Banned Books discussion

Here is a news story about a school where the book The Yearling is being currently challenged:

http://www.chipleypaper.com/news/chip...

Here is a news story where some parents are trying to get Judy Blume's book Forever removed from the library:

http://keysnews.com/node/20059

Here is a news story about parents trying to remove Buster's Sugartime (from the Arthur series) removed:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/articl...

Here is a link to a news story from Jan 26, 2010 about a parent trying to get the book The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, removed from a high school reading list. Here is a quote from the story:
"When I spoke to Franzel about it in November, she called the book “appalling. It’s embarrassing, it’s humiliating.”
“This book is unbelievable,” she said. “It’s not like I want to be a book burner…
It’s just not okay for required reading.”

http://extracredit.blogs.pressdemocra...

And here is another news story about this same issue: http://www.record-bee.com/ci_14281454

Here is a story about a man who tried to get the book A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive removed from a high school reading list. He is now running for seats on the School Committee and Selectbboard.

http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/rep...

Here is a story about a school that has pulled Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl from the shelves, because Anne writes about her vagina.

http://www2.starexponent.com/cse/news...

Oh dear heavens. How ridiculous. I want to know the first guy's reasoning. Could it be that he abuses his kids and doesn't want them to know it's wrong? How to turn your kids into ignorant naive assholes by sheltering them from anything real and painful.

Here is a news story where some parents are trying to get Judy Blume's book Forever removed from the library:

http://keysnews.com/node/20059

"Forever" isn't about preteens! Where do these people get their information?

From a friend of a friend who heard someone say that they overheard someone else talking about their daughter's friend's sister who read the book.

I loved Forever when I was a young teen. Don't remember exactly when I read it but probably around age 13. In fact I love ALL Judy Blume. :o)

How funny that the article says the book "describes preteen sex". Maybe they should actually pick it up and read it. Teen sex, yes. Preteen sex, no.

Very interesting to read all the comments posted on the website with the article about banning "Forever".

Here is a news story where someone is trying to get One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones (interesting book title by the way!) removed from the library.

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/articl...

Here is a story where a Town Committee has replaced their chairwoman, following her efforts to get the book In the Middle of the Night: The Shocking True Story of a Family Killed in Cold Blood
removed from the library.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/20...

Here is a news story from today that states that Russian prosecutors have banned Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_B...

Thank you for posting these Sheila. It's all so disturbing. Mein Kampf is a disturbing book and I don't want people following it. But how can we learn how low people can really go and what to watch out for if we don't read what those kinds of people have written? Ignorance does not lead to bliss but to a downfall.

Kelly wrote: "Thank you for posting these Sheila. It's all so disturbing. Mein Kampf is a disturbing book and I don't want people following it. But how can we learn how low people can really go and what to watch..."

Being German, I am always in a bit of a moral bind when it comes to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. I do not want this book being followed and I also do not want this book being read (at the very least not without adequate discussion etc.). However, I agree with Kelly that ignorance does not generally lead to bliss, but can actually lead to more problems than exposing the public to problematic materials. Regarding Mein Kampf, I had to have a talk with a Pakistani fellow graduate student years ago, because he was driving me up the wall by constantly giving me the Nazi salute. At first, I thought he was trying to offend me just like many Canadian kids had done when we first immigrated to Canada. But, no, he was actually trying to "honour" me, because he had read Mein Kampf and thought that the book was amazing and told the story of "a great man." It turned out that while Mein Kampf was (and maybe is) readily available in countries like Pakistan and India, the evils perpetrated by Hitler and the Nazis were and are not common knowledge. I think it is incredibly dangerous to have a book like Mein Kampf simply available with no explanation, with no type of control. I am not for banning the book (although on an emotional level I would like to see it banned, sorry), but I want this book controlled to a point, so that those who read the book and who might be unaware of the evils of Hitler and Nazism get exposed (or are forced to become exposed) to the latter, that they simply do not read Mein Kampf without explanation, discussion and information. Mein Kampf is not a book that anyone should follow. And, while I guess it should be available (although, very, very grudgingly on my part), it should also be internationally monitored to an extent.

Gundula,

You are right about about Mein Kampf and the lack of knowledge about the evils of Hilter and Nazism. I'm teaching The True Story of Hansel and Gretel in my reading skills, and the students really know next to nothing about WW II and Nazi Germany.

I'm not sure I agree with the idea of monitoring (though I understand your point). I do understand the difference between an emotional reponse to a book, in particular wanting it ban. I think everyone does, so don't apolgize.

I guess monitoring might seem a bit too much like an invasion of privacy, but I would personally want a bit of control with this book. And no, I'm still not keen on Mein Kampf being readily available anywhere, but that's just my personal opinion, as I do believe this book has a potential to be dangerous; I do not agree with blanket bans, though.

However, I do strongly believe that if Hitler's Mein Kampf is sold in bookstores (both locally and internationally), it should only be able to be sold with a companion book on the evils of Nazism. And, maybe if Mein Kampf is available in a library, it would need to be checked out with a companion book on the evils of the Third Reich as well. That way, potential readers, especially new potential readers, could at least theoretically get a more balanced view.

