Once a week I get a newsletter from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). There was an interesting article about the top ten books that were the most challenged in 2009. Here they are along with their reasons.
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs
2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality
3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide
4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence
8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
Some of these books seem like they have always been on the challenged list: To Kill A Mockingbird, The Chocolate War, The Color Purple, and Catcher in the Rye. It also seems like a lot of these books are challenged because of homosexuality, sexually explicitness, and language. Even though I am an English teacher and I love books, I do have to say if a teacher wanted my students to read a book that had that kind of stuff in it I would be opposed as well. Now it also depends on how old and mature my child is. It seems like one of the main reasons in all of these is that it is "unsuited to age group." They are not saying the books are evil, just not appropriate for the age group. On this list, I have only read To Kill A Mockingbird, and the Twilight series.
Here is another link to the article:
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