⛔️📖🚫 I Read Banned Books Pt. 1 🚫📖⛔️

As readers, we may often  find ourselves overwhelmed with enthusiastic book recommendations; however, what’s better than reading books that people insist you should read? That’s right! Books that someone says you shouldn’t! BANNED BOOKS. Aren’t they the best? Usually books that have been frequently banned or challenged contain valuable themes and commentaries on society. Personally, I can’t help but giggle or scoff whenever I see some of the reasons why books have been challenged. Everything from foul language, to “brainwashing,” it seems that there will always be silly reasons for people to try and restrict the knowledge and lessons one can gain from reading a good book.

As you may or may not know, this week (Sept. 25 – Oct. 1) is banned books week! In celebration of our right to read, I have a couple of entries I would like to share. As you can see, this post is titled “Part One,” and right now I’d simply like to share a list of 30 banned books with reasons why they have been challenged. Hopefully this list can be of some help to you if you are trying to decide what you would like to read this week. Some of these books are among my favourites, and like I said above, the reasons why they have been banned might shock you. I mean what’s wrong with Little Women or Dr. Seuss? Keep reading to find out! Without further ado, here is a big ol’ list of books to read if you’re feeling a little rebellious this week 😉

Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger –> Why was it banned?: Vulgar language, immorality, and sexuality including a scene with a prostitute.

Forever: Judy Blume –> Why was it banned?: Sexuality. Tells the story of a high school girl’s loss of virginity. 

The Golden Compass: Philip Pullman –> Why was it banned?: The Catholic Church has condemned it as promoting atheism. It has also been deemed anti-religious because it speaks against blindly following a religion.

Eleanor & Park: Rainbow Rowell –> Why was it banned?: It has been considered obscene because of its language and its depiction of abuse.

Lord of the Flies: William Golding –> Why was it banned?: Violence, language, and its uncomfortable exploration of human nature (good/evil)

The Harry Potter Series: J.K. Rowling –> Why was it banned?: Religious groups have protested the series because of magic, wizardry, and the glorification of witchcraft.

Bridge to Terabithia: Katherine Paterson –> Why was it banned?: Offensive language, scenes of witchcraft, it depicts children disobeying authority, and death.

James and the Giant Peach: Roald Dahl –> Why was it banned?: Violence, language and disobedience.

The Witches: Roald Dahl –> Why was it banned?: It has been viewed as sexist because only women can be witches, violence, and devalues the life of a child. 

The Chocolate War: Robert Cormier –>Why was it banned?: Language, violence, resisting authority and sexuality.

A Wrinkle in Time: Madeleine L’Engle –> Why was it banned?: Some groups believe that it “undermines the Christian worldview” with its mystical elements.

The Giver: Lois Lowery –> Why was it banned?: Some see it as an endorsement for killing due to its depiction of euthanasia and suicide. 

The Satanic Verses: Salman Rushdie –> Why was it banned?: Religious controversy die to battle between God and the devil, uses magical realism. Salman Rushdie actually had to go into hiding to avoid being killed! 

The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck –> Why was it banned?: Obscenity. Back in the day, landowners did not want the treatment of their workers to be publicized. It was also seen as unflattering to Californians. 

The Lorax: Dr. Suess –> Why was it banned?: Some groups believe this beloved children’s book to be an unfair portrayal of the logging industry. 

The Da Vinci Code: Dan Brown –> Why was it banned?: The Catholic church banned it for being anti-christian in its depiction of the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

1984: George Orwell –>Why was it banned?: Funnily enough, 1984 was banned in the U.S.S.R. because it was viewed as being against Stalinism, but it has also been banned because some view this dystopian classic as a pro-communist sentiment. 

The Face on the Milk Carton: Caroline B. Cooney –> Why was it banned?:  Sexual content, challenging authority, and some view is as unsuited for its target age group.   

The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald –> Why was it banned?: Vulgar language, sexual content, and depiction of partying. 

The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini –> Why was it banned?: Violence, graphic depiction of rape, vulgar language. 

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank –> Why was it banned?: Positive depiction of Jews, and sexual content. 

To Kill A Mockingbird: Harper Lee –> Why was it banned?: Profanity including racial slurs, plot contains rape, and conflicts with “community values.”

Monster: Walter Dean Myers –> Why was it banned?: Vulgar language, violence, and sexual content.  

Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck –> Why was it banned?: Vulgar language, racism, and violence. People also condemn this book because they say it promotes euthanasia.   

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Judy Blume –>Why was it banned?: This book about a girl growing up has been challenged due to its discussion of puberty, Judaism, and Christianity.  

Little Women: Louisa May Alcott –> Why was it banned?: This book has been challenged for being both too feminist and “anti-feminist.” In its day, people believed that the girls in this book were too free, and nowadays people think that the little women play too much into traditional gender roles.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Margaret Atwood –> Why was it banned?: This has been banned in schools for being too sexually explicit and offensive to Christians. 

Where’s Waldo?: Martin Handford –>Why was it banned?: This was banned due to the fact that the beach themed page showed a woman in a bikini.   

Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi –> Why was it banned?: This graphic novel has been challenged for certain images that are too graphically violent, and scenes that depict torture.

