Go read a book...

September 24 - October 1 is National Banned Book Week. I suggest reading one, whether it be Of Mice and Men, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, or Captain Underpants. Take your pick. As for me, I'm going to reread Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. On her website, Judy Blume talks about censorship and her books. She hits the nail on the head:

I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don't read about it, their children won't know about it. And if they don't know about it, it won't happen.

Censors don't want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the school library would be close to empty. I wish the censors could read the letters kids write.

But it's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.

I couldn't agree more...

For more information, check out http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm


Here's an interesting tidbit I got from their site:
2004 Most Challenged Authors
1. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, author of the Alice series
2. Robert Cormier, author of The Chocolate War and We All Fall Down
3. Judy Blume, author of Blubber, Forever, and Deenie
4. Toni Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye, Beloved and Song of Solomon
5. Chris Lynch, author of Extreme Elvin and Iceman
6. Barbara Park, author of the Junie P. Jones series
7. Gary Paulsen, author of Nightjohn and The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer
8. Dav Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants series
9. Maurice Sendak, author of In the Night Kitchen
10. Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know