This year Banned Books Week is September 25th – October 2, 2010. The purpose of Banned Books Week is to spread awareness of having free information in the library. I have always loved the library because it is a place of information – whether to find a good book to read, an audiobook to listen to, a movie to watch, or to find information on a subject that I want or need to learn more about. It is not always the classic item that is challenged or banned. Sometimes, it is some of the most popular items, too.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Seize the Means of Production!
In honor of Banned Books Week 2010, Boardwalk Branch is doing a blog every day of the week on a different banned book. The best place to start is with what we teach our children.
My wife says that I have a special characteristic that makes me able to enjoy American literature. She calls that characteristic "tolerance". I'm not sure how she got turned off to American writing, and I'm the first to admit that it is not necessarily the best in the world. But for a nation so young, I think we've done alright so far.
When my wife first taught me to draw, we went to the park, and I tried to sketch a particular tree. I gave up quickly because I couldn't find just the right line to draw to capture any of the angles of the many branches and leaves.
"Don't draw the tree," my wife said. "Draw around the tree."
Now here is a book that deserves to be banned. To Kill a Mockingbird has it all--bad language, rape, racial discrimination, violence against children, and the list goes on.
Whale Talk and Chris Crutcher--Challenged Too Often
Chris Crutcher is probably one of the most challenged contemporary authors in the United States right now. He is also one of the most real, most caring, and most intelligent people I’ve ever met. I have been lucky to chat with him on several different occasions.
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, and the importance of the First Amendment. This year, it’s held from September 25 until October 2, 2010. Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information, while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bans of books across the United States.
I read Fahrenheit 451 as part of my school's summer reading program when I was 16 years old. The story is set in the future, where books have become illegal, and America employs firemen to find books and burn them. Author Ray Bradbury provides a convincing and relatable near-future, making the book terrific as science-fiction alone. In this future city, the trains are pushed by currents of air, the fire department uses a lethal robot to help it track criminals, and televisions have grown to wall-size.
