I decided to make an offshoot of the To Kill a Mockingbird thread, so we can talk about the complete issue of banning books - not just that one.

I looked at the site that reanaz mentioned. Take a look at the Top 100 List for the 1990s (Top 100 for the '90s). CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY WHERE'S WALDO HAS BEEN BANNED?????!!!!! Is there a hidden message (besides the hidden man!) in that book that I'm not aware of?!

Why are books such as "What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons" by Lynda Madaras and the accompanying one for girls banned? Why in the world would you ban a book where parents and children can talk about the child's developing body???

And, how many of us girls grew up reading Judy Blume's "Deenie" or "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret"? I didn't realize I'd been corrupted by such tomes. Those are classics - every girl knows those books. It's how we learned that what we were going through as preteens was not "weird" - it was normal.

I can see why some of the books might be a bit suspect. There are some that I'm not really in favor of. However, that doesn't mean we ban them. Perhaps what we should be doing is being aware of what our kids are reading, so that we can help them better understand what they've read. Perhaps, instead of making them so "attractive" by banning them, we could actually be adults and guide them. Horrors. What a concept.

I remember when we were all forbidden to read "Mommie Dearest." Wanna guess which book was always on loan at the library with a waiting list to get to read it next?

Hmmm...or maybe that IS the plan after all! One of the books on the list is "Tom Sawyer." Tom got the other boys to whitewash the fence for him by making it too irresistable. He knew a bit of reverse psychology. What better way to make sure the kids read the classics - such as "Huck Finn", "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Lord of the Flies", and "Of Mice and Men" than to tell them they're not allowed to?!

I'm not sure about ALL of the books you've mentioned here, but "Where's Waldo" has been banned in some places because of some of the "naughty acts" that appear on the pages. (A man leering at a woman with large breasts, for example). I think it's silly - the aforementioned example is probably the worst thing in the book, and it's not all that bad.

I also read "Deenie" and "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" as a child. I'm not sure if they were banned from school, though - my mom gave them to me.

I've read "Tom Sawyer" AND "Huck Finn" (by choice, not through the school) and they were great! I've also read "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Lord of the Flies," "Of Mice and Men," and "Brave New World," but they were required reading for us, although they have been banned by many other places. I learned a lot from these books, and I honestly cannot understand why they would be banned at all.

My college professors seem to be encouraging me to read banned books....this last year I've read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," "Tiger Eyes," "Annie on my Mind," "Harry Potter," and many others, all for classes.

Hey ! When I was in High School there was a long ban list that made a lot of people laugh. I had a high school English teacher who got the list and made up read most of the books on it. These are for the most part classics and the reasons are a little silly.

Lord of the Flies: talks about cannibalism among children

Of Mice and Men: offensive to persons with mental retardation, graphic sex and violence

The Scarlet Letter: promotes adultry

Grapes of Wrath: Graphic descriptions

Jonathon Livingston Seagull: Promotion of cult like reliion

Catcher in the Rye: juvenile deliquency, will give kids the wrong idea

The Lottery: promotes violence

Flowers for Algernon: cruelty to humans and animals

these are just a few and they are ridiculous !!!!!!!! All these books are great books as long as people remember (I'm preaching to the choir here, ) that it is just a book !!!

I HAD NO IDEA THAT PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY GETTING THESE BOOKS BANNED, I HAVE READ EVERY SINGLE BOOK YOU ALL HAVE MENTIONED(MOST OF WHICH I READ WHEN I WAS IN ELEM. SCHOOL!)
THERE IS THIS IDIOT IN MY CITY THAT HAS BEEN GOING TO OUR CITY'S COUNCIL MEETINGS EVERY THURSDAY FOR THE PAST YEAR OR SO. AT THE MEETINGS, HE STANDS UP AND READS PORNOGRAPHIC AND PROFANE MATERIAL FROM BOOKS IN OUR LIBRARY, THE POINT HE IS TRYING TO PROVE IS THAT THEY SHOULD BAN THESE BOOKS FROM OUR LIBRARY BECAUSE CHILDREN COULD EASILY PICK THESE BOOKS UP AND START READING THEM.

I AM COMPLETELY AGAINST CENSORSHIP IN ANY WAY SO I DON'T AGREE WITH THE BANNING OF BOOKS AT ALL.

I was surprised at some of the titles on this list also. I've read many of them and have enjoyed some of them with my children. It seems that some folks want to close the books, turn off the TV and internet, pump the kids full of ritalin, slap a sucker in their mouth and plop them in the classroom where they expect a well rounded education for their little ones. Now we are seeing an increase of parental involvement in the schools because teachers are increasingly weaving their own moral values (or lack of) into their curriculum rather than teaching the reading, writing and 'rithmetic they were hired for. Kids are subjected to a diverse array of ideas every day. The answer isn't censorship, it's exercising our responsibility of instilling values in our children at home.

Amen, Anniedt!!!! I couldn't have said it better myself. I feel no need to elaborate... just re-read Annie's post!

What a wonderfully clever idea! Banning anything is tantamount to a challenge which will be taken up by many... ban a book and many people who otherwise wouldn't have read it will do so just because it is banned. What a clever way to attract new readers!

In Britain back around 1960 there was the famous obscenity trial over the book by D H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover. D H Lawrence's books were not exactly likely to be in any best sellers' list, but ban one and what happened? Once it was decided that the book could be sold it literally sold like hot cakes! Incidently it was banned in 1928 but the trial was not until around 1960, yes for the time it was a bit 'strong' but these days it would be quite tame.

What happened is that many people who would not normally read much more than a tabloid newspaper suddenly read a 'good' book, just because it had been banned..... ban some more books, it will get the masses reading!

Sue's right. After reading this thread (and the To Kill a Mockingbird Thread) the fist time, the first thing I did was go to a banned books site to make a list of books I wanted to read

You'd be surprised at some of the books on there. A lot of them are classics. And most of them are ones from which we could learn a lot.

LadyC,

I don't know what kind of sick lifestyle you are leading, but please keep your references to the "fist time" to yourself. Perv!

Note to all the thinned skined, socially inepet people of the world:

GET OVER YOURSELVES NOW!

If you know a thin skinned socially inepet person, please forward this online slap in the face for me!

The problem with the gene pool is, there's no lifeguard. -Steven Wright-

One of my fav's "Peyton Place..." I can see why it was banned way back when...LOL!

One of the best books I've read...if you haven't, please do...

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I think this speaks for itself:

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socially inepet people

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and no, it's not a typo:

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If you know a thin skinned socially inepet person

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Tip from Tomije: If you can't spell, you can't take the social high ground. This doesn't relate to the thread at all, it's just a pet peeve. Believe me, I enjoy the irony of something complaining about someone's lack of ability while continually misspelling "inept". But if you are going to misspell two syllable words, you can't take the high ground...

Well, excuuuuuuuuuse me Mr. Perfect! (As if the best writers and most "refined" people in the world never had a typo in thier lives)!

You can rock a cradle, but you can't rock a casbah!

Banning books doesn't just happen in schools, or in communities. There was a recent case in the Supreme Court over the book "Mystery of the Ages", to make a long story short it can't be published. The group that holds the copyright wants to make sure it never gets into anyone's hands ever again, they want to "protect" the public from the ideas within. It may go back before the Supreme Court at some future date to lift the suppression.

I could not agree more with Anniedt and others. I thought these were stupid books to ban then and still do. I want my child to read all of these books to broaden his horizons. He can also form his own opinion on whether or not he liked them. God bless and long live Free Speech.