Banned Books Meme

[qatarperegrine]

This week is Banned Books Week in the States, which is according to the Banned Books Week website "the only national celebration of the freedom to read."

This is one of those freedoms that may not seem like a big deal, but you begin to appreciate it a lot more when you live in a country that decides for you what you're allowed to read.

Behind the cut is the list of the most frequently banned and/or challenged books of the 1990s. (This decade is still incomplete, so no data yet, though you can see the top ten of 2008 here.)

The ones I've read are in bold.

1. Scary Stories (Series), by Alvin Schwartz
   
2. Daddy's Roommate, by Michael Willhoite
   
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
   
4. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
   
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
   
6. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
   
7. Forever, by Judy Blume
   
   
8. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
   
9. Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman
   
10. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
    
11. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
    
12. My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
    
13. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
    
14. Alice (Series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
    
15. Goosebumps (Series), by R.L. Stine
    
    
16. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
    
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
    
18. Sex, by Madonna
    
19. Earth’s Children (Series), by Jean M. Auel
    
20. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
    
21. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
    
22. The Witches, by Roald Dahl
    
    
23. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
    
24. The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein
    
25. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
    
26. The Goats, by Brock Cole
    
27. The Stupids (Series), by Harry Allard
    
28. Anastasia Krupnik (Series), by Lois Lowry
    
29. Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
    
    
30. Blubber, by Judy Blume
    
31. Halloween ABC, by Eve Merriam
    
32. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
    
33. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
    
34. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
    
35. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters, by Lynda Madaras
    
36. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
    
    
37. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
    
38. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
    
39. The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
    
40. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    
41. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
    
42. Deenie, by Judy Blume
    
43. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
    
44. Annie on my Mind, by Nancy Garden
    
    
45. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
    
46. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
    
47. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, by Alvin Schwartz
    
48. Harry Potter (Series), by J.K. Rowling
    
49. Cujo, by Stephen King
    
50. James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl *
    
51. A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein *
    
52. Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
    
    
53. American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
    
54. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
    
55. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
    
56. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
    
57. Asking About Sex and Growing Up, by Joanna Cole
    
58. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons, by Lynda Madaras
    
59. The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell
    
    
60. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
    
61. Boys and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
    
62. Crazy Lady, by Jane Conly
    
63. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
    
64. Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan
    
65. Fade, by Robert Cormier
    
66. Guess What?, by Mem Fox
    
67. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
    
    
68. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
    
69. Native Son by Richard Wright
    
70. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies, by Nancy Friday
    
71. Curses, Hexes and Spells, by Daniel Cohen
    
72. On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
    
73. The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende
    
74. Jack, by A.M. Homes
    
75. Arizona Kid, by Ron Koertge
    
76. Family Secrets, by Norma Klein
    
    
77. Mommy Laid An Egg, by Babette Cole
    
78. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo A. Anaya
    
79. Where Did I Come From?, by Peter Mayle
    
80. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney
    
81. Carrie, by Stephen King
    
82. The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
    
83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
    
84. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
    
85. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
    
    
86. Private Parts, by Howard Stern
    
87. Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford
    
88. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
    
89. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
    
90. Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman
    
91. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
    
92. Running Loose, by Chris Crutcher
    
93. Sex Education, by Jenny Davis
    
    
94. Jumper, by Steven Gould
    
95. Christine, by Stephen King
    
96. The Drowning of Stephen Jones, by Bette Greene
    
97. That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton
    
98. Girls and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
    
99. The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain
    
100. Jump Ship to Freedom, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Comments

[roseandsigil.livejournal.com]

That website has taught me that banned books are red.

Also, you should read The Giver.

Also also, you should come to Istanbul in the future :-P

[materjibrail.livejournal.com]

You have read 30. I have read 28. I need to print out this list and read the rest!

[zahariel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're doing a lot better than me. Although it's funny that I was actually assigned to read a couple of those in high school. Some of them are just mindboggling, though. Why on earth are people banning Roald Dahl? Madeline L'Engle I can understand, she gets kind of racy at times, but seriously? What is wrong with them? (Yeah, I read a lot in middle school.)

mkehrt is right, you should absolutely read The Giver, it is excellent.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand why they put gossip girl on the list. It's on cw tv every monday and the books are in everybook store there is, even selling at walmart! maybe it was challenged but i don't know what that means.

I do have a question though. how is book availability in Qatar? I have a chance to relocate there and thats how and why I found your blog. I'm worried and curious how living there is for an American Woman.

thanks,
Lena

[qatar.livejournal.com]

Sorry my reply is so late! Somehow I just noticed this message.

Book availability is pretty miserable. Our best bookstore is the Virgin Megastore (which is saying something), so bestsellers are usually available at exorbitant prices, but niche things like sci fi are hard to come by. The other bookstore option is Jarir, which is a Saudi company, so the selection is a tad more limited.

To be honest, I do most of my book shopping online through Amazon. That works for me because my employer will ship things from the US for me, but if I didn't have that I could still order from amazon.co.uk.

Banned

[(Anonymous)]

Are these the books that are banned in Qatar. I'm moving there and I want to know what books not to take. Is there a website that we can go to where we can find this out?

Re: Banned

[qatar.livejournal.com]

Alas, no, there is no definitive list of books banned in Qatar. It's sort of up to whether the person who checks the package is offended or not.