Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Song 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/

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

A man trying to escape prison finds himself locked up in the worst way in this psychadelic novel about conformity, individuality, and sanity.

Banned

#49 ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1971 - Colorado - Challenged in Greenley public school district as non-required reading.

1974 - Ohio - Five residents sued the board of education to remove the book from classrooms, saying it was "pornographic" and ”glorifies criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles, and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."

1975

New York - removed from Randolph public schools

Oklahoma - removed from Alton public schools

1977 - Maine - Removed from required reading list in Westport

1978 - Idaho - Banned from Freemont High School in St. Anthony and the instructor was terminated.

1982 - New Hampshire - challenged in Merrimack high school

1986 - Washington - challenged but retained in Aberdeen high school for use in honors English for promoting "secular humanism"

2000 - California - Parents at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District complained about profanity and sexual situations and petitioned to have the book removed. Parent of children aged 7,8, and 17 Anna Marie Buckner said "It teaches how very easy it is to smother somebody. I don't want to put these kinds of images in children's minds. They're going to think that when they get mad at their parents, they can just ax them out."

Sources

ALA. "Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century." ALA. 2018. Retrieved on 2018 Jaunuary 26 from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=136590

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 18 Jan 26 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Baldassarro, R. Wolf. "Banned Books Awareness: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey." world.edu. 2012. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from http://world.edu/banned-books-awareness-flew-cuckoos-nest-ken-kesey/

Biography.com. "Ken Kesey Biography.com." The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks. March 23, 2016. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from https://www.biography.com/people/ken-kesey-9363911

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Viking. 1962; 2002.

Tran, Mai. "Parents Ask School District to Ban 'Cuckoo's Nest.'" LA Times. 2000. Retrieved 2018 January 26 from http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/03/local/me-60611


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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/

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

Books are banned in Nazi hotels and then we sorta get into the book.

Banned

1972 - Ohio - Strongsville School board voted it out with Cat's Cradle, overturned 1976 by SSB vs Minarcini by the US District Court

Sources

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/

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat's Cradle: A Novel
By Kurt Vonnegut

The world is ending with the water freezing over and the library is getting sued as we continue with Kurt Vonnegut month!

Banned

1972 - Ohio - Strongsville School Board voted to be withdrawn from the school libraries. Overturned in 1976 by U.S. District Court in Minarcini Vs Strongsville City School District

1982 - New Hampshire - Challenged at Merrimack High School

Sources

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/

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/

Blubber by Judy Blume

Blubber
By Judy Blume

Bullies abound in Judy Blume's Blubber and on our top ten list of the best bullies in literature.

 

Banned

#43 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1980 - Maryland - Removed from Montgomery County elementary schools

1981 - Arizona - Banned temporarily from Sunizona

1983

Iowa - Challenged in Des Moines schools for "objectionable" subject matter

Ohio - Challenged at Xenia school libraries for undermining "authority since the word 'bitch' is used in connection with a teacher

Texas - Challenged at Smith Elementary School in Del Valle for the words "damn" and "bitch" and showed children cruelly teasing a classmate

1984

Illinois - Banned but later restricted to parental permission at Peoria School District libraries for sexual content. language, and lack of social and literary value

New Jersey - Restricted at Lindenwold elementary school libraries for language

Pennsylvania - Removed from Hanover School District elementary and secondary libraries but later placed on "restricted shelf" at middle school libraries for being "indecent and inappropriate"

Wyoming - Challenged at the Casper school libraries

1985 - Montana - Challenged as profane, immoral and offensive but retained at Bozeman school libraries

1986 - Wisconsin - Challenged at Muskego Elementary school for language and "taunting (of an overweight girl) is never punished for her cruelty"

1991 - Ohio - Challenged at the Perry Township elementry school libraries because "bad is never punished. Good never comes to the fore. Evil is triumphant"

1998 - Alabama - Banned in Clements High School in Athens for language, but was later reversed

1999 - Texas - Removed from an elementary school in Arlington because educators objected to "verbal, physical, and sexual abuse of student upon student"

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. "Blume, Judy - Blubber." 2014

Ala Top 100 Banned/Challenged 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/

Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

One boy's climb from apartheid to tennis champion. 

