[Happy Banned Books Week! In high school I had
a deeply nerdy sweatshirt
that read “Celebrate Freedom: Read a Banned Book”; this week I’ll do so by
AmericanStudying books that have been frequently banned, in the past or
recently. And yeah, read a Banned Book this week!]
On three takeaways
from the American
Library Association’s annual list.
1)
Anti-LGBTQ prejudice, still: A great deal has
changed in the 30 years since the publication of and controversies over
yesterday’s focal book, Heather Has Two
Mommies; but, well, the more things change, etc. Four of 2018’s eleven most
challenged books are on the list largely (if not solely) due to their inclusion
of LGBTQIA+ content (the evolving acronym certainly reflects some of those
social changes), making clear that the groups and perspectives that objected to
Newman’s children’s book remain powerful forces in the debates over classroom, school,
and library collections. But that number also reflects the exponential and continued
growth of children’s and YA portrayals of these identities since 1989, a trend which
I have to imagine (with a great deal of satisfaction) frustrates those bigots
to no end.
2)
Satire/humor, still: Although their situations
were of course very different, two of the other banned books I highlighted this
week, Huck Finn and The Satanic Verses, could both accurately
be described as humorous/satirical works. Two of 2018’s most challenged books
fall squarely into that category as well: A
Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a satirical, political children’s book
co-created by TV
humorist John Oliver; and Dav Pilkey’s Captain
Underpants YA series. As that
last hyperlinked post indicates, I’m not quite as big a fan of Pilkey’s books
as are my sons, and I suppose I get why their negative portrayals of school
might have led to some of those challenges. But at the same time, what an
absolutely tone-deaf way to respond to depictions of school as overly serious,
allergic to humor, and opposed to creativity!
3)
A 2018 snapshot: I imagine this would be the
case with each’s year list, but it’s striking how much the 2018 list reflects
many of the core issues facing not just young people (although yes) but all
Americans in this era. The #1 book, Alex
Gino’s George (2015), features a transgender
protagonist and many related themes of gender and sexual identities; the #4, Angie
Thomas’s The Hate U Give (2017), focuses on a police shooting of
an African American young man; and the #6, Jay
Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), depicts social media conflicts,
online bullying, sexual assault, and teen suicide, among other issues. Both the
books themselves and the efforts to challenge them reflect a society and
culture dealing with and divided by these issues, which of course is just one
more excellent reason to read these (and all) banned books.
September Recap this
weekend,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Banned books you’d highlight?
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