Freedom to Read: Banned Book Recommendations

 

This week is Banned Books Week, when everyone in the book business from writers and publishers to librarians and booksellers draw national attention to the harms of censorship.  Censorship at its core is restricting what other people read/see/hear, usually to stamp out opinions that differ from one’s own. 

Intellectual freedom, on the other hand, is the right of an individual to learn information from all points of view without restriction, to be able to make one’s own conclusions.  Intellectual freedom is a philosophy that guides our public libraries and is considered an essential component of a democratic society. When one person/small group tries to decide what is available for a community to be able to read, that is considered censorship.  When that censorship is successful, it can severely limit the way people see themselves reflected and how they can explore things that are happening in the world.

Celebrate your freedom to read by exploring some banned books!:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

(Banned for swear words) When a teen with Asperger’s is charged with killing a neighbor’s dog, he is determined to find the true culprit. The problem: he tends to see things in black and white and can never be sure when someone is lying or joking. Interesting perspective!

 

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Banned for mention of euthanasia, infanticide, and suicide.) An eye-opening look at a utopian society where one begins to realize the price that is paid for a harmonious, “perfect” society.

 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Banned over concern that young readers shouldn’t be exposed to a scenario with a massive loss of lives.) A science fiction book about a young boy of genius intelligence recruited by the government to play video games. It raises deep ethical questions about alien vs. human lives that are worth pondering.

 

Drama by Raina Telgemeier (Banned for inclusion of 2 gay characters and a kissing scene, deemed inappropriate for younger audiences.)  Highlights the teamwork, communication, and hard work put into a middle school play. Friendship, acceptance and empathy are explored.

 

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (Banned for swearing, sexual references) A hilarious book about 2 teen boys who love filmmaking and make truly awful films.  The mother of one forces him to be friends with a girl who was diagnosed with cancer, and surprisingly, she becomes a big fan of their films. Highly accurate portrayal of teen angst combines with a very funny introspective look at dorky teen boys.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Banned for sexual content, swearing, and violence.) An anti-war novel about a young man who becomes unstuck in time while he tries to make sense of his time as a soldier.  Witty and full of black humor that provides an unusual social commentary.

1984 by George Orwell (Ironically, banned in the USSR for being anti-communist and banned in the US for being pro-communist)  A science fiction novel that predicted government mass surveillance and examines a totalitarian government’s ways to manipulate control and persecute independent thinking.

Fahrenheit 451 (Banned for a scene that showed the Bible being banned.) Set in a future society where firemen are enforcers of a law to burn all books, one begins to question this decision and his loyalty to an oppressive government.