Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
A collection of tales about humans making it to Mars and being pretty disappointed for the most part.
Read MoreBlack Boy by Richard Wright
A memoir of a great writer dealing with racial issues, poverty, domestic violence, and a lot of moving around and learning.
Read MoreA Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
A young boy grows up on a farm and is destroyed by a bull, but he gets a pig out of it so winner winner chicken dinner.
Read MoreSong of Solomon by Toni Morrison
A man in wings jumps off the hospital where an important baby soon known as Milkman is being born.
Banned
#72 on ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1993 - Ohio - Challenged but retained in Columbus schools for "language degrading to blacks and is sexually explicit"
1994 - Georgia - Richmond County School District removed the book from reading lists and library shelves after a parent complained passages were "filthy and inappropriate"
1995 - Florida - St Johns County Schools in St Augustine challenged the book
1998 - Maryland - Complaints to St Mary's County schools referred to the novel as "filth," "trash," and "repulsive" and lead to challenges. A faculty committee recommended the book be retained, but the superintendent removed the book from the approved text list.
2009 - Michigan - The superintendent of Shelby school suspended the book from the curriculum. The book was reinstated but parents are informed in writing and at a meeting of the books content. Students who don't wish to read it can read an alternative.
2010 - Indiana - Parents of Franklin Central High School's Advanced Placement English class in Indianapolis were concerned about language and sexual content, but the book was retained.
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1977.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
It was a pleasure to burn through this book and explain that people are dummies for banning a book on book banning.
Banned
1967 - Ballantine Books released the "Bal-Hi Edition" aimed at high school students which censored such words as "hell" and "damn" and "drunk man" became a "sick man."
1987 - Florida - The book was given "third tier" status under a homegrown book classification system at Bay County Schools in Panama City meaning it contained "vulgarity." After much controversy, the school abandoned the tier system and the book was placed in the curriculum.
1992 - California - Irvine school Venado Middle School censored after students received copies with words such as "hell" and "damn". Parents complained and reporters contacted the school so officials said the censored copies would not be used
2006 - Texas - Challenged at Conroe Independent School District for "discussion of being drunk, smoking cigarettes, violence, 'dirty talk,' reference to the Bible, and using God's name in vain," going against "religious beliefs."
Sources
ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballantine Books. New York, 1953.
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Library of Congress. "Books That Shaped America." Retrieved on April 16, 2019 from https://www.loc.gov/bookfest/books-that-shaped-america/
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Help support the podcast on Patreon
"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
From the deep Depression-era south is a story of hope and hatred and one family's story.
Banned
1993 - Louisiana - Arcadia High School removed from ninth-grade reading list for racial bias.
1998 - California - Challenged at O'Hara Park Middle School in Oakley for "racial epithets."
2000 - Alabama - Challenged at Chapman Elementary School libraries in Huntsville for "racial slurs in dialogue to make points about racism."
2004 - Florida - Challenged but retained at Seminole County school curriculum after an African American family raised concerns about the book, finding it inappropriate for their thirteen-year-old son.
Sources
Crowe, Chris. "Mildred D.Taylor." The Mississippi writer's Page. University of Mississippi, 2015. Retrieved 8 Dec 2017 from http://mwp.olemiss.edu//dir/taylor_mildred/
Doyle, Robert P. "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry." Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA, 2014.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
We learn about the Handmaid and her/his tale about the alien artifact that brings water back to the world.
Banned
1990 - California - Challenged as assignment at Rancho Cotati High School in Rohnert Park as "too explicit for students"
1992 - Iowa - Challenged yet retained in Waterloo schools for profanity, sexually explicit material, and "statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled"
1993 - Massachusetts - Removed from Chicopee High School English class reading list for sex and profanity
1998 - Washington - Challenged with six other titles in Richland high school English classes for being "poor-quality literature and stress suicide, illicit sex, violence, and hopelessness."
1999 - Florida - Challenged but retained on advanced placement reading list in Chamberlain High School in Tampa
2000 - Pennsylvania - Upper Moreland School District downgraded the book from "required" to "optional" on the summer reading list for eleventh graders due to "age-inappropriate" subject matter.
2001 - Texas - Challenged but retained in the Dripping Springs senior Advanced Placement English courses as an optional assignment. Sexual encounters in the book upset some parents.