I don't think it should be a separate book. I think the publishers should include a forward, footnotes, end notes, introduction, explanatory statements, etc., in the copy that people buy. It should look too complicated for people to want to read and if they do choose to read it, they need to have the info about what this man did thrust at them. :)

Actually, I think the link to the Buster series is a positive thing since even in Oklahoma the school board supported this book. It makes me mad that the person said it advocated illegal activity. It's not illegal to be gay just to get married. It makes me mad but it makes me happy the people who challenged the book lost.

Here is a story about parents challenging the book Running with Scissors.

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dail...

and more on the same story:
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dail...

Kelly wrote: "I don't think it should be a separate book. I think the publishers should include a forward, footnotes, end notes, introduction, explanatory statements, etc., in the copy that people buy. It should..."

Kelly, I really like this idea for books like
Mein Kampf. I have never read the book, and don't really have any interest in reading the book, but if it was presented in that format, with expanatory statements, historical information, etc. I might be interested.

Kelly wrote: "I don't think it should be a separate book. I think the publishers should include a forward, footnotes, end notes, introduction, explanatory statements, etc., in the copy that people buy. It should..."

That's a really good idea. Along with a detailed bibliography etc. and maybe even written testimonials from victims of the Holocaust.

In regard to the complaint about Running With Scissors: I think that man's daughter, a junior, needs to be robbed of some of the innocence of her childhood since she'll soon be expected to live on her own. It's ridiculous, she's almost an adult and needs to be exposed to the real world. Ugh.

Hi all, I'm not an active contributor to these threads, but this topic was very compelling, so I hope you don't mind a few words from one of your obscure members.

In the subject of Mein Kampf, I have to disagree with the notion that it requires a "companion book" on the evils of Nazism, to fend off a potentially deviant crowd. First, this presupposes that the prospective reader lacks an average measure of common sense, rather than pointing the finger to the real issue, which is that some people will allow themselves to be swayed by pretty much anything in order to justify their prejudices and personal vendettas.

Just look at the case of the "Protocols of the learned Elders of Zion"; a proven hoax, and yet, still the platform of anti-semitic misfits anywhere.

On a second note, I've read Mein Kampf, and its reputation as a book of horrors is highly exaggerated; his arguments come off as lax, and can be easily shrugged off by elementary scholarship. Books by thinkers like Herbert Spencer or Ernst Haeckel, on the contrary, are far more dangerous, as the theories they expunge are laid out impeccably and can lead to horrific ramifications, as the Nazis proved.

Furthermore, to pigeonhole Mein Kampf as the sole harbinger of doom is to overlook a cavalcade of books that actually carry off the Nazi ideology to new (and more terrifying) heights, such as Miguel Serrano's "Hitler the Last Avatar", Savitri Devi's books, etc.

I think self-education when approaching these subjects is king; I didn't appreciate the 100 + disclaimer intro inserted into the "Das Capital" edition I read (even when I ignored it). Instead of sanitizing ugly books, we should support valid refutations that stand in brilliant opposition, such as Gregoire Henri's rebuke of Thomas Jefferson's pro-slavery stance on his "Notes on the State of Virginia" (which Jefferson graciously acknowledged btw)

Sheila wrote: "Here is a story about parents challenging the book Running with Scissors."

Have you read Running with Scissors? It cannot be undone. My mother took it out from the library soon after I did and I told her she wouldn't like it and why without going into detail. She returned it unread. I don't think all persons can handle abuse and disfunction described so graphically. Thus, a recommended list might not be the best place for it, but the objections to it in the article are silly. “There are no good guys in this book,” said Jill Driver from Riverview, outlining her panel’s concerns. “There’s a corrupt doctor. No one at the boy’s school, no grownup at all, helped this child. So we felt there was no reason to keep the book.” No kidding, bad stuff happens and no one cares? Let's not talk about it.

I say this as a person who survived reading Julie of the Wolves in sixth grade with a completely insensitive teacher who did not want us to discuss the attempted rape scene. There we were, fragile little 11 year olds in a co-ed class, who just read a scary passage and were not allowed to talk about it. Why did he assign us that book? I understand the book won awards, but the teacher should have been more prepared to handle the topic.

Summer wrote: "Sheila wrote: "Here is a story about parents challenging the book Running with Scissors."

Have you read Running with Scissors? It cannot be undone. My mother took it out from the..."

Wow, I cannot believe your teacher would have done something like that, how pedagogically unenlightened (and that's putting it mildly). If teachers are going to assign a book with scary passages, or potentially awkward and questionable material etc., they should be absolutely willing to discuss these. Otherwise, teachers should probably not bother assigning books with problematic themes etc., as ignorance can and is dangerous. Furthermore, it is precisely teachers and professors who assign works of fiction with problematic content, or let's say, potentially problematic content and then refuse to discuss the former (or discuss it only half heartedly) which provides fuel to those who would want to ban and challenge books. Not a smart move, in my opinion.

Here is an article about a banning last month of young-adult author Ellen Hopkins at a school book festival in Texas:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100929...--

Thank you for that. The article first angered me and then made me almost cry with hope. I am so happy the other authors set to speak all pulled out as well. And I think the article's author is right that students will learn something about censorship they might otherwise not have learned.

I was quite happy myself when the other authors boycotted.

Here's a couple articles about an attempted ban of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20...
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/01/...
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/...

Thanks for sharing those!