BOOKS CHALLENGED OR BANNED, 2O13–2O14

3BOOKS CHALLENGED OR BANNED, 2O13?2O14

This freedom, not only to choose what we read, but also to select from a full array of possibilities, is firmly rooted in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Although we enjoy an increasing quantity and availability of information and reading material, we must remain vigilant to ensure that access to this material is preserved; would-be censors who continue to threaten the freedom to read come from all quarters and all political persuasions. Even if well intentioned, censors try to limit the freedom of others to choose what they read, see, or hear.

Sex, profanity, and racism remain the primary categories of objections, and most occur in schools and school libraries. Frequently, challenges are motivated by the desire to protect children. While the intent is commendable, this method of protection contains hazards far greater than exposure to the "evil" against which it is leveled. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, in Texas v. Johnson, said, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." Individuals may restrict what they themselves or their children read, but they must not call on governmental or public agencies to prevent others from reading or viewing that material.

The challenges documented in this list are not brought by people merely expressing a point of view; rather, they represent requests to remove materials from schools or libraries, thus restricting access to them by others. Even when the eventual outcome allows

the book to stay on the library shelves and even when the person is a lone protester, the censorship attempt is real. Someone has tried to restrict another person's ability to choose. Challenges are as important to document as actual bannings, in which a book is removed from the shelves of a library or bookstore or from the curriculum at a school. Attempts to censor can lead to voluntary restriction of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy; in these cases, material may not be published at all or may not be purchased by a bookstore, library, or school district.

It should be noted that this bibliography is incomplete because many prohibitions against free speech and expression remain undocumented. Surveys indicate up to 85 percent of actual challenges to library materials receive no media attention and remain unreported. Moreover, this list is limited to books and does not include challenges to magazines, newspapers, films, broadcasts, plays, performances, electronic publications, or exhibits.

BOOKS CHALLENGED OR BANNED, 2O13?2O144

This bibliography represents books challenged, restricted, removed, or banned in 2013 and 2014 as reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom from May 2013 to March 2014.

(Dates prior to May 2013 indicate the controversy began earlier, but continues into 2013 or 2014.)

Alexie, Sherman

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

THORNDIKE PRESS; LITTLE, BROWN

Removed as required reading in a Queens, N.Y. middle school (2013) because the book included excerpts on masturbation. The book, which tells the story of a Native American who transfers into an all-white high school, won the 2007 National Book Foundation award for Young People's Literature. Challenged on the tenth-grade required reading list at Skyview High School in Billings, Mt. (2013) because, "This book is, shockingly, written by a Native American who reinforces all the negative stereotypes of his people and does it from the crude, obscene, and unfiltered viewpoint of a ninth-grader growing up on the reservation." Pulled from the Jefferson County, W.V. Schools (2013) because a parent complained about the novel's graphic nature. Challenged in a Sweet Home, Oreg. Junior High English class (2014) because of concerns about its content, particularly what some parents see as the objectification of women and young girls, and the way alternative lessons were developed and presented. Parents of the eighth-graders in the language arts classes received information summarizing the novel's most controversial issues before the unit started and had the option of asking for an alternative assignment.

Source: Sept. 2013, p. 185; Jan. 2014, pp. 10?11, 14; Mar. 2014, p. 49.

Allende, Isabel

The House of the Spirits

DIAL PRESS TRADE PAPERBACK

Challenged in the Watauga County, N.C. High School (2013) curriculum because of the book's graphic nature. After a five-month process, the book was fully retained at a third and final appeal hearing. Published in 1982, the bestseller was critically acclaimed and catapulted Allende to literary stardom. The novel was named Best Novel of the Year in Chile in 1982, and Allende received the country's Panorama Literario award. It has been translated into over thirty-seven languages.

Source: Jan. 2014, pp. 27?28; Mar. 2014, pp. 66?68.

Anaya, Rodolfo

Bless Me, Ultima

WARNER BOOKS

Retained in the Teton High School sophomore English class in Driggs, Idaho (2013) despite concerns about the novel's mature content. Anaya's best-known work, it was awarded the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol. President George W. Bush awarded Anaya the National Medal of Arts in 2002. In 2008, it was one of twelve classic American novels selected for The Big Read, a community-reading program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 2009, it was in the list of the United States Academic Decathlon.

Source: Jan. 2014, pp. 26?27.

Atwood, Margaret

The Handmaid's Tale

MCCLELLAND AND STEWART

Challenged, but retained as required reading for a Page High School International Baccalaureate class and as optional reading for Advanced Placement reading courses at Grimsley High School in Guilford County, N.C. (2012) because the book was "sexually explicit, violently graphic and morally corrupt." Some parents thought the book is "detrimental to Christian values." The novel won the 1985 Governor General's Award in Canada and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. It has been adapted for the cinema, radio, opera, and stage.

Source: Jan. 2013, p. 11; Nov. 2013, pp. 244?45.

Aylisli, Akram

Stone Dreams

NOVELLA PUBLISHED IN DRUZHBA NARODOV (FRIENDSHIP OF THE PEOPLES)

Burned (2013) at various locations around Azerbaijan. The novella is sympathetic to Armenians and recounts Azeri atrocities in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia twenty years ago. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stripped the author of his title of "People's Writer" and the pension that goes with it. A pro-government political party in Baku, Azerbaijan, announced that it would pay $12,700 to anyone who cuts off the ear of the 75-year-old novelist for portraying Azerbaijanis as savages.

Source: May 2013, pp. 108?9.

5BOOKS CHALLENGED OR BANNED, 2O13?2O14

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