Challenged Books

Challenging a book is different from banning a book. When a book is first considered to be restricted, it's considered challenged. Once that book has been removed or restricted, it's been banned.

Usually, books are usually challenged because they view them as damaging to the public through ideas. Most of the books challenged are to protect children. countries tend to ban books with ideas or information that counter the ideals that the country wants to promote. For example: the United States views sex as taboo, so books that glamorizes sex or the like tend to be challenged. Books that deal with science or other revolutionary ideas go against previous ideals for religious croups like the Roman Catholics, so they may ban them like during the renaissance.

According to ALA, the parents by far initiate the challenge by 54% followed by patrons (13%), Administrator (9.3%), and board members (2.9%). The different places where books are challenged include schools (36%), school libraries (33%), and public libraries (24%).

After a book is challenged, there tends to be a hearing about the book similar to a trial. Proper ways to do a challenge includes getting the committee or at least some of them to actually read the book. Usually, common questions brought up about the book includes, did the book receive any awards? What reviews did the book get? What are the complaints? Have the students read the book entirely? by choice or curriculum?

Several commonly banned books include Of Mice and Men, Harry Potter, The Color Purple, Kaffir Boy, To Kill A Mocking Bird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Lord of the Flies, and Where's Waldo?

Once specific case is of the book, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. It was challenged in schools, usually in the south, because of it's sexually explicit, the main character gets raped as a child, and it involves violence and offensive language. Usually, the schools comment that the book is too sexually explicit for 12-year-olds, or inappropriate for 10th graders. Some schools provided the option where students over the age of 18 can read the library's copy with a parent permission whereas some schools completely banned it from the library.

I can understand why the book would be banned--I have actually read it. I agree that it's not something that the average 12-year-old would read because of the pace of book and the subject matter. The first few "chapters" (the book is written in letter format) pass in a slow speed that's somewhat confusing the first read-through. I would just imagine that anyone who isn't mature enough to handle the subject matter wouldn't even make it pass the first 50 pages. It is an intriguing read that I think should be available at the high school level. I do feel like that the book should at least have a note or forewarning provided by the librarian or teacher that the book does have some language and sexuality, almost like what they do for television shows and movies.


http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1045361-The-Color-Purple-and-Its-Controversy

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.china/2005-11/msg00592.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengesbytype/index.cfm

What to do if a book is challenged


List of Challenged books