September 30-October 6 is Banned Books Week, the 30th anniversary of an event celebrating the freedom to read. If you haven’t checked out the list of frequently challenged books, you might be surprised what’s on there. I’ve read quite a few of them and many are favorites of mine. It’s amazing what some people want to censor. Many of the books on the list are classics and other popular books (Brave New World, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Golden Compass, Harry Potter, The Handmaid’s Tale, just to name a few). 326 books were challenged in 2011.
Katie O’Sullivan, a Crescent Moon Press author-to-be, is hosting a series of posts on her blog about favorite banned books. I have a post up today about The Outsiders, which was one of my favorite YA novels growing up: http://katieosullivan.blogspot.com/2012/10/banned-book-outsiders.html.
What’s your favorite challenged book? Do you think certain books should be banned in libraries and schools?
Cindy Young-Turner 