Banned

1993

California - Challenged at Amador High School in Sutter Creek

New Jersey - Challenged at Manasquan schools for a brief yet graphic homosexual passage

1996

Connecticut - Challenged at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington for brutal and graphic language

North Carolina - Temporarily pulled from Greensboro high school libraries after a resident sent letters to the school board and administrators, claiming the book could encourage sexual assault among children

1997 - California - Challenged but retained on a reading list for high school sophomores at Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton after parents referred to it as "pornographic and racially insensitive"

1999 - Ohio - Removed from Federal Hocking High School English in Athens for sexually graphic passage

2000

California - Removed from a sophomore reading list at Armijo High School in Fairfield for sexual content

Michigan - Kearsley school officials deleted six sentences describing a homosexual molestation scene in the book after parents found it offensive

2006 - California - Challenged but retained at East Union High School in Manteca after challenged for use of words such as "penis" and "anus" during a scene where young boys prostitute themselves for food

2007 - California - Banned from Burlingame Intermediate School

2010 - California - Challenged but retained in San Luis Obispo High School.

#39 on the ALA Top Banned Books 2000-2009

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

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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/

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln and Christopher Collier

My Brother Sam Is Dead
By James Lincoln Collier

Spoiler alerts all around, Sam is totally dead at the end in the juvenile but ultimately compelling book set during the American Revolution!


Banned

1984 - Georgia - Challenged at the Gwinnett County school libraries because of language; an abridged version without profanities was substituted

1989 - Ohio - Removed from fifth grade New Richmond classes for language and did not represent "acceptable ethical standards" for the age

1991 - South Carolina - Challenged in Greenville County Schools for using the name of God and Jesus in a "vane and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual reference."

1993 - Kansas - Challenged at Walnut Elementary School in Emporia for profanity and violence

1994

California - Removed from the fifth grade at the Bryant Ranch Elementary School in Palcentia-Yorba Linda Unified School district because "the book is not g-rated. Offensive language is offensive language. Graphic violence is graphic violence, no matter what the context."

Pennsylvania - Challenged but retained at the Palmyra schools for language and violence

1996

California - Retained at the Antioch elementary school libraries after a parent complained about profanity and violence

Colorado - Challenged in the Jefferson County Public Schools in Lakewood for profanity, references to rape, drinking, and battlefield violence

1998 - Virginia - Challenged at the McSwain Elementary School in Stauton for language and Tucker-Capps Elementary School in Hampton for language and violence

2000 - Illinois - Challenged in the fifth grade Oak Brook Butler District 53 curriculum because of violence and language

2009 - Georgia - Regained in Muscogee County elementary school libraries after parental concerns about profanity

#27 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009


Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009


Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

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/


The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye
By J.D. Salinger

Advice and ghosts are in the library as well as the classic novel about a whiny jerk going out on the town and learning that life if full of hypocrisy, even himself.


Banned

1960 - Oklahoma - Teacher was fired in Tulsa from an 11th grade English position for assigning the book. Teacher appealed and was reinstated but the book was removed from the school

1963 - Ohio - Columbus parents asked the school board to ban the novel for being "anti-white" and "obscene." The school board refused.

1975 - Pennsylvania - Removed from reading list after parents complained about the language and content. The book was reinstated after the school board vote, orginally 5-4, was deemed illegal as they required a two-thirds vote in favor to remove a text.

1977 - New Jersey - Challenged and the board ruled the book could be read in an advanced placement class with parental permission.

1978 - Washington - Issaquah school removed it from their optional reading list

1979 - Michigan - Removed from the required reading list at Middleville.

1980 - Ohio - Removed from Jackson Milton school libraries in North Jackson

1982

Alabama - Removed from Anniston High School libraries and later reinstated

Manitoba, Canada - Removed from school libraries in Morris along with two other books as they violate committee's guidelines covering "excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things  concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult."

1983 - Montana - Challenged at Libby High School due to the book's contents

1985 - Florida - Banned from English classes at the Freeport High School in De Funiak Springs as being "unacceptable" and "obscene"

1986 - Wyoming - Removed from Medicine Bow senior high school English reading list because of profanity and sexual references

1987 - North Dakota - Banned from a required sophomore English reading list at Napoleon High School after parents and the local Knights of Columbus chapter complained of profanity and sexual references

1988 - Indiana - Challenged at the Linton-Stockton High School as being "blasphemous and undermines morality"

1989 - California - Muroc Joint Unified School District board in Boron High School removed the book from school reading lists after parents complain the novel was unsuitable because of profanity, blasphemy and promotion of anti-family values. Local resident and religious activist Patty Salazar said she supports the board action because the novel "doesn't belong in a public high school." "It uses the Lord's name in vain 200 times," she said. "That's enough reason to ban it right there. They say it describes reality. I say let's back up from reality. Let's go backwards. Let's go back to when we didn't have an immoral society."

