Wednesday, September 28, 2005

I'd read them all if I had the time, or maybe not

Following Johnny Logic's lead, and in honor of Banned Books Week, here are the books I have read off the ALA's list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000:

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. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11.Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
55. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78.Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

I own a number of these. I've read a few of them to my children. One of them is among my favorite books. I bought one of them with my own money when I was 14 or 15 only to have my parents take it away from me because it was "inappropriate". I don't know what they did with it. Burned it?

I was most curious as to why Where's Waldo shows up on the list. Apparently, one of the ADHD pictures--a beach scene--features a topless woman. So it was challenged by a couple of school districts and libraries. But did they find Waldo?

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