Junie B. Jones: Barbara Parker –>Why was it banned?: Some parents think that Junie B. is too bratty, and they don’t like that she uses words like “stupid.”   

And that’s the list! Pretty much all of the books on this list that I’ve read, I’ve given very high ratings. I hope that you can find a forbidden gem on here that you can enjoy!   

XOCeeCee

To find more lists of banned books you can visit the ALA website here –> http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top100

To buy a compendium of banned books click here –> http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=10943

Here are some awesome banned book YouTube videos –> Top Ten Banned Books: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTpGunoyANA Top 10 Books Banned in Schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J11P9Xdsi_g 

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle: Rick Riordan

Rating: ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️

I’m just going to say it. I have never given a Rick Riordan book less than 5 teacups or stars in my entire life. He has been one of my favourite authors since I picked up The Lightning Thief when I was thirteen. I’ve never read books that are so action-packed, hilarious, and genuinely fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this new series debut, and I would highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend it! However, I would strongly encourage you to read Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus before diving into this one. I know that sounds like a huge commitment, but trust me, you won’t regret it! These books are absolutely fantastic, and to grow with, love and appreciate this world and these characters to the fullest I think everyone should start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start 😉)

I’m so glad that Riordan is not finished writing about our friends at Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter! I thought with his new Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, we had left our Big Seven behind, but of course good ol’ Rick wasn’t going to let us down. In The Hidden Oracle, we join the god, Apollo, who has been turned into a sixteen year old boy as punishment for his son’s involvement in the war that took place in The Heroes of Olympus. In order to return to his rightful place on Mount Olympus, Apollo must undergo many trials, and needless to say adventure and hilarity ensues from page one!

In my opinion, Apollo was definitely one of the funnier gods we met in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. With his sun chariot, obsession with haiku, and his “totally rad” attitude, he made for some major comic relief in the early series. It was interesting to read this book from his perspective because we still had that hilarious aspect of his character, but we were also able to see one of the gods as more than just a one dimensional parody, which I find the gods in Riordan’s series tend to be. At first I didn’t know how I felt about this because I liked having the gods be these funny, pompous, and somewhat oblivious characters. Although we did get that side of Apollo, the line seemed to blur between his godly personality and that of the demigod perspective we get from characters like Percy Jackson or Leo Valdez. Sometimes I found myself thinking that his voice sounded too much like a demigod and didn’t seem to match the immortal god Apollo. However, Apollo does comment that his fears and thoughts are oddly human and probably an aspect of his punishment. In seeing things through this perspective, Apollo has definitely grown into a much more complex character than we first met a couple of series ago.

And of course, you can’t go wrong with the haiku chapter titles. I laughed out loud at the beginning of every chapter! Here were a few of my favourites:

You’ve got to be kid– / Well, crud, what just happened there? / I ran out of syl–

Up in my business / Always burning Oracles / Romans gonna hate

It takes a Village / People to protect your mind / “Y.M.C.A.” Yeah

The Hidden Oracle was one of the best books I read this year and I’m so excited to see where this series goes! I always know that I’m in for a good time whenever I pick up a Rick Riordan read 🙂 After this, I’m sure I’ll be picking up Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard pretty soon!

XOCeeCee

To visit Rick Riordan’s website click here –> http://rickriordan.com/

To learn more about good ol’ Percy Jackson click here –> http://www.percyjacksonbooks.com/

The Breadwinner Trilogy: Deborah Ellis

Rating:  

This book would be the perfect introduction to the reality of war torn Afghanistan for any middle school aged child. It may sound a little weird to say because of the horrors that we may find happening in that part of the world, but I tend to love books that are set in Afghanistan. I am a huge fan of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and those books would definitely be a good follow up for kids who read and enjoy The Breadwinner Trilogy.

These books appeal to me because the realities of war and the horrible hardships faced by the people at the hands of the Taliban are heartbreaking and important to be aware of. I also have an interest in Middle Eastern culture (not the Taliban of course, but the actual culture of the Afghan people and country.) Ignorance about other countries, cultures, and struggles upsets me more than most things, and I think reading this book at a young age could definitely develop a cultural sensitivity and interest in young readers for world issues. After all, isn’t that what reading is all about? Being able to walk in someone else’s shoes and appreciate different lives and perspectives. I’m glad to say that my youngest sister was the person who recommended this book to me, and the middle school where I did one of my teaching internships also taught this book. If I ever end up teaching in a middle school, this is definitely a book I will have on the docket to pull out for a novel study.

The edition of the book that I read contained all three novels in The Breadwinner Trilogy – The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey, and Mud City. In the first book, young Parvana has to pretend to be a boy in order to work and support her family in Kabul after her father has been arrested. A beautiful mix of childlike innocence and harsh tragedy, this book was very special and wonderful to read. Personally, I love reading from a child’s perspective because you get that innocent element. Seriously though, can we get any better than To Kill a Mockingbird or A Little Princess? They are some of my favourites!

