banned on the run...

moon has directed me to the ALA's 100 most challenged books list (in honor of banned books week), and has challenged me to list the ones that i have read from the list. i'm happy to oblige, and here goes:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Carrie by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

a lousy sixteen! i'm a little red in the face. moon himself logged 20. but it was a fun exercise -- now you guys do it (in particular, i'm thinking michael, elizabeth, and sandy).

i have a 1991 poster that i got while interning at the ACLU this summer with several examples of censored books/magazines. here are some of them (and the reasons why):

THE GRAPES OF WRATH - john steinbeck
- censored countless times, it was challenged again in 1989 in an 11th grade english class in westwood, california

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE
- removed from 7-11 and rite aid stores in 1986 under pressure from religious groups

TARZAN OF THE APES - edgar rice burroughs
- removed from the los angeles public library because tarzan was allegedly living in sin with jane

WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE - kurt vonnegut
- an alabama teacher was dismissed in 1970 for assigning this book to her 11th grade english class, because the book promoted "the killing off of elderly people and free sex."

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
- removed from schools in empire, california in 1990 because little red riding hood brought a bottle of wine to her grandmother. authorities claimed the story "condones the use of alcohol."

GIVE THOSE NYMPHS SOME HOOTERS: A DOONESBURY BOOK - gary trudeau
- the fayetteville (NC) observer-times changed the word "hooters" to "pizzaz" in 1989

BLACK BOY - richard wright
- removed by island trees, NY schools in 1976

WEBSTER'S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY
- removed from classrooms in carlsbad, NM because it defines "obscene" words

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE - j.d. salinger
- another censor's favorite, removed most recently in 1989 from the high school reading list in boron, california

CLASS CLOWN (album) - george carlin
- carlin's album listed the "seven words you can't say on television," and the Federal Communications Commission said you can't say them on radio either

how does the old anti-tipper gore saying go? oh right -- censorship is un-american! read on, friends. i'll do my part, too, starting tonight with my administrative law, international law, and reproduction, sexuality & law casebooks!