To Kill A Mockingbird, And Other Books Most Challenged of 2011

April 9th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

djardine.blogspot.com

Every year, the American Library Association releases a list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year and from the selections noted in the ALA’s 2012 State of America’s Libraries Report, there are some books that will never leave the list and a lot of newcomers that push the boundaries of what is seen as appropriate for school-aged children.

During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports of “attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves,” the report notes. Check out the list of the 10 that were most frequently challenged, meaning a formal, written complaint was filed against it:

ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Color of Earth (series) by Kim Dong Hwa
Reasons: Nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
Reasons: Nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Reasons: Nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Reasons: Drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Reasons: Offensive language; racism

To Kill a Mockingbird and Brave New World are the only novels I recall causing a stir while I was in school, the others seem to be after my time, but a sign of the repeated cycle of books that come along every so often and touch on topics parents might not yet be ready for their children to explore.

What do you think about this list?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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A.J.

I can’t believe that “To Kill A Mockingbird” is still on this list. Hits too clsoe to home, I suppose.
LiliMae

Lol, I have been reading Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice Series since I was in the 6th grade. Some of the best books for girls of all races coming of age.
L-Boogie

Good list.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1019917022 Dollie Linton III
  
  To Kill a Mockingbird shouldn’t be on the list, public education is so water down in the states it’s just ridiculous.
Guest

I have either read or heard of these books on the list. I personally understand the need some parents feel to protect their children from certain topics, but I feel like most of the books on the list do a responsible job of presenting these topics to their specific age group. I feel like it is the parent’s responsibility to not only ensure that their child is reading, but to read with their child no matter what their age. For example, my mother would take me to the bookstore/library nearly every week, but she would always flip to random pages within the book I chose to ensure that it was appropriate. Parents should definitely get involved in what their children read and stop blaming everyone else.
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