Banned Books Soundwave
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is an annual American Library Association event observed during the last week of September. Banned Books Week celebrates free and open access to information and intellectual freedom. Join the NC State University Libraries in celebrating this annual event by listening to excerpts from banned books read by members of the NC State community. Click on the play button to listen to excerpts from selected banned books.
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1984by George Orwell Challenged in Jackson County, FL (1981) because Orwell's novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter." (Courtesy of the American Library Association)  (2:41)
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Animal Farmby George Orwell A Wisconsin survey revealed in 1963 that the John Birch Society had challenged the novel's use; it objected to the words "masses will revolt." In 1968, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship conducted a comparable study in New York State English classrooms. Its findings identified the novel on its list of "problem books"; the reason cited was that "Orwell was a communist." Suppressed from being displayed at the 1977 Moscow, Russia International Book Fair. (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (2:39)
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaretby Judy Blume Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is on the American Library Association's list of 100 most frequently challenged books: 2000-2009 and the list from 1990–1999. Judy Blume explains, "When Margaret was published in 1970 I gave three copies to my children's elementary school but the books never reached the shelves. The male principal decided on his own that they were inappropriate for elementary school readers because of the discussion of menstruation (never mind how many fifth- and sixth-grade girls already had their periods). Then one night the phone rang and a woman asked if I was the one who had written that book. When I replied that I was, she called me a communist and hung up. I never did figure out if she equated communism with menstruation or religion." (courtesy of Judy Blume's website, https://www.judyblume.com/censorship/places2.php). (1:41)
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As I Lay Dyingby William Faulkner In 1986, Graves County, Kentucky, the school board banned this book about a poor white family in the midst of crisis from its high school English reading list because of 7 passages which made reference to God or abortion and used curse words such as "bastard," "goddam," and "son of a bitch." None of the board members had actually read the book. (Courtesy of https://www.banned-books.com/ (This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)) (1:33)
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Bridge to Terabithiaby Katherine Peterson for offensive language, sexual content and Occult/Satanism. (Courtesy https://library.campbellhall.org/secondary%20pages/banned%20books/2003%20banned%20books.htm (This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)) (1:47)
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The Call of the Wildby Jack London Burned in Nazi bonfires (1933). In Italy and Yugoslavia, Jack London's The Call of the Wild was banned in 1929 for being "too radical." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (3:17)
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Catch-22by Joseph Heller Banned in Strongsville, OH (1972), but the school board's action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District. Challenged at the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries (1974); in Snoqualmie, WA (1979) because of its several references to women as "whores." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (5:37) (1:07)
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The Color Purpleby Alice Walker Challenged as inappropriate reading for Oakland, CA High School honors class (1984) due to the work's "sexual and social explicitness" and its "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality." Rejected for purchase by the Hayward, CA school's trustee (1985) because of "rough language" and "explicit sex scenes." Challenged, along with seventeen other titles in the Fairfax County, VA elementary and secondary libraries (2002), by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools. The group contends the books "contain profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct, and torture." Challenged in Burke County (2008) schools in Morgantown, NC by parents concerned about the homosexuality, rape, and incest portrayed in the book. (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:06)
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Go Tell It On The Mountainby James Baldwin Challenged as required reading in the Hudson Falls, N.Y. schools (1994) because the book has recurring themes of rape, masturbation, violence and degrading treatment of women. Challenged as a ninth-grade summer reading option in Prince William County, Va. (1988) because the book was "rife with profanity and explicit sex." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:54)
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Gone With the Windby Margaret Mitchell Banned for its depiction of the behavior of Scarlett O'Hara and the freed slaves in the novel. (Courtesy of https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html) (2:08)
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The Grapes of Wrathby John Steinbeck Several months after the book's publication, a St. Louis, MO library ordered 3 copies to be burned for the vulgar words used by its characters. It was also banned in Kansas City and in Oklahoma. (Courtesy of https://www.banned-books.com/ (This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)) Burned by the East St. Louis, IL Public Library (1939) and barred from the Buffalo, NY Public Library (1939) on the grounds that "vulgar words" were used. Challenged at the Cummings High School in Burlington, NC (1986) as an optional reading assignment because the "book is full of filth. My son is being raised in a Christian home and this book takes the Lord's name in vain and has all kinds of profanity in it." Challenged at the Moore County school system in Carthage, NC (1986) because the book contains the phase "God damn:" Challenged in the Greenville, SC schools (1991) because the book uses the name of God and Jesus in a "vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (2:05)
