Banned Books Week 2012

Sunday marked the start of Banned Book Week for this year!

Bans and challenges happen every year at public libraries and in public school libraries and classrooms, including this recent one:

A novel one Nampa parent said had “an immense amount of pornography” has been removed from sophomore English classes at Nampa High School.

Nampa School Board Chairman Scott Kido said he received 15 emails Sunday night complaining about the book “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel.

[...]

A parent emailed school board members about the book and wrote that “The families who have already refused to let their children read this vile piece of work were told to pick an alternate book, even though all class discussion and assignments will be directed toward (the book). Let’s not set kids up for failure because they have moral standards.”

The parent quoted 13 passages from the book in her email to demonstrate her point.

The book was chosen by last year’s English Department chair, Nampa Schools spokeswoman Allison Westfall said. Ninth grade curriculum includes world literature, which is why the book was chosen, she said.

Like Water For Chocolate is not on this year's Top Ten list--and perennial banning-favorite, And Tango Makes Three, didn't make the list, either.

The Top Ten for 2011 were:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence

4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint

7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit

8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit

9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit

10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language; racism


Related: Banned Books Week 2011, Banned Books Week 2010, Banned Books Week 2006, "No, God hates morons!"*, Harry Potter and the Half-Brained Dumbass, But What About My Needs?, A Novel Approach, and march of the dumbasses