Every year hundreds of challenges are made to books in libraries, schools and bookstores by individuals or groups for a variety of reasons. Banned Books Week is an opportunity for us to celebrate the freedom to read and to draw attention to the problems of censorship. Banned Book Week 2012 will be held from September [...]
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman When I was doing some research for Banned Books Week, I was fascinated to see that one of my all time favorite books is also one of the most challenged. The Golden Compass, the first part in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, has been challenged numerous times because [...]
I didn’t read much as a child. I had difficultly comprehending what I read and would find myself reading the same passage over and over again. Most books that I started never got finished. In fourth grade, I remember a color-coded system in which you graduated from color to color as you completed a certain [...]
The Giver by Lois Lowry What is your favorite challenged book that you have a connection with personally (as a child or adult) or professionally? From the moment I first read The Giver by Lois Lowry it has remained on my list of all-time favorite books. What is your connection with this book and why [...]
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak Daisy Whitney is the author of the young adult novel The Mockingbirds, included in the 2011 ALA list of Best Fiction for Young Adults and a 2010 NPR Best Teen Read, and its upcoming sequel The Rivals. Mill Valley Public Library’s Young Adult Librarian Katie MacBride interviewed her [...]
Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman; Illustrated by Diana Souza When asked to write something for Banned Books Week, I decided to read Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman. According to the author, the book didn’t cause much of a stir when it was written in 1989. It wasn’t until 1992, when an [...]
It’s true that we live in an open-minded community, but Banned Books Week is about the restrictions of who can read what and who makes those decisions. And, even here in Mill Valley, there are ways that access to books is restricted every day. Banned Books Week is an annual, national time to focus on [...]
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