It's "Banned Books Week" again, and I almost missed it. I really wanted to go to a banned books reading yesterday, but was unable to get out of work. (I guess I should be thankful I still have a job, at least for the time being.) I still may try to get over there sometime this weekend and buy a couple of them though.
I checked out the list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books (from 1990 - 2000) at the American Library Association website, and I was surprised just how many of my favorites were on the list.
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - This was my favorite book in junior high school that we had read for a class. What's the problem? It's because some of the characters use magic, isn't it?
37. A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - This book is creepy, and rightfully so - this may what happen if the religious/right wing nuts get their way. That's the real reason people are trying to ban it. (Their kids already know about sex, and chances are some of them have already had it.)
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - One of the saddest and compelling books I've ever read. The main character is Charley, a developmentally disabled man who undergoes an experiment to make him smart. (Algernon is a mouse who's also undergoing the same treatment.) This book serves as a reminder to those of us "normals" not to take our gray matter and our quality of life for granted.
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - A technological future gone awry. Is it banned because of the sex in it (though if you actually read it, the book portrays promiscuous sex is a bad thing) or because of the idea that's been passed around that Huxley's soma is television?
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - A very intense and rewarding book. I especially love the big wet smack of irony at the end. (Those of you who've read this know what I'm talking about.)
Check out the list, and you might find some of your favorites too.
12:34:34 PM 
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