"I believe that books challenge and interrogate. They give us windows into the lives of others and give us mirrors so that we can better see ourselves. Ultimately if you have a worldview that can be undone by a novel, let me submit that the problem is not with the novel," states bestselling author John Green. According to the ALA, books are banned or challenged in order to protect others from "difficult ideas and information." Some more specific reasons are that parents find these books inappropriate for containing anti-family views, homosexuality, offensive language and sexually explicit scenes or
“The beauty of the book is that it doesn't hide anything. It showcases what young love and growing up really are in a brutal and honest light. How the characters communicate, their relationships with each other, their pasts and the pleasure that comes with being a bad kid shine through the pages” (The Guardian). Kids can’t avoid life forever, and parents can’t hide the harsh reality from them forever. Banned Books Awareness agrees, stating that “John Green is a respected Young Adult novelist whose books depict the real-world lives of teenagers and consistently receive national acclaim by critics and literature educators”.
Books have been challenged and banned ever since books have begun to be published. There are many reasons why books are challenged and/or banned. Books get banned for everything from profanity to sex. Many books have been challenged and banned throughout history. One series has had every single book within the series banned in some locations; there are thirteen books in the series. Gossip Girl, written by Cecily von Ziegesar, is one of the most challenged and/ or banned books in recent years. Gossip Girl has been challenged and/ or banned for multiple reasons including: sex, drugs, and scandals.
Over 11,300 books have been banned and/or challenged in the United States alone (Dankowski). Diverse groups of people choose to choose books for different reasons. The Outsiders displays some of these reasons, such as adult content, vulgar language, and encounters with the police. Nonetheless, different groups of people have chosen to petition against book banning, like The American Library Association. There are also reasons given for why books should not be banned; for example, good moral, future reference, and relaxing stories. Parents, educators, and others choose to ban books from libraries due to the controversial topics and material; however, others would like to argue that these same books have a good moral to follow, as well as beneficial
What is a banned book? A banned/challenged book is a book that has or is in the process of being removed from school libraries. Three reasons a book would be banned or challenged are profanity, sexually explicit content, and alcohol. There are others reasons a book could be banned, but those I listed are just examples. Also those are also reasons the book “Harris and me” is banned.
Let’s begin with censorship. Many books are challenged and banned in the United States. Fortunately, censorship has not gotten to the point of banning all books, as in Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451, the burning of books started because they offended too many people-- “‘Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t
Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from
All around the world, certain books are being banned or challenged in school districts often because the material is considered sexually explicit, unsuited for the age group, or includes offensive language or actions.
Since 1982, there have been 11,300 books challenged in the United States. As the number of challenged books continues to rise, society’s exposure to diversity in literature decreases. According to the American Library Association, 51% of the top ten challenged books between 2005 and 2014 featured “diverse content.” Diverse content is defined as works featuring either non-white, LGBT+, or disabled primary characters, or discussions of issues in relation to race, religion, LGBT+ matters, mental illness and/or disabilities, among many other defining characteristics. Censoring such books has the potential to fundamentally stunt the personal growth of society, though many may feel certain information and topics must be censored for the safety of
Stephen Chbosky once said that “[b]anned books give us silence when we need speech[, i]t closes our ears when we need to listen[, and i]t makes us blind when we need sight” (A Quote). Chbosky is correct because of the first amendment of the constitution. Books are sometimes banned because of the language that the author uses, which takes away the freedom to speech and press that come right from the first amendment of the United States Constitution. They take away the freedoms of speech and press by banning books because of the words and choices that the author decides to use in them.
Throughout the century there has existed banned books which have been the objects of censorship or censorship attempts. The most common reasons for books to be banned is because of inappropriate language, sexual dialogue, containing violence and anti-theism. The book "Of mice and men" written by John Steinbeck has been banned in many different schools and libraries in the United States.
Books are made for people to enjoy and learn from. Then why are people deciding that a book can’t be available to certain people based on certain parts of their content? This is happening all around the world and this is called book banning or censorship. Many books have been challenged and said to be too gruesome or too dark for readers and one very controversial section of censorship is the young adult section. People are saying that young adults should not be exposed to some topics and so they take the ‘dangerous’ books away. For example, a novel called Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, has been banned in libraries all across America. However, the novel Of Mice and Men should not be censored from teens because it gives information about history, it challenges readers to think in many different ways, and includes complex themes that can teach a lot to young adults.
“Book Banning” may seem like an issue of the past, but, in fact, it is still a very pertinent issue in the U.S. today. These classic books have been banned at one time or another: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, The Harry Potter series. You’re probably wondering how these, extremely famous, books can be so censored in America today. There are many reasons that are given in regards to book censorship. For instance, language or profanity, violence, sexual explicitness, or “uncomfortable” topics, such as rape and race relations. Christian groups have requested that a countless number of books, with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ+) themes, be taken out of schools and libraries The banning and censorship of books can happen in many places and ways; taking them off school reading lists, or even out of libraries and bookstores.
Books are a part of our society that entertain us through literature by showing us new experiences and characters that we may relate to or easily might despise due to how they are written, these are usually found in teen novels, comic books, manga, and many more. Books have also usually taught us through traditional means by teaching us about history and other things about society and overall morals we learn at a young age. However, some people have actually taken offense to certain books due to the content inside the book being “too offensive to them and have asked that these books be banned while other people want these books to stay. It’s a consistent debate of whether certain books should be banned or not and there are different viewpoints
It is my belief that since by the time the child is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can distinguish between things that should and should not be said and it is the job of the parents to educate the child that just because they say it in a book does not mean he or she should.Another subject common to banned and censored books is sexuality.
One of the biggest points of the book is the outlawing of books. This is because books almost all have opinions and they were written in a time where people voiced their opinions and weren’t