Banned Book Week Ends

Banned book week comes to a close today.  It looks like we fell short of our goal, but not to worry, we had a great time exploring different titles that have been challeneged or banned in schools and libraries around the country. 

After taking stock in the number of books that have been banned, it would seem that they should expand the banned book week to a month long so that we might have more time to cover the many, many books that become censored or face censoship each year. 

I personally do not agree with censorship of most types.  I make a few exceptions regarding materials that aren't just unsuitable to a particular age, but that are simply unsuitable for people.  By and far, most of the books that face censorship are at the mercy of concerned parents who would rather their children remain ignorant of the realities of the world than read about some general truths from a safe distance.  One of the largest topics that came up in the lists of books that have been challenged include explorations of religion, sexuality, the use of adult-oriented language and abuse.  The books I explored this week all shared a common theme of people who felt like outsiders trying to fit into a world where everyone else seems normal.  This is a popular theme in many contemporary novels, movies and television shows because it captures a very unique quality that most of us share: we all feel like we are somehow different and that everyone else is someone the same.  The characters are oddballs, but typically so.  This is interesting to think about when pitted against the fact that these books are challenged not because they are so disconnected from reality, but because they capture an aspect of reality that many adults struggle with or are uneasy about. 

So when you read a book that is surrounded in controversy, keep questions in your mind about what it is about the novel that you read that makes people so upset.  Often times you will find it is the truth in fiction that scares people, and to that extent drives adults to protect their child from that truth that the world is not such a safe comfortable place afterall.