Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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Thirteen Reasons Why
By Jay Asher

A problematic author with a story containing a very muddled message about suicide.

Banned

2012 - 3rd most challenged book, according to ALA; Challenged for drugs, alcohol, smoking, being sexually explicit, suicide, and being unsuited for age group

2017

Alberta, Canada - St. Vincent Elementary School in Edmonton banned all mention of the series on campus

Colorado - At Mesa County School District, the curriculum director ordered librarians to stop circulating the book. Librarians and counselors deliberated for three hours and determined the book was not as graphic as the TV series. Parents in the school distrcit recieved notices alerting them to the possible influence of the series.

Illinois - Challenged and under review in the sophomore-level Academic English II classes at Lemont Hishg School District 210 because a parent considered it "pornographic."

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

Ahsan, Sadaf. "Netflix adds trigger warnings to 13 Reasons Why after Canadian school board bans series for 'glamorizing' suicide." National Post. May 2, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017 from http://nationalpost.com/entertainment/television/netflix-adds-trigger-warnings-to-13-reasons-why-after-canadian-school-board-bans-series-for-glamorizing-suicide

Asher, Jay. Thirteen Reasons Why. Razorbill. New York, 2007.

Collins, Cathy. "Thirteen Reasons Why Controversy." Intellectual Freedom Blog. The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. June 7, 2017. Retrieved on March 9, 2018 from http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=9793

Highfill, Samantha. "13 Reasons Why: Netflix says Jay Asher 'was not involved' in season 2." EW.com. Retrieved on March 9, 2018 from http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/13/13-reasons-why-season-2-jay-asher/

Titus, Ron. "Thirteen Reasons Why." Marshall University Libraries. June 28, 2017.  Retrieved on March 9, 2018 from http://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/books/thirteenreasonswhy.asp

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Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

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Little Black Sambo
By Helen Bannerman

A crazy, racist little fairy tale, Sambo learns to steal from bullies and eat hella pancakes.

Banned

1956 - Canada - Removed by the Toronto, Ontario board of education after complaints from several groups that "the popular book was a cause of mental suffering to Negroes in particular and children in general."

1959 - New York - A black resident of New York City challenged the book at a school library, calling it racially derogatory. The book was eventually restored to library shelves.

1964 - Nebraska - School superintendent of Lincoln school system ordered it removed from open shelves due to the inherent racism of the book. The book was placed on reserved shelves with a note explaining it would be available as optional material.

1971 - Alabama - Montgomery schools banned the book for being "inappropriate" and "not in keeping with good human relations."

1972

United Kingdom - General attack in schools and libraries for symbolizing "the kind of dangerous and obsolete books that must go."

Canada - Hamilton, Ontario teachers ordered students to tear the story from their books; the Montreal-based Canadian National Black Coalition began a war to remove the book from school and library shelves; New Brunswick banned it entirely.

Texas - Dallas school libraries removed the book because it "distorts a child's view of black people."

Sources

Associated Press. "COMPANY NEWS; Sambo's to Alter Northeast Names." New York Times, 1981. Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/11/business/company-news-sambo-s-to-alter-northeast-names.html

Bannerman, Helen. "Little Black Sambo." Applewood Books, 1921. Bedford, Massachusetts.

Doyle, Robert P. "Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read." American Library Association, 2014.

Golus, Carrie. "Sambo’s subtext." Chicago Magazine. 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1010/chicago_journal/sambos-subtext.shtml

Pancake Parlour. "Helen Bannerman on the Train to Kodaikanal." Retrieved January 5, 2018 from http://web.archive.org/web/20060820084143/http://pancakeparlour.com/Wonderland/Highlights/Thefuture/Short_Stories/Bannerman/bannerman.html

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

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A small New England town is rocked by the scandal of everyday life in one of the most forgotten popular books of the twentieth century.

Banned

1957 - Tennessee - Knoxville activated a city ordinance that said the City Board of Review could block items deemed obscene. Local booksellers were forbidden to sell it. One newsstand owner challenged the ordinance and it was ruled unconsitutional.

1958

Ireland - Banned until the introduction of the Censorship of Publications Bill in 1967.

Canada - Temporary ban lifted

1959 - Rhode Island - The Rhonde Island Commission to Encourage Morality in Youth bought action against Bantam and three other New York paperback publishers. The Rhode Island Superior Court upheld the decision, which was later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bantam Boos, Inc, et al, v. Joseph A Sullivan, et al.

Sources

Callahan, Michael. "Peyton Places' Real Victim." Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 2017 Nov 1 from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/03/peytonplace200603

Doyle, Robert P. "Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read." American Library Association, 2014.

Metalious, Grace. "Peyton Place." Northeastern Univsersity Press. Boston, 1956, 1999.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Lord of the Flies
By William Golding

Our humanity is building the hope that we are better than we are.

Banned

1974 - Texas - Challenged at the Dallas Independent School District HIgh School libraries.

1981

North Carolina - Challenged at the Owen High School for "demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal."

South Dakota - Challenged at the Sully Buttes High School.

1983 - Arizona - Challenged at the Marana High School as inappropriate.

1984 - Texas - Challenged at the Olney Independent School District for "excessive violence and bad language."

1988 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada 0 Board of Education ruled on June 23, 1988 that the novel is "racist and recommended that it be removed from all schools." Parents and members of the black community complained about a reference to "niggers" in the book and said it denigrates blacks.

1992 - Iowa - Challenged in the Waterloo schools for profanity, passages about sex, and defamatory statements about minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

2000 - New York - Challenged but retained in Bloomfield on the ninth grade English reading list.

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/

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier

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We All Fall Down
By Robert Cormier

A group of boys trash a house and nearly kill a girl, and that's just in the first few paragraphs. Book was banned for alcohol, violence, and sexual content.

Banned

#41 on 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

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

1994 - California - Pulled from school libraries in Stockton after parents complained it glorified alcoholism and violence, contains a violent rape scene, and profanity

1998 - Ontario, Canada - Complaint from a parent in Simcoe County for violence

2000

Florida - Removed from Carver Middle School library in Leesburg after parents complained about content and language

Texas - Restricted in Arlington middle and high schools for parental permission for violence

2001 - Pennsylvania - Challenged in Tamaqua Area School District for not being age appropriate.

2003 - Kansas - Removed from a Baldwin ninth grade class by the superintendent because "it was clear to him it wasn't fit for his own daughter or granddaughter" after complaints of profanity and sexual content.

2005 - New Jersey - Challenged and retained at Cherry Hill Public Library's young adult section by a parent claiming the book was unfit for the age group with "deplorable" content.

Sources

We All Fall Down the Center of Controversy in Arlington School Libraries - American Libraries

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

We All Fall Down By Robert Cormier - Freedom to Read Canada

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 - ALA

100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999 - ALA

We All Fall Down (Robert Cormier novel) - Wikipedia

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier - Google Books

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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/