My favorite banned book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. That's correct; one of the great books of the world was, in fact, banned. Banned Books Week (BBW) is coming up next week and the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression is encouraging booksellers, librarians, authors, publishers and teachers to get involved.
Last year, the "Captain Underpants" series of children's books by Dav Pilkey was the most-challenged book of 2013. Rounding out the top five were Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," "Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.
Those five and more were challenged in 2013 by people or groups who sought to have them banned from libraries, schools or other institutions for being offensive because of language or unsuitability for a particular age or religious group; for drug, alcohol or smoking references; racism; nudity; violence; sexually explicit scenes or other reasons.
The theme of this year’s event, which runs September 21-27, is the censorship of graphic novels and comic books. Booksellers are encouraged to promote specific banned titles. Here is more information on how booksellers can participate:
Booksellers have always played a key role Banned Books Week by creating displays that show customers that some of their favorite books are under attack. For the second year, ABFFE and Ingram Content Group are making it easy for booksellers to mount their displays by distributing a free promotional kit that contains everything they need. To qualify, booksellers choose 30 or more titles from 450 banned and challenged titles listed on Ingram’s iPage. They also receive additional discounts on initial and subsequent orders.
This author urges you to buy a banned book and give it a read. A democracy such as ours has no place for the banning of books. Yes, it is a parent's purview to help a child make good choices; banning books in a wholesale manner is not a thing that should be condoned in the United States.
Last year, the "Captain Underpants" series of children's books by Dav Pilkey was the most-challenged book of 2013. Rounding out the top five were Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," "Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.Those five and more were challenged in 2013 by people or groups who sought to have them banned from libraries, schools or other institutions for being offensive because of language or unsuitability for a particular age or religious group; for drug, alcohol or smoking references; racism; nudity; violence; sexually explicit scenes or other reasons.
The theme of this year’s event, which runs September 21-27, is the censorship of graphic novels and comic books. Booksellers are encouraged to promote specific banned titles. Here is more information on how booksellers can participate:
Booksellers have always played a key role Banned Books Week by creating displays that show customers that some of their favorite books are under attack. For the second year, ABFFE and Ingram Content Group are making it easy for booksellers to mount their displays by distributing a free promotional kit that contains everything they need. To qualify, booksellers choose 30 or more titles from 450 banned and challenged titles listed on Ingram’s iPage. They also receive additional discounts on initial and subsequent orders.This author urges you to buy a banned book and give it a read. A democracy such as ours has no place for the banning of books. Yes, it is a parent's purview to help a child make good choices; banning books in a wholesale manner is not a thing that should be condoned in the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment