We're Here, We're Banned, Get Used To It!

"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance."
~ Lyndon Johnson

Certain people don't like us. In fact, 46% of Americans today still support the idea of book banning today. We've been banned or challenged in libraries and schools.

Fortunately, groups like the American Library Association put up a good fight to make sure we stay on the shelves.

Pull up a comfy chair, kick off your shoes, make yourself comfortable. Stay and read as long as you'd like.

The Latest Book Bannings

Oregon high school pulls Sherman Alexie book from class

PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- A parent's complaint prompted the Crook County School District to pull a book that had been assigned to a high school English class.

Board Split On Banning Bunny Suicides Book - KPTV Portland

HALSEY, Ore. -- After more than an hour of debate, the Central Linn School Board found itself split on a motion to remove the "Book of Bunny Suicides" from library shelves. Thursday, December 11, 2008.

Ankeny superintendent recommends no book ban

December 2, 2008 ANKENY, Iowa (AP) - The superintendent of the Ankeny school district is recommending that a book about two male penguins raising a chick together not be banned from an elementary school library.

Author defends book pulled from middle schools in Round Rock district

For three 15-year-old girls who exist only on the pages of a book, Maddie, Zoe and Angela have caused quite a stir in the Round Rock school district.

The Modesto Bee | School board should decide if 'Ultima' deserves banning

Every year or two, we have a dust-up over a book that a parent finds offensive. The latest example is in Newman, where one mother's objection to "Bless Me, Ultima," a book assigned to sophomores in honors...

Banned Books Week 2009

Learn more about Banned Books Week (held annually the last week of September) and get involved in protecting your Freedom of Speech and your Intellectual Freedom!

The 2009 Banned Books Week

What were the top ten most challenged books of 2006?

What are the top 100 most-frequently challenged books?

How do I report a book challenge in my community/library/school?

Free People Read Freely

There are many books which someone feels is objectionable due to some part of the content. These books wind up being challenged and sometimes banned for the ideas they express or the stories that they tell.

FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel FAHRENHEIT 451 was a response to some of the major concerns of World War II, with future society depicted as having evolved into a diet of mass media and literal sedation under a regime of censorship and book burning. This le...

THE ATROCITY EXHIBITION by J.G. Ballard

In 1967 Nelson Doubleday supposedly ordered the entire first print run of J.G. Ballard's novel ATROCITY EXHIBITION destroyed after reading the short story "Why I Want To F*^& Ronald Regan." The book was then released two years later by a...

BRAVE NEW WORLD By Aldous Huxley

  Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel BRAVE NEW WORLD raised controversy when it was first published, and the debate has barely changed in all this time.  Frequently challenged with banning attempts, the novel depicts a future of conspicuous consumpt...

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous is a story about a teenage girl written in the format of a diary. Not much is told to us about the setting but the culture seems late 60's and the girl has no name, so we'll call her 'Alice'. Lots of spoilers on this lens. Wh...

William Burroughs' NAKED LUNCH

On July 7, 1966, the Supreme Court of the state of Massachusetts cleared William S. Burrough's novel NAKED LUNCH of obscenity charges, reversing an earlier Superior Court decision. They stated that Burroughs frank descriptions of drug use and graphic...

Banned Book News

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Banned Book Resources

There are lists of frequently banned or challenged books at the American Library Association and at the Wikipedia.

Is a book being challenged in your community? The ALA has a resource page.

The stage play "Banned And Burned In America" takes a look at censorship and incorporates scenes from famous banned books as part of the show.

Amnesty International helps authors around the world who have been censored or imprisoned for expressing their views.

How To Join The Banned Book Club

For your lenses to be accepted into the Banned Book Club, the main focus of the lenses must be a book or books that have been subjected to banning or burning.

I'd really prefer if some of the content actually discusses the issues of why the book was considered controversial. Too much info about movie adaptations or general lenses about authors will most likely result in a lens not being accepted. Books that are just heavily debated will also not qualify.

If you think you have a lens that meets the group criteria, you are welcome to submit it for consideration.

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Feedback, Comments and Messages

Let us know what you think here at the Banned Book Club!

P.S. Adopt a Banned Book!

Making a lens for the Banned Book Club not only helps authors and publishers get their words out, but can support Room To Read too!

If you make a brand-new lens for this group, and you leave the payment setting to the default, your new lens will donate to make build libraries for kids world-wide (but you can still also change it to send any lens earnings to another charity or just cash).

Click here to make your own Banned Book lens!