Banned Book Week

Deacon Tim reminds us all it's Banned Book Week. (And reminds me that I really need to update my links to add a bunch of people. Sometime after the move and before November, I promise.)

Top 10 Most Challenged Books as compiled by the American Library Association:
1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
6. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
7. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. Forever by Judy Blume

I've read all ten of the top 10 challenged books/series of the 21st century. Go me! I've also read 46 of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 1990s, AND I've taught three of them to public schoolkids (Julie of the Wolves to 6th graders, A Light in the Attic to 6th graders, and To Kill a Mockingbird to mixed high school teen parents).

I also think the Capitan Underpants series is hysterical. The principal turns into a giant baby wearing a pair of y-fronts! If you don't find that funny, you lead one sad life.

The horribly sad part? Most of the demands for books to be pulled from shelves come from people who think they are unChristian. Um, hello? Christian here. Enjoy Harry Potter, me + Capitan Underpants = ROFL. I didn't like Forever or Of Mice and Men, but that don't mean I think no one should be allowed to read them.

So, exercise your freedoms this week, go to your local library or bookstore and pick one of these books up.