Banned Books Week is this week!
The ALA says that the theme for this Banned Books Week is “Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us.” Their tagline for this year is “I Read Dangerously.”
Books are both banned and challenged. A challenged book is the attempt to remove or restrict said book. A banned book is the book actually being removed. The top three reasons materials are challenged are because it is “sexually explicit”, the “language is offensive”, and it is “unsuited for any age group”, according to ALA.
Some popular banned and challenged books include “Catcher in the Rye”, “The Hate U Give”, the “Harry Potter” series, the “Twilight” series, “Animal Farm”, “Grapes of Wrath”, “Looking for Alaska”, and “Thirteen Reasons Why”.
There have also been a number of books banned and challenged in Oregon. Some of them include “The Color Purple”, “The Clan of Cave Bear”, and “The Lottery”. These books were all challenged nearby at Junction City High School, Cascade Middle School located in Eugene, and in the Salem-Keizer school district.
There are many ways people are fighting against the banning of books. Some start banned book book clubs. Another way is making banned books easily available.
The Brooklyn Public Library is starting the Books UnBanned initiative. For a limited amount of time, people between the ages of 13 and 21 can get a free library card and access to a collection of frequently challenged and banned books through digital and audio formats.
Many libraries locally will also have banned books displays. Some of the libraries include Fern Ridge Public Library, Eugene Public Library, and even our school library.
The most challenged books for the year 2021 are:
- “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
- “Lawn Boy” by Johnathan Evison
- “All Boys Aren’t” Blue by George M. Johnson
- “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez
- “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
- “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
- “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
- “Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin
Continue your reading of banned and challenged books here: Eugene Teen Banned Book Recommendations
