Banned Books Week

September 26 through October 3 is the American Library Association sponsored Banned Books Week. The purpose of Banned Books Week is to celebrate our Freedom to Read and to remind Americans not to take their democratic freedoms for granted. As stated by the ALA:

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where the freedom to express oneself and the freedom to choose what opinions and viewpoints to consume are both met.

Some of my all time favorite books have been challenged, such as The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird.  Several of my current favorites have also been challenged, like the Twilight series and The Kite Runner.

Most of the challenges attempt to have these books removed from the shelves of school and public libraries. Most of the challenges have been by parents because of the sexual content (even as little as one paragraph) of the book in question. And here's where I go off...

Dear Parents Who Challenge Books,

What makes you think you have the authority to try to silence someone's right to speak freely? What gives you the right to challenge a gifted writer's vision of his or her own story? A story that was probably created with blood, sweat and tears because that author had the calling to share a part of him or herself with the rest of the world? If you are concerned about your child reading literature of which you do not approve then do your duty as a parent and discuss it with your child or your child's teacher. Furthermore, if you do not want your child to learn about sex from the pages of a book then do your duty as a parent and talk with your child about sex! This is YOUR responsibility, not a teacher's or an author's or a librarian's. Your duty to protect your child in a way that you see fit does not trump the rest of the literate world's RIGHT to read freely. Shame on you.

Sincerely,
A Passionate Reader, Writer and Freedom Fighter

Okay, I'm done ranting. To celebrate MY Freedom to Read I will be choosing to re-read one of my favorite books, The Great Gatsby. I encourage all of you, especially those of you that are doing my Busy Bookworm Challenge, to add a book that has been challenged to your list of books to read before the year ends.

You can download a copy of the 2008-2009 Books Challenged & Banned List here. You can also find previous years' lists of challenged and banned books, as well as buttons and banners for your blog, here.

Read on, friends!