Blog
Podcast
Contact
Friends

Banned Library

The Worst Library on the Internet
Blog
Podcast
Contact
Friends

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Author Spiegelman interviews his father, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, while representing various groups in the story as animals.

Read more …
PostedApril 11, 2022
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesGraphic Novel
TagsMaus, Art Spiegelman, Tennessee, language, nudity, violence, suicide, unsuited for age group, community standards
2 CommentsPost a comment
hungergames.jpg

Hunger Games (2012)

When a young girl is picked to fight to the death, she does to the detriment of the crazy dystopian society's leader.

Read more …
PostedApril 6, 2021
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesMovie
TagsHunger Games, Vietnam, violence, 2010s
CommentPost a comment
hoponpop.jpg

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

This book is just utter nonsense, so I make a bunch of stuff up.

Read more …
PostedFebruary 9, 2021
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesPicture Book
Tagsviolence, domestic violence, Hop on Pop, Dr Seuss, Canada
2 CommentsPost a comment
howtoeatfriedworms.jpg

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

When a boy is bet he can't eat worms, he does despite his friends not being his friends through the pure evil that is the male ego.

Read more …
PostedOctober 13, 2020
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesChapter Book
TagsHow to Eat Fried Worms, Thomas Rockwell, New Jersey, Indiana, language, violence
CommentPost a comment

Dirty Harry (1971)

There's a crazy madman running around San Francisco, and he's chasing a serial killer.

Read more …
PostedOctober 1, 2019
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesMovie
TagsDirty Harry, Finland, violence, mental health
CommentPost a comment
housespiritscover.jpg

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
ST Harker
Download

We follow the ups and downs and rapes of a Chilean family for several mystical generations.

Banned

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

1994 - California - Challenged due to accounts of sexual encounters and violence but retained at Paso Robles High School 

1997 - Virginia - Challenged but retained at Brentsville's Stonewall Jackson High School for sexual explicitness

1998 - Maryland - Challenged at Montgomery County reading lists and school library shelves as obscene

1999 - California - Challenged in Encinitas at La Costa Canyon High School as it "defames" the Catholic faith and contains "pornographic passages"

2000 - California

          Challenged but retained at Fairfield Unified School District as "immoral and sexually depraved"

          Challenged and retained for being "immoral and sexually depraved" at Suisun City Unified School District

2003 - California - Challenged but retained at Modesto, with the Modesto City School Board advising that parents given annotations and information of any text with the option of opting out

2013 - North Carolina - Challenged due to the book's graphic nature at Watauga County High School and retained after three appeals. 

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.

Allende, Isabele. House of the Spirits. Alfred A. Knopf. 1982.

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/

PostedJuly 30, 2019
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesAdult Fiction
TagsHouse of the Spirits, Isabel Allende, California, sexually explicit content, violence, Virginia, Maryland, obscene, North Carolina
CommentPost a comment
grendelbookcover.jpg

Grendel by John Gardner

Grendel by John Gardner
ST Harker
Download

We learn that a monster known to be a crazy bloodthirsty tornado of violence is really just a bit of a thinker. With claws.

Banned

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

1978 - Maryland - Challenged at Frederick County Schools for being "anti-christian, anti-moral, and violent."

1986

     California - At Wasco High School the principal felt it was "profane," and created a restricted list of books, this being the first and only book on the list. All students had to have parental permission before they could study the book.

     Indiana - Challenged in an Indianapolis accelerated English class

1991 - Utah - Challenged as obscene in Farmington's Viewmont High School

1992 - New Jersey - Challenged but retained at Bass River Township's Pineland Regional High School for obscenities

1993 - Georgia - Challenged in Clayton County Schools in Jonesboro for being violent and graphic

1997 - Colorado - Challenged but retained at Douglas County schools for being obscene and violent. The school board also declined to create a book rating system.

2008 - Oregon - Challenged but retained at Sherwood School District for torture and mutilation

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.

Gardner, John. Grendel. Vintage Books. New York, 1971.

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/

PostedJuly 24, 2019
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesAdult Fiction
TagsJohn Gardner, Grendel, Maryland, California, Indiana, Utah, New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, Oregon, obscene, violence, torture, profanity
CommentPost a comment
sofarbamboo cover.jpg

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
ST Harker
Download

An autobiographical tale of a young Japanese girl and her family escaping Korea and surviving after World War II.

Banned

2006 - Massachusetts - Dover-Sherborn Middle school took it off the sixth grade reading list for rape, violence against women by Korean men, and distorted presentation of history. The Dover Regional School Committee voted unanimously to keep it on the list but are looking for other texts for balanced experience.

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.

Watkins, Yoko Kawashima. So Far From the Bamboo Grove. HarperTrophy. New York, 1986.

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/

PostedMay 14, 2019
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesYA Book, Chapter Book
TagsSo Far From the Bamboo Grove, Yoko Kawashima Watkins, Massachusetts, rape, violence
CommentPost a comment

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

Librarian ST Harker joins the Greasers in their epic battle against the Socs and people who talk in movie theaters with The Outsiders Chapters 1-3.

The Outsiders by SE Hinton
ST Harker
Download

Banned

#38 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

  • 1986 - Wisconsin - Challenged at South Milwaukee schools for "drugs and alcohol abuse was common" and "virtually all the characters were from broken homes."

  • 1992 - Iowa - Challenged at Boone School District for smoking, drinking, and excessive violence and obsenties.

  • 2000 - West Virginia - Challenged at George Washington Middle School in Eleanor due to the focus on gangs and gang fights.

Sources

ALA. "100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999." Retrieved on 2019 January 7 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/100-most-frequently-challenged-books-1990%E2%80%931999

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

Hinton, S.E. (1967). The Outsiders. New York: Speak.

Hinton, S.E. "Biography." Retrieved 2019 January 7 from sehinton.com



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/

PostedJanuary 8, 2019
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesYA Book, Chapter Book
TagsOutsiders, SE Hinton, Wisconsin, Iowa, West Virginia, Drug use, alcohol use, broken homes, smoking, violence, language, gang colors
12 CommentsPost a comment

Black 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 more …
PostedNovember 6, 2018
AuthorBanned Library
CategoriesYA Book, Nonfiction
TagsBlack Boy, Richard Wright, Michigan, Louisiana, Tennessee, New York, Nebraska, Texas, Florida, sexually explicit content, Racial Issues, religion, obscene, pornography, violence, Domestic Abuse
1 CommentPost a comment
Newer / Older

Copyright 2010-2026, Banned Library, ST Harker