Banned Books Week - Have You Read Any of These?

September 24-30 is Banned Books Week. If that doesn't make you, as a reader, stop and think for a moment, maybe it should. Books? Banned? Absolutely! Because books have power. That written word, that storyline, those characters - they can dig into a person's soul, crack open a dusty and rusted corner, and with the application of perfect pressure, can let in light. Today I'm featuring the Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016. I've read some of these, and there are others in this group that I think I'll add to my TBR list. Why were they challenged? I've included basic descriptions of why beneath each cover.

Today and tomorrow I'm featuring the books most often challenged, restricted or
banned in 2016. Below the cut you'll find the top 5, numbers 6-10 will be
featured on Tuesday's blog. 

Here we go ...

The #1 challenged and banned book of 2016 is "This
One Summer" written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated
by Jillian Tamaki.

1 - Although it won both the Printz and Caldicott Honor awards, it was targeted as banned or restricted because this graphic novel includes LGBT characters, drug use, and profanity and was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

"Drama", written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier,
lands in the dubious #2 spot. 

Although it won the Stonewall Honor award, this graphic novel ended up on this dubious list because it included LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint. Once again, books are considered political weapons, and isn't it curious that the top two in the list have LGBT characters?

"George", written by Alex Gino landed at #3 on the list. 

"George" won both a Stonewall Award and a Lambda Literary Award, but was removed from library shelves because it included a transgender child and the "sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels". I know adults for whom this level of sexuality would be inappropriate, and third grade advanced readers for whom it would be just fine. Let kids make up their own minds about what is and is not appropriate.

"I Am Jazz" written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated
by Shelagh McNicholas. 

No awards here, but Jazz is well known for telling her own story though the televised media. This picture book memoir was challenged because it portrays a transgender child and because of language, sex education, and offensive viewpoints.

"Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan

This book quickly rose in the ranks of top LGBT books, but it's been condemned and banned from many libraries because its cover has an image of two boys kissing and it was considered to include sexually explicit LGBT content. Despite that, it is included on the National Book Award longlist and is a Stonewall Honor winner.


I don't want to get too graphically heavy, so I'll put books 6-10 on the list in tomorrow's blog. On the list of ten books, half were restricted or banned because of LGBT characters or connotations. Challenged books results in the book being banned from the library, school district, or city library system 10% of the time, and books, if people are quiet about them, can slowly make their way into the dusty stacks of the 'never read' and then the trash. Do you care about books? Are you passionate about reading? Why not let an author know that their words mean a lot to you. Make their day! Also, pick up one of the books I'm featuring over these days and read it. Support that author's right to tell his or her or their story.

Have a wonderful Monday. We're getting some rain, so the beastly temperatures of upper 80's into the mid-90's that we had yesterday are finally down to mid-60's. A lot more comfortable.