopkins in the 7th Grade, yet I now have a 7th grader who can't handle the content of Ms. Hopkins' books, yet prefers to read books such as The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. My 18 year old STILL could not read Mr. Green's magnificent novel without going into a full on depressive attack due to life events. 

So, while I don't agree with book banning, I vehemently encourage parental involvement when it comes to their children's reading. Plus, talking about reading is a great way to become involved with your child.

Now for trivia time. Here are just a few novels that were challenged and/or banned that I found shocking. Maybe one I found funny. These are only a few, for a more comprehensive list, go HERE.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - challenged due to student complaint of being pornographic.
No action taken.

The Perks of Being a Wildflower by Stephen Chbosky - challenged "because the book deals with drugs, 
alcohol, sex, homosexuality, and abuse." 

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Banned as required reading for Sumner County, Tenn. schools (2012) because of “inappropriate language.” The book won the 2006 Printz award for excellence in young adult literature.

AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James - Pulled, but later returned to the Brevard County, Fla. public libraries’ (2012) shelves “in response to public demand.” The racy romance trilogy is particularly popular among middle-aged women. Despite overwhelming demand and long wait lists for library copies, some other libraries across the country are refusing to acquire the book.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Your choice of ANY banned or challenged book up to $15 dollars. I provided a link to a comprehensive list above, but for any questions, feel free to ask.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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80 comments:

  1. Hansel and Gretel. I heard this and a lot of fairy tales were banned. Turns out, the original stories were a lot different from what I read while growing up.

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    1. Yes, the original tales are much different than what Disney turned them into. As an adult, I enjoy the darker ones better, but I can't imagine have reading those to my children when they were small or letting them watch the movies. Oh my!

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  2. First time I read about the banned/challenged books, I was shocked, unfortunately, now nothing surprises me anymore =( *le sigh*

    Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win!

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    1. I agree, I'm not really surprised at anything anymore. I do get tickled at things from time to time. The Fifty Shades thing cracks me up. If it had been a school library I would have understood, but a public library. Really?

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  3. thanx for giving me and others the chance to win this

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  4. I heard Harry Potter was & still is in some countries banned. I was shocked because it's harmless in my opinion, but I guess some countries are just a little strict.

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    1. Harry Potter is one of the dumbest bannings I've ever heard of, but the reasons, I feel were more because J.K. Rowling admitted to being an atheist. Again, that should not make a difference.

      This is a direct quote siting one of the reasons Harry Potter has been banned or challenged so much.

      The most prominent objections to Harry Potter fall into three categories: they promote witchcraft; they set bad examples; and they're too dark. Let's take a look at each of those.

      Read more: Harry Potter Banned? | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-harry.html#ixzz2fXz8JObX



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  5. Black Beauty has been banned more than once. Seems like an odd choice to me.

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    1. This I did not know, Carl. It does seem like an odd choice. Thanks for enlightening me. I'll be looking it up and finding more out about the causes.

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  6. I was surprised to see Jeannette Walls's memoir, "The Glass Castle" on one of the challenged lists. It's definitely full of the hardships she faced growing up, but I think it's appropriate enough for a younger audience.

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  7. I was also shocked to find that Ender's Game and Looking for Alaska were on the list. Thanks for the giveaway

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  8. Nothing really surprises me. Someone, somewhere will always find offense to something especially in the South where not shockingly many of the schools that ban the books are located. Banned books almost always stem from religious viewpoints conflicting with the books content. Parents band together and ban them because they don't like the thought of their kids actually questioning the world around them. Anyway sorry for ranting but it really annoys me to see the reasons for some of these banned books. It's doing a disservice to young minds keeping the books from them.

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    1. I'm not sure if my post sounded like a rant or not, but I most certainly could go on one when it comes to banned books. My mother, a 10th grade English teacher, dealt with parents from one of the churches in town when she taught Animal Farm. One parent removed the child from her class until the lesson on that book was completed. That being said, I grew up in a very small town in the Texas Panhandle, so not completely out of the norm.

      I totally agree with you that it does a disservice to young minds. This is why my children have been encouraged to read whatever they want, as long as I don't think it will traumatize them and there are life events that cause me to be watchful for this. Other than that, go for it. Chances are, I've already read it anyway. I have a virtual library in my house anyway, ranging from biographies and politics to studies on witchcraft (used for research on a book I'm writing only, but it's there), YA contemporary and paranormal romance, Stephen King, John Grisham, and yes, there's a few chick lit books floating around too, though those are typically on my Kindle.

      So I understand your rant, and feel free to get those feelings out.

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  9. I probably shouldn't be surprised by now that people want to ban books but I am and every book banned surprises me. Thank you for the giveaway!