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The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, SC (1987) because of "language and sexual references in the book." Source: 2010 Banned Books Resource Guide by Robert P. Doyle. (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:04)
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Lolitaby Vladmir Nabokov Although it was published in Paris, it was soon (1956) to be banned there for being obscene. An Argentinian court banned the book in 1959 and again in 1962 ruling that the book "reflected moral disintegration and reviled humanity." In 1960, the New Zealand Supreme Court also banned the book. It was later freely published in France, England, and the U.S. (Courtesy of https://www.banned-books.com/ (This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)). The Marion County commissioners in Florida voted to have the county attorney review the novel that addresses the themes of pedophilia and incest, to determine if it meets the state law's definition of "unsuitable for minors." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (2:37)
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Of Mice and Menby John Steinbeck Challenged as a summer youth program reading assignment in Chattanooga, TN (1989) because "Steinbeck is known to have had an anti business attitude." In addition, "he was very questionable as to his patriotism." Challenged at the Jacksboro, TN High School (1991) because the novel contains "blasphemous" language, excessive cursing, and sexual overtones. Challenged as required reading at the high school in Grandville, MI (2002) because the book "is full of racism, profanity, and foul language." Challenged in the Normal, IL Community High Schools (2003) because the books contains "racial slurs, profanity, violence, and does not represent traditional values." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:39)
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nestby Ken Kesey In 1974, five residents of Strongsville, OH, sued the board of education to remove the novel. Labeling it "pornographic," they charged the novel "glorifies criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination." Challenged at the Placentia-Yorba Linda, CA Unified School District (2000) after complaints by parents stated that teachers "can choose the best books, but they keep choosing this garbage over and over again." (Courtesy of the American Library Association)
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Slaughterhouse-Fiveby Kurt Vonnegut Banned in Levittown, NY (1975), North Jackson, OH (1979), and Lakeland, FL (1982) because of the "book's explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language." Challenged at the Owensboro, KY High School library (1985) because of "foul language, a section depicting a picture of an act of bestiality, a reference to 'Magic Fingers' attached to the protagonist's bed to help him sleep, and the sentence: 'The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (2:04) (2:24)
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Their Eyes Were Watching Godby Zora Neale Hurston The book was unsuccessfully "challenged for sexual explicitness" at Stonewall Jackson High School in Virginia, where a parent requested it be removed from the academically advanced reading list. (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:52) (1:49) (2:21)
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Tiger Eyesby Judy Blume Banned for themes of violence, alcoholism, suicide. (Courtesy of the American Library Association). Judy Blume even changed part of Tiger Eyes to avoid potential objections. She says, "My worst moment came when I was working with my editor on the manuscript of Tiger Eyes (the story of a fifteen-year-old girl, Davey, whose beloved father dies suddenly and violently). When we came to the scene in which Davey allows herself to feel again after months of numbness following her father's death, I saw that a few lines alluding to masturbation had been circled. My editor put down his pencil and faced me. "We want this book to reach as many readers as possible, don't we?" he asked. I felt my face grow hot, my stomach clench. This was the same editor who had worked with me on Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Then Again, Maybe I Won't; Deenie; Blubber; Forever -- always encouraging, always supportive. The scene was psychologically sound, he assured me, and delicately handled. But it also spelled trouble. I got the message. If you leave in those lines, the censors will come after this book. Librarians and teachers won't buy it. Book clubs won't take it. Everyone is too scared. The political climate has changed. I tried to make a case for why that brief moment in Davey's life was important. He asked me how important? Important enough to keep the book from reaching its audience? I willed myself not to give in to the tears of frustration and disappointment I felt coming. I thought about the ways a writer brings a character to life on the page, the same way an artist brings a face to life on canvas -- through a series of brush strokes, each detail adding to the others, until we see the essence of the person. I floundered, uncertain. Ultimately, not strong enough or brave enough to defy the editor I trusted and respected, I caved in and took out those lines. I still remember how alone I felt at that moment. (Courtesy Judy Blume's website: https://www.judyblume.com/censorship/places3.php) (1:19)
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To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee Challenged in Eden Valley, MN (1977) and temporarily banned due to words "damn" and "whore lady" used in the novel. Challenged in the Vernon Verona Sherill, NY School District (1980) as a "filthy, trashy novel." Challenged at the Warren, IN Township schools (1981) because the book does "psychological damage to the positive integration process" and "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature." Challenged at the Park Hill, MO Junior High School (1985) because the novel "contains profanity and racial slurs." Challenged at the Brentwood, TN Middle School (2006) because the book contains "profanity" and "contains adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, and incest." The complainants also contend that the book's use of racial slurs promotes "racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy." (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (1:38) (1:52)
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Uncle Bobby's Weddingby Sarah S. Brannen Claimed to exhibit homosexuality and was unsuited to age group, Uncle Bobby's Wedding was among the top 10 most challenged books of 2008. (Courtesy of the American Library Association) (2:01)
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