My (almost) Wordless Wednesday tribute to just five of my favorite frequently challenged or banned books, in honor of this week’s celebration of our Freedom to Read. I’ve chosen just one of the numerous recent challenges provided by the American Library Association.
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
- Removed from required reading lists and library shelves in the Richmond County, GA. School District (1994) after a parent complained that passages from the book are “filthy and inappropriate.”
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, SC (1987) because of “language and sexual references in the book.”
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- Challenged at the Brentwood, TN Middle School (2006) because the book contains “profanity” and “contains adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, and incest.” The complainants also contend that the book’s use of racial slurs promotes “racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy.”
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
- Challenged as appropriate reading for Oakland, CA High School honors class (1984) due to the work’s “sexual and social explicitness” and its “troubling ideas about race relations, man’s relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality.”
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
- Banned from the George County, MS schools (2002) because of profanity. Challenged in the Normal, IL Community High Schools (2003) because the books contains “racial slurs, profanity, violence, and does not represent traditional values.”
All images of book covers are from Goodreads.
What are your favorite banned books?
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- happy banned books week! (sparklelovedo.wordpress.com)
- Celebrate Reading With Banned Books Week (anniecardi.com)
- Preparing for Banned Books Week (alenaslife.wordpress.com)
- Banned Books Week 2012 (library.sbcc.edu)
alenaslife 
Yeah! Five of my very favorite books. Thank God for teachers who ignore the banned book syndrome!! Where would we be without these classics!
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They are special teachers indeed. It was my Catholic high school english teacher who first introduced me to Toni Morrison.
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These books are amazing and I would much rather see my kid reading one of these than Fifty Shades of Grey
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Hah! Yes.
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Love all of these books!! Special place in my heart for Toni Morrison’s books. Song of Solomon was the 2nd book I read at university. Loved it! The first was The Bluest Eye. If we got rid of all of the banned books, my word what would be left to read? Fifty shades of Grey – a copy sold every minute. Argghhhh! Give me some oxygen. I can’t breathe.
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I have the same reaction to Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon is one my all time favorite novels. She’s brilliant, although I didn’t love her latest book, Home.
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I liked Home. I just wanted it to be longer. I felt as if the story wasn’t completely finished. Her writing style is brilliant and spot on. I did a post on Home. Go check it out!
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I teach all of those novels except for The Color Purple! They are amazing stories! This will be the first year I am teaching Song of Solomon, and I am really excited about it. 🙂
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I’m so glad to hear it. A brilliant book.
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You mention many great novels here!
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Thank you Sheila. They are among my favorites, banned or not.
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