Going through the banned book list I posted before got me thinking about banning books. Specifically, what causes books to be banned...



The Bible

I have to wonder who had the balls/overies to request the Bible be banned! :)

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

OK, granted, I haven't read this one, so I don't know what all happens. But the main character is forced to wear an "A" for adultry. You would think fundies would love this - she's being punished for her "sin."

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The book is sad, I'll admit. But who in their right mind would want this banned? It should be required reading for all high school students! What better way to get people to really think and connect with what happened during the Holocaust?

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Wish I knew why this one was banned. (Unless some student ran an underground campaign to get it banned so they wouldn't have to read a 1400 page book!)

Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

DUH! :)

Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 by George Orwell

Again, why? Animal Farm I can almost understand. 1984, not so much. The whole "Big Brother is watching you" thing should be right up the fundie's alley!

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It's amazing how much I learned from reading these stories.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

OK, so everyone is addicted to Soma. But give me a break - you can't honestly expect me to believe anyone would think this book promotes drug use!

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Great book.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Will irony never cease? (Though I have to admit I didn't like the book.)

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

Heh... Maybe someone should have read this book before 1939...

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

A boy crawls into a giant peach and travels around... What is the problem with this?

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

WHAT??????? The whole series is so sappy it's almost sickening! (Confession: I read most, if not all, of the Little House books.)

Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

OK, the main character is held in sexual slavery. Eh, I guess...

Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling

Fundies should READ the books before they start screaming about them. If they did, they would realize the HP books have good moral messages.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Gotta be the title. Anyone who read the book would know the witches are defeated.

What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole

Because god-forbid (literally) we teach kids about their bodies and the changes they are going to go through as they mature...

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

:banging head on desk: Silverstein is an amazing writer. And kids actually LIKE his poetry! It's a heck of a lot better than a lot of the crap some schools use as examples of "good poetry."

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Again, gotta be the title.

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Sickening, yes. But nothing worse than kids think up on their own.