Thursday Thirteen #9, Head of the Class–Freedom To Read
By APOOO • Sep 24th, 2008 • Category: Thursday Thirteen •
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Thirteen Books Written by Authors of Color, from 1990-2000, which appear on the Banned Books List. As a reader, who read any and everything as a child, it boggles my mind to see banned book lists. This generation of parents has come to be known as ‘hovers.’ I agree. And, have to really work hard not to be one. Truth be told, my parents, teachers, school adminstrators did not censor anything when I was growing up. Yep, we read Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Sounder, Catcher in the Rye, and in high school Maya Angelou’s book was allowed for an elective. Why can’t parents, teachers, administrators, and everyone else who finds certain books offensive, get ova themselves and allow kids choices so that they can learn how to make DECISIONS without everyone hovering around like vultures. Sigh. Rather than banning books, why not encourage discussing them in a classroom setting, to help kids learn. Some of these books can used to address social issues and as a way to explain what is ‘politically correct’ in today’s society.
Okay, enough APOOO commentary and on to the Thursday Thirteen list…
It’s magic…the list below had exactly THIRTEEN books. 
The Most Frequently Challenged Books
Written by Authors of Color
1990-2000
The number is the rank within the list of the 100 most frequently challenged books, 1990-2000.1
3 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Reason for challenges: racism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
18 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, violence
24 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Reason for challenges: racism, offensive language, violence
31 Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Reason for challenges: homosexuality, sexually explicit
39 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language
42 Beloved by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, violence
67 The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language
71 Native Son by Richard Wright
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, violence
75 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, occult
85 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: racism, sexually explicit, offensive language
86 Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language
Other books written by authors of color challenged during this period include Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry (offensive language) by Mildred D. Taylor and American Indian Myths and Legends(sexually explicit) by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz.
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1 Out of 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five that go unreported.
Next Week is Banned Books Week, CLICK HERE to learn more about this year’s observance and what you can do to make a difference in your community.
Banned Books Week
Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 27–October 4, 2008
How to Support Banned Books Week
DISCUSSION QUESTION
What books do you recall reading as a child and which currently appear on the banned books list.
CLICK HERE for a list of the most frequent books to make the list. EDITOR’S NOTE: My son’s school must not have seen this list, as currently he is reading a banned book for 11th Grade English, 1984 by George Orwell.
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APOOO is an online author and reader community dedicated to advancing African American literature. Our mission is to expose readers of all ages to a good book in any genre; to support African American authors, books, literary events and bookclubs; to provide marketing resources, tools and tips to authors; and, to promote literacy within the African American community.
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I read as a child/teenager:
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. To this day it is one of my favorite books. I have it on my book case to one day read again with each one of my children and discuss.
Native Son by Richard Wright. I can’t remember much about this book, but I have that one and Black Boy on my bookcase to read with my sons, and my daughter if she wants to read it.
Jennifer C.’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #8-Things I Want to Do
In school I read the following:
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Ulysses, James Joyce
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
1984, George Orwell
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
A few of the other titles sound familiar but I can’t remember if I read them or not. Isn’t Mark Twain normally on this list too?
Ms. Toni’s last blog post..Ms Toni gave 5 stars to: The Ski Mask Way
I also did my Thursday 13 on banned books. Some of the books listed just boggle my mind, especially the children’s series “Junie B. Jones.”
http://cookingmom.livejournal.com/24136.html
I’m happy to say I’ve read 7 of the banned books and when my sons are old enough to wrestle with them, I will encourage them to do the same. My oldest already reads everything he can get his hands on by Walter Dean Myers.
I read a lot of stuff growing up that wouldn’t be recommended for children, like Claude McKay’s Manchild in The Promised Land but reading introduced me to other people and cultures, opened my mind, and expanded my horizons. It’s a shame that people want to censor books.
PatriciaW’s last blog post..On the Offensive
Here are the books I read as a child and enjoyed:
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Native Son, Richard Wright
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, DH Lawrence – This was my term paper for my Senior Honors English class and my teachers favorite book. I got a B and was very happy. I was warned he would be hard on the paper because he loved the book.
Lashonda…go head on with Lady Chatterley’s Lover! You Did Good!
I’ve read at least 80 percent of the books on the list. When I was in high school books by AA authors wasn’t on the required list; however I asked my teachers if I could also do reports on books by Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, etc. for extra credit. They never denied me that and sometimes I was able to substitue with a book by an AA author.
Shelia’s last blog post..Finding Our Identity
I don’t know whether we have a banned books list over here, never heard of!
Thanks for visiting my TT.
Tink’s last blog post..TT #91: online purchases
I’m such a bad mommy. I read Brave New World to my son and bed time reading. We spent as much time discussing concepts as reading.
Alice Audrey’s last blog post..Thursday Thriteen #45: Banners
What a great list! Thanks for stopping by and Happy TT. Book bans are really amazing aren’t they. At least they still got published and banning those books just made it more intriguing to read I’ll bet.
Pamela Kramer’s last blog post..Are You Your Own Best Friend? – Day 111
I havent read any of those…I will have to check them out. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by:)
Lori´s last blog post..Financial stability
I love your site. Your TT rocks!
Those people are fanatics. How dare they ban what people read. My parents did not ban us from reading what we wanted. Any book in the book case was game. When my daughter was in 7th grade at a Lutheran school, her teacher tried to say something about her reading A Tree Grows in Brookly, a classic, because there were curse words. I quickly got her straight.
I just remembered, there was one year, 5th grade, I had her in a Christian, I guess you could Evangelical school and when the teacher passed out the book orders, she would cross out what they could not order. I remember one of them was The Witch at Blackbird Pond. I was incensed and let them know I did not appreciate it. Because witch was in the title, it was considered off limits.
Dera´s last blog post..I’ve Been Called Out
I’ve only read two of these: The Color Purple and Beloved. I read Beloved last year to celebrate Banned Books week. I’d almost forgotten to pick up a book for this year. Thanks for the reminder!
Darla´s last blog post..Babylon A. D.
Now I read all that is mentioned on this list…required reading.
But in 2002, when I was doing a series on the book “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines – he was coming to speak at a special reception and a local high school was doing the play based on the book – I was stunned when my cousin, a high school English teacher in East Chicago, IN(15 minutes from Gary) told me this book was banned because of a small paragraph in the book involving intimate touching in a field. East Chicago and Gary high schools were involved in the special reading assignment and event with Mr. Gaines, but the EC students were pulled from participating because they were not allowed to read the book! My cousin was furious to say the least.
Sorry for the late reply. Good list of books especially with it being Banned Books Week. I’ve read about half the books on your list.
pussreboots´s last blog post..The Going to Bed Book