"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." Joseph Brodsky (at least, that is to whom the internet attributes the quote)
The last challenge I shall post is a perpetual one. Read more banned and challenged books.
When I was little and felt that I had read every YA book in our tiny children's section of our library, I would turn into a miniature 007 to gain access to the ADULT section of the library.
Pretending to peruse
Island of the Blue Dolphins for the hundredth time, I would mark the sentinel eyes of the children's librarian. As soon as toddlers teasingly began to tear books off the shelves, I would make a dash for the door. There, hidden in shadows, I would wait for a parton to check out a stack of books. With the main librarian thus entwined in stamping and sorting by size to make the books easier to carry, I would dart behind the dividing wall, covertly slide past the card catalog, and stow away in the stacks of Stephen King. Once I had found whatever treasure I deemed worthy of losing my library card for, I sandwiched the treasured tome between my Scott O'Dell's and my Judy Blume's and walked right up to the check-out counter.
My mother may have glanced at my selection once or twice, but never did she say that I could not read a book that I had chosen. Even when I would wake screaming in the middle of the night because
Something Wicked This Way Comes had certainly parked itself underneath my bed or couldn't go to sleep because
Cujo was in the closet - EVEN when I asked those "hard girl questions" because
Carrie's mother was bat-sh** crazy, my mother never said, "You know, honey, maybe you should stick with Beezus and Ramona."
And so I read. I devoured books. I still do, and I would like to thank my family for not telling me what I couldn't read, but discussing what I had read.
With that in mind, I would like to find out more about books that have been challenged and banned for one reason ar another. The only caveat I am making to my personal challenge is the "witchcraft" reason because most all of the books I read have a paranormal slant. Other than that, any other reason for banning a book will be on my mind when I pick one up.
The first two on my list?
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley because it has some "negative activity" and
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky because it deals with *ack* teenage sex.
Check back periodically to see my progress or follow me on Goodreads!
1.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