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  10. Books banned in 2011 that i just could not help laughing at: Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, Tintin in the Congo(HA), His Dark Materials, HARRIET THE SPY!!!!!, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is literally hilarious. I found this at http://www.banned-books.org.uk/sections/corrosive.

    some of these books i am doing in university, and they are frequently banned? bahahaha:

    1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
    3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
    4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
    6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
    7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
    8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
    9. 1984, by George Orwell

    11. Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
    12. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

    15. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
    16. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
    17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
    18. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
    19. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
    20. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway

    23. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
    24. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
    25. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
    26. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
    27. Native Son, by Richard Wright
    28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
    29. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
    30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway

    33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

    36. Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

    38. All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren

    40. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

    45. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

    48. Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
    49. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
    50. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

    53. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

    55. The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

    57. Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

    64. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence

    66. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
    67. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

    73. Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
    74. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
    75. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence

    80. The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer

    84. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller

    88. An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser

    97. Rabbit, Run, by John Updike

    Gossip Girl is also banned, I find this so hilarious that I can't function and Goosebumps!! Honestly banning books is literally the dumbest thing that people do. I laugh at people who say this is evil or inappropriate and you will go to hell for reading this. Well poor me

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    1. Yes, you will find many "classics" on the banned and challenged lists, this is why my mom found it completely unacceptable that parents were having such a hard time with Animal Farm, yet were planning to send their children away to universities where the students don't have a say in the curriculum, much less the parents. A professor would laugh in a parent's face if approached about his reading curriculum. I understand monitoring your children's reading, but you will hinder them from the seriously big, bad world if you shelter them from everything you may not agree with. This is what conversations are made for.

      Kara's came home from school and told me things her teachers have said, or possibly Kara misunderstood, but we talk about why I disagree with what was said, and encourage her to think outside the box. I don't run and battle her fights for her. I'm sure if it were something horrid, I can't imagine it being a book... unless, of course, they were reading Fifty Shades of Grey to 7th graders, as I read on another site (though I question the validity of the comment), I would run to her aid, but the harsh truth is, our children will have to be exposed to, well, the harsh truth eventually. So, let's guide them.

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  11. I can't believe that the Hunger Games were one of the most frequently challenged books of 2011.

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  12. I was surprised that Harry Potter is on the list! Thanks for this amazing giveaway - I would love to win!

    Suz Reads

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  13. I know what you mean about kids being different. I was just thinking of how my eldest was reading certain books at 8/9 which his brother is not at all ready for at the same age. I have always enjoyed sharing books with my kids and my teen and I often share books and talk about them. But he is actually passing me, after reading The Fountainhead and other books for school which I am not interested in much :)

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    1. oooh, my favorite "WTF? Banned Book" was the American Heritage Dictionary. That always makes me laugh :)

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    2. I don't know what I would do with a boy. Pray he and his dad read the same books probably, because I doubt there's little on my shelves boys would be interested in. And my husband and I, outside of very few books, do not share similar tastes.

      My youngest has a taste for tragedy which I do not. She has big plans of being an actress, so perhaps this is a good thing, but while I enjoy the occasional cathartic release of an emotional book, I prefer to keep them to a minimum. She will choose something with cancer and death every single time. I did devour John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, that being my first and only tragic book for the year. Haha.

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  14. Where's Waldo, Green Eggs and Ham and Winnie the Pooh... wait The Canterbury Tales WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHT?

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  15. Oh, yes - Harry Potter, Hamlet and The Hunger Games, for example. It looks like any book can be banned for whatever reason!

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  16. Most recently HARRY POTTER. Magic is dangerous stuff - apparently.

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  17. To Kill A Mockingbird. We read that at school in high school and then we watched the movie after.

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  18. To Kill A Mockingbird. We read that in school and then watched the movie after.

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  19. Harry Potter, I really don't understand why they were banned, they're amazing books. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  20. the hunger games series...
    really surprise...

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  21. Surprised wen I saw Harry Potter on the list.

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  22. I don't understand a lot of the books being banned. I thought Catcher In The Rye was a good book. What is this about some of the fairy tales being banned? Give us all a break don't you think? thanks so much for the giveaway.

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  23. I didn't know about the books being banned/challenge, Thank you for the chance to win!

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  24. I've heard they want to ban Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell! It's shocking!

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    1. Yes, I read about that too! Such a harmless book.

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  25. I am always amazed at books being banned... really, let the reader choose!

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  26. Black Beauty was banned in parts of Africa, simply for having the name "Black" in the title. Sigh. Surprising and depressing.

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  27. This week I was surprised to hear that parents in a county in MN have banned the author Rainbow Rowell from speaking to students and are trying to get her book Eleanor and Park pulled from all bookshelves. Something like 75 copies. Also they are trying to get the librarians, who chose the book as a summer teen read, disciplined. So now I am planning to read it and am giving a copy away on my blog. I hate censorship bullies.

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  28. Honestly? I don't understand why ANY books are being banned. Freedom of speech, much? If we can't censor the news or the individual, we shouldn't be able to censor books.

