Banned Books Week - The Freedom to Read

September 30th through October 6th is Banned Books Week, an annual awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read and draws attention to banned and challenged  books and promotes the freedom to select from a full array of possibilities. Banned Books Week not only encourages readers to examine challenged literary works, but also promotes intellectual freedom in libraries, schools, and bookstores.  Every year, the American Library Association publishes a pamphlet listing the books that had been challenged and/or removed from circulation in schools and libraries around the world, including the rationale behind these decisions.  Here is a selection of a few of the titles that were challenged, restricted, removed or banned in 2011 and 2012.  The reasons cited come from the American Library Association publication

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
Banned, but later returned to the Richland, Wa. school district's reading list despite objections to the "coarse themes and language in the young-adult novel."  Pulled from the Dade County, Ga. library shelves and the required high school reading list because of complaints about "vulgarity, racism, and anti-Christian content."

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
Challenged, but retained, at the Clarkstown, N.Y. North High School despite a parent's complaint about the coming-of-age novel, which deals graphically with teenage sex, homosexuality and bestiality.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Challenged, but retained on the Easton, Pa. Area High School's Advanced Placement English reading list despite several residents and persons from outside the district calling the book "faddish," of "no moral value," and even "obscene."

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
Removed from a spring break elective course at the Bedford, N.H. School District after a parent complained about the novel's sexual content.  The complainant further suggested that the school only allow "youth versions" of particular books or organize a parental review system over the summer that would look at books that students need parental permission to read. 

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson.
Challenged, but eventually retained at the Merrill, Wis. High School despite some parents complaining that it is "questionable reading material for their tenth-grade students because of language, and sexual and racist themes."  School leaders added it to the curriculum twelve years ago, saying it was a less controversial substitute for The Catcher in the Rye.  School leaders also said students have the option of reading a different book if they don't feel comfortable with the one they're assigned.