In 2005, it’s from 24th September to 1st October. And no, I don’t know why it’s 8 days long instead of 7. Someone probably wasn’t looking at a calendar or thinking. But that’s beside the point.
On their site (ALA – American Library Association), they also have a list of the100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 19902000.
The ones I find most amusing?
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (I think there’s that "n" word in the book, which is what the fuss is all about. Well, ya know what? It was written a very long time ago, and back then, well, whatever. The author isn’t around to edit it, ya know? If you want to be offended, fine, but that’s no reason to act like no one ever should read the book.)
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Well, I don’t like his writing anyway, so this is no big problem to me.)
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (Which I didn’t like anyway, as I recall. But then, that was decades ago.)
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L Engle (This I just do not understand at all. The book is fantastic. Okay, so there are some parts that seem a bit hokey to me, but then, I’m not her intended audience.)
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (Why? I can’t for the life of me think why this book could possibly be banned.)
77. Carrie by Stephen King (Yeah, it gave me nightmares, I’ll grant you that, but is that really enough to get it banned?)
Considering how many big-name authors made it on this list, it kinds makes me wonder if my goal as an author should be to get my book banned. Probably the best publicity I could get, and from the books I know on this list, it doesn’t seem to be for anything major, like trying to incite war or bomb-making or Satan worship or anything, you know, serious.
Gee, I’m having a hard time taking the desire to ban books seriously. Oh my.
