Banned Books Week is observed during the last week of September each year. The American Library Association began this observance 27 years ago to celebrate our First Amendment rights including the freedom to read, the freedom to write, and intellectual freedom.
From the ALA website, Banned Book Week “celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.”
You can find many Banned Books (and many other books) online at:
TWU Library Website – TWU databases include NetLibrary and eBrary. Follow the “Find E-Books” link from the TWU Online Resources page. http://www.twu.edu/library/research/ebooks_index.htm
University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page – http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/ This page contains links to 30,000 online books.
Project Gutenberg – www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page This page contains links to 25,000 online books.
Google Books Banned Books – http://books.google.com/googlebooks/banned/
You can find out more about Banned Books through the following links:
American Library Association – www.ala.org/bbboks (discusses why books are challenged/banned and lists the top banned books for each year)
The Forbidden Library – www.forbiddenlibrary.com/ (alphabetical listing of banned books and why they have been challenged/banned)
Banned Books Week – www.bannedbooksweek.org/ (lists local Banned Book events)
The Most Challenged Books of 2007 and the reasons for challenge (according to ALA):
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell (anti-ethnic, sexism, homosexuality, anti-family, unsuited to age group)
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (sexually explicit, offensive language, violence)
Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes (sexually explicit, offensive language)
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (religious viewpoint)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (racism)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language)
TTYL by Lauren Myracle (sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (sexually explicit)
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris (sex education, sexually explicit)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group)
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