Banned Books

I'm a day late to comment on Banned Books Week, but here's the thing guys: books are banned all the time. Not just in any one week. This isn't a topic we should concentrate on for a mere 7 days. This is a problem we should be aware of 365 (sometimes even 366) days a year! It's a serious problem where certain people try to govern what's "acceptable" or not for us to read. They try to control our reading habits and make things inaccessible to us. What's wrong for one person could be the absolute best read for another. So don't let those people win. Read banned books. Fight against banning books. And don't ban books yourself. Give reading a chance.

Now, I'm writing up my newest book review for my school's newspaper, and in honor of banned books, I've decided to write on The Great Gatsby. I'll put up the review when the issue comes out (and I'll put up my last one very soon), but until then, check out the list of banned books and see which ones you've read, which ones you want to read, and which ones simply do not belong on that list.

I can't find any one list with all the banned books, but if you google you can find a lot of good lists.

Banned books that I have read:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (banned for putting anthromorphosized animals on the same level as humans. go fig. I LOVE THIS BOOK)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (I didn't like this book, but my friend LOVES it)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (I have yet to meet someone who likes this book. Still shouldn't be banned though)
The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Adventures of Huck Finn by Mark Twain
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
The Giver by Lois Lowry (I just debated about this book with someone last night actually)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
The Witches by Roald Dahl (one of my favorites)
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Bible
Anything by William Shakespeare (though I have not read them all)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1984 by George Orwell (most of it anyway)
Charlotte's Web by EB White
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (more correctly, I've read The Golden Compass & part of The Subtle Knife)

Banned books I really want to read:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Freedom Writers
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Outsiders by S.E. HInton
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (I may have actually read this in grade school, but I can't remember clearly)
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller


Also, check out the ALA's page on Banned Books Week for more info on banned books.