September 29, 2009

Banned books and books that should be banned

Share: posted by Sara Haji at 01:55 PM

Presumably to prevent more attempts to coopt her name and fame, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is now on Twitter. Though she has 50,291 followers, she currently follows no one [oh, so many meanings].

In case you had plans for November 17th, you should consider adapting them for this little gem: Sarah Palin's memoir, titled Going Rogue: An American Life, will be released far earlier than its anticipated spring 2010 date, and you couldn't ask for a better Thanksgiving gift. The 400-page book was completed in just four months, and Harper-Collins publisher Jonathan Burnham attributes the early release to both the passion with which the ex-governor threw herself into her work and the anticipated demand. In preparation, Harper is printing 1.5 million copies of the book. Not quite enough for each American to have her own, but we'll cope.

On a related note, this week is National Banned Books Week. Started by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982, the last week in September celebrates the freedoms of expression and choice. As for the past 13 years, ACLU Texas published a report detailing the books that have been banned. The organization breaks them down by district and by ensuing challenges to their bans. Stephenville, Houston and Irving independent school districts reported the greatest number of challenges for the 2008-2009 school year, with Stephenville even going so far as to preemptively ban two different vampire-oriented series. To clarify: These books have not yet been published, but they are indeed banned from Stephenville ISD libraries. Ninety-eight challenges to public school book bans were reported across the state this year, and 27 books were banned. According to the ACLU report, the most challenged and banned authors of the year were P.C. Cast's House of Night series and Rachel Meade's Vampire Academy series, both dealing with paranormal romance. Interestingly, though, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series remained unchallenged and unbanned, perhaps due to its message of abstinence and its author's own religious affiliations.

Though the quality of these new banned books raises debate about whether teens should actually be reading vampire romance at all, Banned Books Week serves as a reminder that, as the ACLU's report is titled, "Free People Ready Freely." So, if vampire romance isn't quite your thing, consider (re)reading one of the classic titles banned in Texas every year: Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima; Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men; Salinger's Catcher in the Rye; and--yes, irony is truly sweet--Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Because not only do they exist, they exist as alternatives to Palin's memoir. And that makes the freedom to read them even more appreciable.

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