1991 - Illinois - Challenged at Grayslake Community High School

1992

Illinois - Challenged at the Jamaica High School in Sidell for profanity, depiction of premarital sex, alcohol abuse, and prostitution

Iowa - Challenged at Waterloo schools for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Florida - Challenged at Duval County public school libraries for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at the Cumberland Valley High School after parent's objections of profanity and immorality.

1993 - California - Challenged and retained at Corona Norco Unified School district because it is "centered around negative activity."

1994

Wisconsin - Challenged but retained at the New Richmond High School for use in some English classes

New Hampshire - Challenged as mandatory reading in the Goffstown schools for language and sexual content

1995 - Florida - Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools

1996 - Maine - Parent challenged over the word "fuck" ("f" word) at teh Oxford Hills High School

1997

Georgia - Challenged but retained at the Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick after a student objected to profanity and sexual content.

California - Removed by school superintendent required reading curriculum of the Marysville Joint Unified School District  to get it "out of the way so that we didn't have that polarization over a book."

1999-2000 - Georgia - Vanned and reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah after a parent complained about the sex, violence, and profanity

2000 - Alabama - Challenged but retained at the Limestone County school district after complaints of language

2001

South Carolina - Removed by a Dorchester District 2 school board member in Summerville because it "is a filthy, filthy book."

Georgia - Challenged by a school board member for language but retained in Glynn County

2005 – Maine - Challenged, but retained as an assigned reading in the Noble High School in North Berwick.

2009 – Montana - Challenged in the Big Sky high School in Missoula

2010 - Florida - Challenged but retained in the Martin School District after a parent's complaint for language




"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks)

Go Ask Alice
By Anonymous

A story of order and a nightgown with little anchors then a book about an anonymous diary full of lies about drugs and a life not worth living.


Banned

#18 on Top Challenged books 2000-2009

1974 - Michigan - Removed from school libraries in Kalamazoo due to language and sexual content.

1975

Michigan - Removed from school libraries in Saginaw due to language and sexual content

New York - Removed from school libraries in Levittown due to language and sexual content

1977

New Jersey - Removed from school libraries in Trenton due to language and sexual content

Texas -  Removed from school libraries in Eagle Pass due to language and sexual content

1979 - Utah - Challenged at the Ogden School District

1980 - New Jersey - Removed from school libraries in North Bergen due to language and sexual content

1982 - Florida - Challenged at Safety Harbor, St Petersburg Middle School Library where written parental permission was required to check out

1983

Colorado - Challenged at the Pagosa Springs schools after a parent objected to language, subject matter, "immoral tone and lack of literary quality"

Minnesota -Challenged at the Osseo School District in Brooklyn Park after a school board found the book's language "personally offensive."

1984 - Mississippi - Challenged at the Rankin County School district for language and sexual content

1986

Georgia - Challenged at the Central Gwinnett High School library for encouraging students to "steal and take drugs"

Georgia - Along with 40 other books, the Gainesville Public Library restricted this book to adults and is kept in a locked room

Michigan - Removed from the school library in Kalkaska for language

1988 - Maine - Challenged at King Middle School in Portland

1993

New Jersey - Removed from Wall Township Intermediate School library by the Superintendent of Schools for language and "borders on pornography" after responding to an anonymous letter in 1987 and removing the book.

New York - Challenged as required reading for language at Johnstown High School

West Virginia - Removed from Buckhannon-Upshur High school English class for language

1994 - Massachusetts - Banned in Dudley at Shepherd Hill High School ninth grade reading list for language, drug use, and sexual content

1995

Alaska - Challenged in Wasilla at Houston Junior and Senior High School

Ohio - Banned from Plain City's Jonathan Alder School District

Virginia - Removed from Warm Springs sophomore English class for language and "indecent situations"

1998 - Rhode Island - Principal in Tiverton middle school confiscated the book from a class while reading. The book was later returned by the school board.

1999 - Texas - Removed from Aledo Middle School library and restricted at the high school library to parental permission after a parent complained about drug use, language and sexual content

2000 - Pennsylvania - REtained as optional reading for eighth graders at Girard's Rice Avenue Middle School after a grandmother found the book offensive for "filth and smut"

2008 - South Carolina - Challenged at Berkeley County's Hanahan Middle School for language, sexual content, drug use, and blasphemy


Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom To Read. 2014.

'Go Ask Alice' Is Still Awash in Controversy, 43 Years After Publication

Top 100 Banned/Challenged 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/