Banned Books

Litchfield teacher resigns amid short story controversy

By |2019-03-13T18:18:06-04:00June 30th, 2009|Blog|

On June 18, the School Board of Campbell High School in Litchfield, New Hampshire decided to remove four short stories from the “Love/Gender/Family” unit of an English class.  Early last week, Kathleen Reilly resigned from her position as English department head, citing a desire to teach elementary school in a different district. Reilly, who had taught at the high school [...]

Free speech advocates make some noise, and books will remain on shelves in West Bend

By |2024-08-02T16:45:53-04:00June 4th, 2009|Blog|

The West Bend, Wisconsin public library battle finally ended Tuesday with the best decision possible.  The Library Board voted unanimously to keep the challenged books on the shelves, “without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access,” according to the West Bend Daily News. An inspiring demonstration of support for free speech among West Bend community members influenced the decision.  Last [...]

Locker lending library of banned books makes reading cool

By |2020-01-03T13:28:16-05:00May 28th, 2009|Blog|

The Canturbury Tales, Candide, the Holy Qur’an, The Evolution of Man, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:  all these titles are on the list of books banned at a Catholic high school somewhere in the U.S.  But that also means you can find them among the texts of Kat Atreides’ covert lending library, which she runs out of her [...]

The Week in Book Censorship

By |2020-01-03T13:19:45-05:00February 6th, 2009|Blog|

It has been a busy week for book censorship. On Tuesday, MSNBC reported that The Bookseller of Kabul, a nonfiction account of life inside an Afghan household, was removed from a high school in Wyandotte, Michigan. The book had been assigned for an 11th grade honors English class at Roosevelt High School. MSNBC quotes a former teacher at the school: [...]

John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, salutes North Dakotans for defending his book

By |2019-03-13T15:17:46-04:00January 23rd, 2009|Blog|

According to The Bismarck Tribune, author John Berendt has a new respect for North Dakota, after his book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was first pulled, then reinstated in the Beulah High School library. While he was initially shocked at the book's removal after parent's complained about "pornographic" content, he followed the news and comments and was [...]

Banned Books Week

By |2019-03-07T21:51:59-05:00October 2nd, 2008|Blog|

In keeping with the theme of banned books. I've selected I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou written shortly after the Civil Rights era and was inspired the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two [...]

Not in Front of the Children: A Reply to the Critics

By |2017-07-05T16:52:30-04:00October 1st, 2001|Blog|

A number of critics have taxed Not in Front of the Children with being insufficiently sensitive to the concerns of parents about sexual explicitness and graphic violence in popular culture. It's true that the book doesn't decry all the gross and offensive entertainment that is available—there is already a vast literature on that subject. My purpose instead was to stimulate [...]

Pornography Law Goes too Far

By |2017-06-08T11:31:59-04:00October 17th, 1997|Blog|

LOS ANGELES TIMES Friday, October 17, 1997 The first round of papers has been filed in a federal appeals court in San Francisco challenging the constitutionality of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996. At the same time, the new movie version of Vladimir Nabokov's book Lolita, starring Jeremy Irons, is opening all over Europe, even though it is not [...]

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