Happy Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week (BBW) is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2015 celebration will be held Sept. 27-Oct. 3. BBW was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported.

The 10 most challenged titles of 2014 were:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Source: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depictions of bullying

Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Source: Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”

The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Why Challenged: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”

The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury Publishing Source: Bloomsbury Publishing Why Challenged: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Source: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Why Challenged: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”

Drama By Raina Telgemeier Graphix/Scholastic Source: Graphix/Scholastic Why Challenged: sexually explicit

Chinese Handcuffs By Chris Crutcher Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Source: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Why Challenged: depiction of incest, rape, animal torture, teen drug use, breaking and entering, illegal use of a video camera, profanity directed to a school principal, and graphic sexual references

The Giver By Lois Lowry HMH Books for Young Readers Source: HMH Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: depictions of adolescent drug use, suicide, and lethal injections

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Source: Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: mature content, social issues

Looking for Alaska By John Green Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Source: Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Why Challenged: Sexual content, inappropriate/graphic language

 

A Morris update

In four short weeks,I will be in San Francisco at the ALA Annual Conference.

I am excited beyond words because I’ve never been to a huge conference like this before, aside from an NCTM conference in St. Louis. but Math and Library conferences are two different kettles of fish. But, before I get there, I have a lot of work to do.

My colleagues and I on the Morris committee have been very busy. We’ve been meeting monthly in Google Hangouts to discuss the books we’ve read. We also have a private chat room on the ALA website where we can have discussions about the book before our monthly meetings where we decide to nominate or set a book aside. Our most recent meeting was Sunday and I  really got a sense theta everyone else is as excited as I am about actually meeting each other face to face next month.

But, as I said, I have a lot to do in the meantime. Here is a sample of the piles of books I’m working with.

I have labels on each: read, to read, pending discussion, need readers, rejected, undetermined. Elsewhere in the house I have a stack of books that we have nominated and a box of books that were sent to me that do not meet the criteria of the award. It is probably good I live alone.

Summing up 2014 with ALA

 

Each year the American Library Association honors books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards, including the prestigious Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards, guide parents, educators, librarians, and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media.

The announcement of the 2015 Youth Media Awards will take place at 8:00 a.m. Central time on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibition in Chicago.

You can watch the LIVE WEBCAST like I will. It’s funny to think that I will be at next year’s presentation, having been a part of the decision-making process.

I’m still reading a few and will post my list of 2014 favorites soon.