Scattered Jules

Does it surprise anyone that I am a week late on banned book week? I didn’t think so. I saw on facebook that my editor was celebrating banned book week. I really like that about him. Kirk is one heckuva awesome guy. And I hear through the grape vine that he has no aversion to semicolons! This makes me so happy, I could weep. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into galleys!

But back to banned books. I find myself baffled by what I found on the list. A Wrinkle in Time? To Kill a Mockingbird? Are you serious????? What are people thinking? Harper Lee and Madeleine L’Engle remain two of my greatest heros in literature (Just after Miss Austen thank-you-very-much)

There was a book or two on here that I’d read in my young teen life that I remember walking away from feeling uncomfortable. And on those books took a vow to never read another book by those authors again. I didn’t need my parents to tell me they weren’t the sort of things I wanted floating around in my grey matter. I didn’t need the “administration” to lay down any laws. I was intelligent enough to choose for myself. There are books on here that I can tell by title alone I wouldn’t want to read them. I may sometimes choose to do a personal ban, but still believe everyone else deserves the right to choose for themselves. Free agency . . . that’s what it’s all about.

One hundred titles are listed here (I’ve read 32), the top 100 books challenged in the decade from 1990-2000 as listed by the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommateby Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate Warby Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Foreverby Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice(Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommiesby Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giverby Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normalby Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children(Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Timeby Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchenby Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witchesby Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sexby Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Downby Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolvesby Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughtersby Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigmanby Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenieby Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernonby Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Faceby Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psychoby Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaretby Judy Blume
63. Crazy Ladyby Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultimaby Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From?by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyesby Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Samboby Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett
92. Running Looseby Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupidby Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terroristby Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier