Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Books Week (September 26 through October 3). I just discovered this today so I'm late to the game. I went on the American Library Association's website to look at their banned books list. I wanted to see what had been added to the list and to see if any books that I've read was on the list.  The list is phenomenal. There were books that I read in high school and that are considered literary classics that were on that list! What is wrong with this picture! I am so happy that I went to an international school overseas that encouraged the students to explore outside what was on the curriculum. That freedom to chose the books I wanted to read and to discover new authors helped shape the person I am today. I love to read. I have a hunger for it. I can't imagine going a month without reading a book. I hope when Darrius is in high school he will have to the change to discover these works of art.

Here are some of the books on the Banned Books List:
The Great Gatsby (I just read it for the 1st time this spring. And I loved it!)
The Catcher in the Rye
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite book and movie - I loved Gregory Peck as Atticus)
The Grapes of Wrath
Invisible Man
Native Son (this was the first book that I picked on my own to read for leisure. It was not required reading for school)
The Call of the Wild
Go Tell it on the Mountain

And the list goes on. It's sad that there are people out there trying to get these books taken out of our libraries and our schools. These books are Great American Literature.

To celebrate Banned Books Week, I'm going to pick 1 or 2 books from the list and read (or re-read) them. I'm not going to purchase them. I'm going to support my local library by checking out the books. I suggest everyone do the same.  We can not let these books be taken out of our schools, libraries and bookstores.

Here's the list of banned and challenged books for 2008-2009