{"id":3664,"date":"2005-09-28T09:14:40","date_gmt":"2005-09-28T13:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3664"},"modified":"2020-12-30T16:39:52","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T21:39:52","slug":"100-most-challenged-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3664","title":{"rendered":"100 most challenged books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the list.<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of these are my favorite books! What does that mean?? Some of these books changed me profoundly, when I first read them. Some of these books (I’m thinking of Forever . . .<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, specifically) made me make choices later in life, when I was confronted with issues of teenage sex, etc., that saved my ass, frankly. Forever<\/i> played a huge part in me not becoming promiscuous later on (another huge factor: fear of the eternal blazing fires of hell) but for me being really really cautious in my choices. I was my own guardian. I could handle myself. So thanks, Judy Blume!!<\/p>\n

Another book along those lines was Go Ask Alice<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, a book I probably read way WAY too early. My first job was as a page in the local public library, so I had access to all KINDS of shite there that I would never have had normally. Although, I do believe Go Ask Alice<\/i> was in the school library as well. A horrifying “real” diary of a girl who descends into drug addiction. I read it when I was … 13? It made my blood turn to ice. I didn’t understand about drugs, or doing acid, or having sex, whatever – but I knew that I didn’t want to live her life. That book helped clarify, in a terrifying way, what I DIDN’T want. It made me paranoid (I remember going to my first junior high school dance, and my friend J. and I were saying to each other – “Okay, we will not drink the punch, because ‘they’ might have spiked it …” hahahaha Of course, at junior high dances nowadays there IS no punch – we imagined there would be a big bowl of punch, with a ladle … what?? There were cans of sodas in coolers for us … so we could relax. But at least she and I were steeled up against any danger! It was because of Go Ask Alice<\/i>.) So thanks, Go Ask Alice<\/i>!!<\/p>\n

Some of these baffle me. Blubber<\/a>\"\"<\/i>? I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings<\/a>\"\"<\/i>?? Where’s Waldo?<\/a>\"\"<\/i>? You have to have a really dirty mind to find Where’s Waldo<\/i> to be a dirty or dangerous book.<\/p>\n

Some of these books were really really upsetting to me when I first read them. The Chocolate War<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. Any Robert Cormier book, actually. I found them wrenchingly painful to read when I was 12. I am glad that I was not spared that. He is a wonderful writer, wonderfully human. They are tough books, but I loved them.<\/p>\n

I don’t understand what is the problem with Ordinary People<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. Could it be because of the suicide?<\/p>\n

Fine. But – er – people do commit suicide.<\/p>\n

I love that book. It’s one of those cases where the book is equally as good as the movie – only in different ways.<\/p>\n

I also am consistently baffled as to why Shel Silverstein ruffles so many feathers. A Light in the Attic<\/a>\"\"<\/i>? I don’t get it.<\/p>\n

And A Wrinkle in Time<\/a>\"\"<\/i>? Just the thought of that book being challenged makes me very very angry. Same with To Kill a Mockingbird<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. People can be such morons.<\/p>\n

I’ll bold the ones I’ve read.<\/p>\n

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
\nDaddy?s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
\nI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou <\/b>
\nThe Chocolate War by Robert Cormier <\/b>
\nThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
\nOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
\nHarry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
\nForever by Judy Blume
\nBridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson <\/b>
\nAlice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
\nHeather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
\nMy Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
\nThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger <\/b>
\nThe Giver by Lois Lowry
\nIt?s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
\nGoosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
\nA Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
\nThe Color Purple by Alice Walker
\nSex by Madonna <\/b>
\nEarth?s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
\nThe Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
\nA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L?Engle
\nGo Ask Alice by Anonymous <\/b>
\nFallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
\nIn the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak<\/b>
\nThe Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
\nThe Witches by Roald Dahl <\/b>
\nThe New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
\nAnastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
\nThe Goats by Brock Cole
\nKaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
\nBlubber by Judy Blume <\/b>
\nKilling Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
\nHalloween ABC by Eve Merriam
\nWe All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
\nFinal Exit by Derek Humphry
\nThe Handmaid?s Tale by Margaret Atwood <\/b>
\nJulie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
\nThe Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison <\/b>
\nWhat?s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
\nTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee<\/b>
\nBeloved by Toni Morrison
\nThe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
\nThe Pigman by Paul Zindel <\/b>
\nBumps in the Night by Harry Allard
\nDeenie by Judy Blume
\nFlowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes <\/b>
\nAnnie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
\nThe Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
\nCross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
\nA Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
\nBrave New World by Aldous Huxley
\nSleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) <\/b>
\nAsking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
\nCujo by Stephen King
\nJames and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl <\/b>
\nThe Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
\nBoys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
\nOrdinary People by Judith Guest <\/b>
\nAmerican Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
\nWhat?s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
\nAre You There, God? It?s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume <\/b>
\nCrazy Lady by Jane Conly
\nAthletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
\nFade by Robert Cormier
\nGuess What? by Mem Fox
\nThe House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
\nThe Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
\nSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut <\/b>Lord of the Flies by William Golding
\nNative Son by Richard Wright
\nWomen on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women?s Fantasies by Nancy Friday <\/b>
\nCurses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
\nJack by A.M. Homes
\nBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
\nWhere Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
\nCarrie by Stephen King
\nTiger Eyes by Judy Blume <\/b>
\nOn My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
\nArizona Kid by Ron Koertge
\nFamily Secrets by Norma Klein
\nMommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
\nThe Dead Zone by Stephen King
\nThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
\nSong of Solomon by Toni Morrison <\/b>
\nAlways Running by Luis Rodriguez
\nPrivate Parts by Howard Stern
\nWhere?s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
\nSummer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
\nLittle Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman <\/b>
\nPillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
\nRunning Loose by Chris Crutcher
\nSex Education by Jenny Davis
\nThe Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
\nGirls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
\nHow to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell <\/b>
\nView from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
\nThe Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
\nThe Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
\nJump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s the list. Some of these are my favorite books! What does that mean?? Some of these books changed me profoundly, when I first read them. Some of these books (I’m thinking of Forever . . ., specifically) made me … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19536,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions\/19536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}