It was the second book in the trilogy that lost the teacup from me. It was all right, but compared to the first and the last book it seemed lacking and a bit unrealistic. Following three children and a baby through the wilds of Afghanistan was definitely a treacherous journey, but I didn’t buy it. Their survival seemed a bit far fetched. But as an 11, 12, or 13 year old reading it, I certainly think this wouldn’t be an issue. The final book, Mud City, follows Parvana’s former friend, Shauzia, as she tries to make her way in Pakistan in order to save enough money to get herself on a boat to France. This installment was just as good as the first for me and it’s hard for me to choose between the two for a favourite!

I would recommend this trilogy to any young reader, in fact I think it is an important piece that all preteens should have on their shelves. I’m sure this simple and quick read will stay with you long after you close the final page, especially if you are young. I can definitely see this trilogy as one that would impact a young reader and become one of their most influential reads!

XOCeeCee

To find out more about Deborah Ellis and her work click here –> http://deborahellis.com/

If you’re a teacher or are interested in study guides for Deborah Ellis’s books you can click here –> http://deborahellis.com/teacher-resources/

For more teaching resources and other fun links visit this website –> http://www.reachandteach.com/content/article.php?story=breadwinner

 

The Stupendously Scintillating Lemony Snicket

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely one of those kids who grew up reading A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Along with Harry Potter, this was one of the first book series I started reading that really nourished my love for getting lost in a good book.

What is so great about Mr. Snicket? Well, some of my favourite things about reading his books are the pure wit, dry humour and comical banter that constantly entertains. Not to mention that I was probably one of the most well-spoken 8 year-olds due to Snicket’s outrageous vocabulary. The ridiculous villains and horrendous situations the Baudelaire orphans find themselves in keep readers on the edge of their seats, and Snicket never fails to give an amusing observation here and there.

With the new Netflix series coming out soon (yay!), I wanted to dedicate a post to some hilarious, blunt, and most times true remarks from good ol’ Lemony Snicket. Hope you enjoy and if you’ve never read him before, you definitely should! I promise you won’t be disappointed!

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“Stealing, of course, is a crime and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it would be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house and eat it.”
– Lemony Snicket

“Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two
jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator.”
–Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if that thing is cats.”
– The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket

“If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.”

– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“It is one of life’s bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting.”
– The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket

“It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply goi
ng around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice cream sandwiches.”
– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“If an optimist had his left arm chewed off by an alligator he might say in a pleasant and hopeful voice, ‘Well this isn’t too bad, I don’t have a left arm anymore but at least nobody will ever ask me if I’m left-handed or right-handed,” but most of us would say something along the lines of, ‘Aaaaaa! My arm! My arm!’”
– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear.”
– The Carnivorous Carnival, Lemony Snicket

“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby – awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.”
– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“If you are a student you should always get a good night’s sleep unless you have come to the good part of your book.”
– Lemony Snicket

“A man of my acquaintance once wrote a poem called ‘The Road Less Travelled’, describing a joinery he took through the woods along a path most travellers never used. The poet found that the road less traveled was peaceful but quite lonely, and he was probably a bit nervous as he went along, because if anything happened on the road less traveled, the other travellers would be on the road more travelled and so couldn’t hear him as he cried for help. Sure enough, that poet is dead.”
– The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket

“A passport, as I’m sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between two countries, so that the official can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly.”
– Lemony Snicket

I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm whale loves the flavour of naval uniforms.”
– The Beatrice Letters, Lemony Snicket

“As I’m sure you know, when people say ‘It’s my pleasure,’ they usually mean something along the lines of, ‘There’s nothing on Earth I would rather do less.’”
– The Penultimate Peril, Lemony Snicket

“Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make — bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake — if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble. Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble. For instance, one morning you might wake up and make the assumption that your bed was in the same place that it always was, even though you would have no real evidence that this was so. But when you got out of your bed, you might discover that it had floated out to sea, and now you would be in terrible trouble all because of the incorrect assumption that you’d made. You can see that it is better not to make too many assumptions, particularly in the morning.”
– The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket

“A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.”
– Lemony Snicket

“Most schools have a loud system of loud bells, which startle the students and teachers at regular intervals and remind them that time is passing even more slowly than it seems.”
– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

“There is no worse sound in the world than someone who cannot play the violin, but insists on doing so anyway.”
– The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket

“For some stories, it’s easy. The moral of ‘The Three Bears,’ for instance, is ‘Never break into someone’s house.’ The moral of ‘Snow White’ is “Never eat apples.’ The moral of World War I is ‘Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.’”
– The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket

“One of the remarkable things about love is that, despite very irritating people writing poems and songs about just how pleasant it is, it really is quite pleasant.”
– Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid, Lemony Snicket

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Do you have your own favourite Lemony Snicket quotes? Do you even like Lemony Snicket? Are there any other authors or series that helped you develop a love of reading as a child? Let me know in the comments!

Here are some links to find out more about Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Lemony Snicket’s Website –> http://www.lemonysnicket.com/

Website for Snicket’s All The Wrong Questions series –> http://lemonysnicketlibrary.com/

To learn more about the upcoming Netflix series click here –> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events_(TV_series)

or here –> http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2016/05/everything-we-know-so-far-about-netflixs-a-series-of-unfortunate-events/