Banned Books

Celebrate Banned Book Week (September 24 through October 1) by reading a banned book.  Following are ten of my favorites.

1. In the Night Kitchen (Caldecott Collection).  Maurice Sendak's story of a young boy dreaming he's in a baker's kitchen is one of the most frequently banned books because the boy is drawn naked.  When my son was a preschooler this was one of his favorite books, and he never noticed the lack of clothing.
2. Bridge to Terabithia apparently promotes occultism, Satanism, and New Age religion, so book banners would have us believe.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird.A white attorney defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.  Enough said?
4. Harris and Me.  My best guess on this one is that censors find the language and the boys' sexual curiosity objectionable.
5. The Diary of a Young Girl was banned for "sexually offensive" passages and for being a "real downer." 
6. The Catcher in the Rye,the most censored book from 1966-1975, was considered "obscene." 
7. Lord of the Flies is frequently censored for "excessive violence and bad language."
8. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cryis guilty of depicting Southern racism and using the N-word.
9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, first published in 1884, was banned one year later by the Concord Public Library for being "trash suitable only for the slums." Today it is often banned for its use of the N-word.
10. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  Masturbation.