Have You Been Banned? Banned Book Week Sept. 25 - Oct. 2, 2010

Here is a "top banned book list" of books repeatedly challenged (list complied by the American Library Association and Radcliffe Publishing Course):

1. Nineteen Eighty-four (1984) by George Orwell
2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
5. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
6. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
7. Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez
8. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
9. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
10. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
11. Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry
12. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
13. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
14. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
15. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
16. Arming America by Michael Bellasiles
17. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
18. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
19. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
20. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
21. Beloved by Toni Morrison
22. Black Boy by Richard Wright
23. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
24. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
25. Blubber by Judy Blume
26. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
27. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
28. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
29. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
30. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
31. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
32. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
33. Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
34. Carrie by Stephen King
35. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
36. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
37. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
38. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
39. Christine by Stephen King
40. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
41. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
42. Crazy Lady! by Jane Conly
43. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
44. Cujo by Stephen King
45. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
46. Cut by Patricia McCormick
47. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
48. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
49. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
50. Deenie by Judy Blume
51. Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds
52. The Drowning of Stephan Jones by Bette Greene
53. Earth's Children (series) by Jean M. Auel
54. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
55. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
56. Fade by Robert Cormier
57. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
58. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
59. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
60. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
61. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
62. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
63. Forever by Judy Blume
64. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
65. The Giver by Lois Lowry
66. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
67. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
68. The Goats by Brock Cole
69. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
70. Goosebumps (series) by R. L. Stine
71. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
72. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
73. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
74. Guess What? by Mem Fox
75. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
76. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
77. Harry Potter (series) by J. K. Rowling
78. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
79. Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman
80. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
81. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
82. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
83. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
84. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
85. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
86. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
87. It's So Amazing by Robie Harris
88. Jack by A. M. Homes
89. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
90. Jay's Journal by Anonymous
91. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
92. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
93. Jumper by Steven Gould
94. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
95. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
96. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
97. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
98. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
99. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
100. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
101. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
102. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
103. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
104. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
105. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
106. Native Son by Richard Wright
107. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein and Felica Picano
108. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
109. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
110. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
111. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
112. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
113. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
114. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
115. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
116. Private Parts by Howard Stern
117. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
116. The Rabbit's Wedding by Garth Williams
118. Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
119. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
120. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
121. Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz
122. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
123. Sex by Madonna
124. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
125. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
126. The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher
127. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A. N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
128. Song of Solomon (novel) by Toni Morrison
129. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
130. The Stupids (series) by Harry Allard
131. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
132. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
133. That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton
134. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
135. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
136. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
137. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
138. Ulysses by James Joyce
139. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
140. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
141. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
142. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
143. What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
144. What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
145. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
146. The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
147. The Witches by Roald Dahl
148. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
149. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
150. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Two of the most commonly requested books to be banned is "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Catcher In The Rye".

Of the 410 books challenged for 2009, the top ten per the ALA were:

1. “TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier

The top two states to challenge books were Pennsylvania and Texas as per the ALA (more than 50% of the challenges came from these two states). Requests have been falling every year, maybe one year, there won't be ANY challenges... A girl can dream, can't she?

For banned book week, I'll be reviewing one of my favorite all time reads, To Kill A Mockingbird (or at least I'm going to try!!!)

Happy Reading! And remember, Speak Out Against Banning Books!!