These next few days celebrate our freedom to read and raise awareness about who would try and take that freedom away. Every year, all over the country, people are challenging books because they've deemed them inappropriate. Sometimes it's a parent who doesn't want his/her child reading a title for school. Sometimes it's someone who doesn't have kids, but wants to "protect" young minds. Others, it's not even a book on a school reading list - it might be a book that someone doesn't even want on the shelves of a bookstore for anyone - of any age - to read.
American Booksellers for Freedom of Expression has a list of banned books (and the stories behind the bans/challenges) here.
The American Library Association has their own page for Banned Books Week, and a list of events for Banned Books Week with a shiny interactive map for finding events in your area.
A quick list of ALA Banned Books links:
- The most challenged book of 2006
- The ten most challenged books of 2006
- The 100 most frequently challenged books, 1990-2000
- The most frequently challenged authors of 2006
If you haven't spent an afternoon in a bookstore this week, now's a good time to go to your local indie and ask them to recommend a banned book for you to go home and curl up with.
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