Banned Books Week

September 23-30 is Banned Books Week.

It's amazing how much Americans fight to defend the First Amendment and then let books be banned, oftentimes for ridiculous reasons such as love scenes or thoughts on civil rights. Book banning doesn't necessarily happen in the extreme fashion many people imagine of public displays of fire pits with books thrown in. It often happens by parents contesting books that are taught in the classroom. Schools can't technically take the books out of the school, but they can hide them in the library and forbid teachers to use them in lesson plans. Bookstores have refused to stock books, too. Individual people have stolen books that they saw unfit for public availability from libraries. And, ultimately, publishers have refused to publish the books they think could cause waves. What book banners don't realize, though, is that it is often these books that start necessary discussions about the state of society.

I encourage you to support authors who have the courage to challenge societal constructs through their writing skills. Below is a list of my favorite books that have been banned at one time or another. To see more, visit the Powell's Books Web site and American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, by Jon Stewart
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
Ricochet River, by Robin Cody
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Winterkill, by Craig Lesley