2006 - Texas - A parent complained to Superintendent Ed Lyman of the Judson school district that the book was "sexually explicit and offensive to Christians" and asked it be removed from an Advanced Placement English curriculum. A committee of teachers, students, and parents recommended the book be retained. The superintendent banned the book against the committee's recommendations. The committee appealed to the school board, which overruled the superintendent and retained the book.
2012 - North Carolina - Parents complained the book was "detrimental to Christian values" and the book was banned for "sexually explicit, violently graphic and morally corrupt" and challenged as required reading for Page High School International Baccaluraeate and optional reading in Advance Placement courses at Grimsley High School.
Sources
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
A book that in no way follows the plot of Three Men and a Baby (which is crazy) but was banned from a bunch of places.
Banned
General attack as a Caldecott Honor as the book is targeted at 12 and up and Caldecott books are targeted lower.
#1 on the ALA Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 for including "LGBT characters, drug use, and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes."
2016
Minnesota - Henning schools removed the book from the K-12 library; restored to 10-12 grades with parental permission
Florida - Seminole County schools removed the book from elementry schools and reviewed the book in high school library where it was retained
Sources
ALA. "Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016" http://www.ala.org/bbooks/NLW-Top10 Retrieved 2017April26
CBC Books. "This One Summer removed from 3 Florida high schools" http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/02/this-one-summer-removed-from-florida-high-schools.html Retrieved 2017April26
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. "Case Study: This One Summer" http://cbldf.org/banned-challenged-comics/case-study-this-one-summer/ Retrieved 2017April26
Diaz, Shelley. "“This One Summer” Restored to Henning, MN, School District Library, with Restrictions" School Library Journal. http://www.slj.com/2016/06/censorship/this-one-summer-restored-to-henning-mn-school-district-library-with-restrictions/ Retrieved 2017April26
Flood, Alison. "Minnesota school's ban on graphic novel draws free-speech protests" Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/25/minnesota-schools-ban-on-graphic-novel-this-one-summer-mariko-and-jillian-tamaki-protests Retrieved 2017April26
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A banned book unstuck in time and how the library kept its forest despite mutant dogs. #godwearspants or #godalmightypees
Banned
1972 - Michigan - Rochester banned for containing and making reference to "religious matters"
1973 - North Dakota - Challenged at many communities, but burned in Drake
1975 - New York - Banned in Levittown
1979 - Ohio - Banned in North Jackson
1982 - Florida - Banned in Lakeland for "explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language."
1984 - Wisconsin - Barred for purchase in Rancine by an administrative assistant for instructional services
1985 - Kentucky - Challenged in Owensboro for language a secont with an image depicting beastiality, a reference to Magic Fingers on a bed, and the line "The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty."
1986 - Wisconsin - Restricted in Racine to parental permission at the flour Racine Unified District high schools for "language, depictions of torture, ethnic slurs, and negative portrayals of women."
1987
Georgia - challenged in Fitzgerald for profanity and sexual reference
Kentucky - challenged in LaRue County for language and "deviant sexual behavior"
1988 - Louisiana - challenged in a Baton Rouge high school library as "vulgar and offensive"
1989 - Michigan - challenged in Monroe high schools for language and portrayal of women
1996 - Texas - challenged in Round Rock high school for being too violent
1998 - Virginia - banned in Prince William County high schools for profanity and sex
2000 - Rhode Island - Removed from Coventry high school reading list after a parent complained of language, violence and sex
2006 - Illinois - A school board member in Arlington Heights, elected on a platform to bring Christian values to board decision making, raised a controversy about several books based on excerpts of the books she found on the Internet
2007 - Michigan - Challenged in Livingston County at Howell High School for strong sexual content by the organization Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE). LOVE asked law enforcement to review the book for distributing sexually explicit conduct to minors. The county prosecutor said the book was not criminally liable, containing content of an artistic, literary, or political nature.
2010 - Missouri - Removed and later returned from Republic high schools, available only to parents. Teachers cannot acquire or read aloud from it. A resident said it taught principles contrary to the Bible.
Source
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
"Dances and Dames" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
The Fighting Ground by Avi
A novel about the Revolutionary War meets a story about librarian spring break gone bad.
Banned
2000 - New Hampshire - Challenged yet retained by a "concerned Christian" as part of the John Fuller School curriculum in Conway
2008 - Florida - Banned from the shelves of Bay District school library in Panama City after a parent complained of profanities by soldiers.
#42 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
Sources
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom To Read. ALA: 2014.
Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009
"Dances and Dames" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/