Banned Book of the Day: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." - Mark Twain

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn couldn't catch a break from the very beginning.  As early as 1885, the book was locked out of library collections for using slang - imagine, the scandal of a book that used "sweat" instead of "perspiration"!

Today, this kind of reasoning seems crazy.  But Huckleberry Finn is still getting heat today.  A school in Arizona was sued for making the book required reading, and a recent publication of the book has censored certain words.

So what's the fuss?  This book is a classic; why a lawsuit to keep it out of schools?

The answer is: the "n-word."  Commonly used in Twain's time, the term has incredibly offensive connotations today; the parents of Tempe, Arizona didn't want their children exposed to that kind of language.  The repetition of the word has been enough to make some English teachers hesitate to use Huckleberry Finn in class.

This debate is especially interesting considering Twain's strong disgust for racism; he would probably be horrified if he knew Huckleberry Finn was being taken as racially offensive.  

So what's in a word?  Should an entire book be dismissed for using language no longer acceptable today?  Is it better to censor the "n-word" out of the book and sanitize it by today's standards, or is it important to remember a terrible part of America's history when racism was a natural part of life? 

Banned Book of the Day: And Tango Makes Three

As we covered yesterday in our post on Harry Potter, children's books are a big target for banning.  Adults worry about the influence books will have on their children and the way they see the world.  Today we're looking at another kid's book - And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

Looking at the cover, it's hard to see why this book - based on a true story of a family of penguins in the Central Park Zoo - should cause such a fuss.  Why is this book the fourth most-banned of the last decade?

The answer?  Silo and Roy, the two penguins who fall in love and adopt a baby over the course of the story, are both male penguins.  Once their story hit the shelves, it was targeted for "promoting a homosexual lifestyle," and schools warred over whether or not it should be included in library collections.  While some parents felt the book didn't contain information that was necessary or appropriate for school children, others felt this book was a great way to introduce their kids to different types of families and loving home environments - and gay parents found it was a story that their kids could relate to.

If you haven't read And Tango Makes Three, you can check out a reading of the book in the video above.  What do you think?

Banned Book of the Day: the Harry Potter series

Book burning!  Setting books on fire is a sure way to make a statement - just ask Pastor Terry Jones in Gainesville, FL.  But the Qu'ran isn't the only book that barely escaped the flames this past decade in America- did you know that in 2001, the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling was nearly set ablaze in a small town in Maine?  The fire department swept in to save the day - only to see the books get chopped up with scissors.

Why so much rage over such a popular, well-loved book?  For the parents of Lewiston, Maine, the answer was clear: Harry Potter was promoting witchcraft and devil worship.

Lewiston isn't the only town to object to Harry Potter.  The series faced challenges in schools across the country - some successful, and some not.

The argument to kick England's favorite wizard out of American schools is one we hear again and again in book challenges: Protect the children! These parents are asking libraries to be gatekeepers, monitoring what people read.

What do you think?  Should librarians guard what information comes in and out of the library?  Or should parents - not librarians - be responsible for what they want their kids to read?

Test your Banned Books knowledge!

What makes To Kill a Mockingbird such a controversial book?  And which Roald Dahl books have made the top 100 banned books list?

Know the answer to these questions, or curious to find out?  Take this quick 9 question banned books quiz!  You can also win a 20% discount at Books-A-Million or Bookland by printing out your quiz score and bringing it to the library front desk.

Channel 1 Banned Books Quiz

Banned Books Week: September 24-October 1

Where's Waldo.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  The Bible.  Gone with the Wind.  The Odyssey.

What do all of these books have in common?

At some point in their history, all of these books have been challenged, censored or banned - some of them for the strangest reasons.  Even the dictionary hasn't escaped getting banned!

On its surface, censorship may seem like a simple, straightforward issue - why would anyone want to ban A Very Hungry Caterpillar? - but arguments for and against the freedom to read can be very complex, ranging from protective parents to restrictive governments to concerns about racism.

In celebration of Banned Books Week, from September 24 - October 1 the SCTC Libraries will be tackling some of the difficult questions surrounding censorship and book banning.  Keep an eye on the SCTC Library Facebook page and the blog as we look at different banned books, talk about why they were censored, and think about whether libraries should defend the public's freedom to read or work as gatekeepers to control and limit 'dangerous' information.

What do you think?  Do you have any opinions about censoring books, or have you ever seen a book in a library that you really think didn't belong there?  Start a discussion in the comments section!