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    1. I absolutely agree! No one has the right to tell another what they can or can't read. End of story. It's just that easy, and don't throw "tax dollars" at me, because if it's government funds, then you darn sure better be upholding the Bill of Rights.

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  29. I was suprised by Harry Potter and the Hunger Games being listed. Those are two super popular series, I just don't get it.

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  30. While I'm not completely shocked about the Harry Potter series since it was listed as the series and not each book alone and the last few books were darker, I am surprised to learn it was number one from 2000-2009. That seems a little crazy. I suppose it made it to number one simply because of the sheer volume of people who have heard of it.

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  31. I was surprised to see The Hunger Games and Twilight on there, though I should've known. They only made the list because they gained so much popularity from the movies. Obviously, these stories won't interest everyone, and it might be disturbing/unsettling to some, but that doesn't mean nobody can read them. You have every right to choose what you (and your children if applicable) read, but it isn't right to force those beliefs onto others.

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  32. Yes, any of them. Just don't read the books that offend you. Why ruin it for everybody else. No one person is better then anyone else and we have the right to read whatever we want.

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  33. I was surprised at Ender's Game and Harry Potter!

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  34. I was surprised when I found out the Harry Potter Series was a banned book.

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  35. I was not surprised by the list. You never know what will set someone off.

    I was at the library and a woman was complaining about the filth being bought using public funds. She had a whole list of books that she thought should be banned. A couple of weeks later, I saw the same lady picking up a reserved copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. It was on her banned list. SMH.

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    1. This makes me giggle. Seriously. Hehe. I can just imagine. It's sad to say people are quick to jump on a bandwagon they know very little about. I would venture to guess that many of the challenges are from people who have never read and have only "heard" about the books they're judging. Ah... seriously, I understand not wanting to read a certain type of book, so don't, but don't tell others what they can or can't read.

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  36. I'm mostly surprised at how many children's books have been banned.

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  37. I was shocked about Harry Potter, Kite Runner and the Hunger Games trilogy! HG because it's anti-family, anti-ethnic, violent, and some other crap. Heeellloo, Katniss volunteered in place of her sister, and it's dystopian, of course it'd be violent and anti things. Haha, anyhoo, thanks for the giveaway! :)

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    1. Right!!! I mean, come on...what could be more pro-family than an older sister protecting her little sister. And people might want to look around before they start judging dystopian literature, because seriously, the world isn't in a state of eutopia right now.

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  38. Hey, I love The Lord of the Rings. I read it first when I was 11 and my mom certainly didn't complain. People are so strange...

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  39. I have worked in libraries for years so I totally understand about banned or challenged books. Seems like there is always someone who can find something they don't like about any book out there. Just don't read it then, people.

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  40. I couldn't believe it when I saw that The Great Gatsby is on the banned list!

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  41. Honestly, having viewed the banned book list for the last few years, nothing surprises me anymore. People will challenge a book for just about any reason, it seems.
    Jennelle J

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  42. I was surprised to see The Twilight Saga was banned. It's a harmless vampire love story.

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  43. I'm always surprised that the Hunger Games and Harry Potter are on there.

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  44. You know, little surprises me when it comes to narrow minded people, but Harry Potter? Really?

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  45. Harry Potter, & Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, amongst others.

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  46. The TTYL series (Internet Girls) by Lauren Myracle. I read the first book and it was a book, I just can't figure out what could be wrong. Harry Potter definitely comes in second. Sometimes I don't know what people are thinking!

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  47. Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter! that's funny!

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  48. I was really surprised than somebody wanted to ban Diary of Anne Frank, because it's history that everyone should know and never forget.

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  49. Charlotte's Web -- really?
    I love that story.

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  50. I was surprised to see AND TANGO MAKES THREE on the list.

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  51. any book on a banned list is a surpise, I didn't think banned books excited anymore

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  52. The most recent list has Captain Underpants at the top. I saw another that had Junie B. Jones on it. But honestly I think it should be up to people and parents. Uptight people shouldn't try and dictate what we read.

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  53. Many books on the banned book list surprise me, but one that comes to mind first is Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford

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  54. I was surprised by The Hunger Games.

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  55. Let's see, where do I start.... There's so many of them. Captain Underpants. The Outsiders. That Was Then, This Is Now. A Wrinkle In Time. The Witches. And many many more.

    Jane at Jane Reads

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  56. I'm never surprised to hear any book has been banned or challenge. It just seems like ignorance and narrow mindedness will always find a corner to fester in.

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  57. Harry Potter. I can't believe people would take offense to that series.

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  58. how about banning the internet instead of books. at least this way the kids will have to read to do something and if anything they will learn something!

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  59. Captain Underpants! It is a kids book! Seems so crazy to me.

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  60. The recent news I heard about a group of parents trying to get Elenor and Park banned and wanting to punish the librarians for putting them on the shelves

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