Use of the Bible in American schools has been challenged as a violation of the First Amendment for decades; others have challenged the teaching of it as literature when they believed that it should be taught only as a sacred text- the “word of God” as they interpret it. Even […]
Where the Wild Things Are is a children’s book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak in 1963. Sendak spent 4 years in a tug of war with editors over the content of the storyline, but eventually won out, and the book saw print in 1967. Despite objections over the content, […]
Charlotte’s Web is an award-winning novel published in 1952 by American author E.B. White about the friendship between a pig named Wilbur, and a barn spider named Charlotte. This classic of children’s literature is 78th on the best-selling hardcover list; has sold more than 45 million copies; been translated into […]
The Giver (1993), by Lois Lowry, tells the story of a utopian future society where poverty, crime, sickness, and unemployment are a thing of the past. Jonas, a 12-year-old, is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memories; but Jonas soon learns that the price of this knowledge is more […]
Written in 1982 by Alice Walker, The Color Purple tells the story of black life during the 1930s in the Southern United States from a female’s perspective. The Pulitzer Prize winning (1983) novel is told in the form of diary entries and correspondence letters over a 30-year period, following Celie […]
Coming in at #40 on the American Library Association’s banned book list, surprisingly to many, is J.R.R Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. The classic trilogy, along with The Hobbit, has been banned in many schools and public libraries across the nation. These works have been celebrated around […]
When Abraham Lincoln met author Harriet Beecher Stowe, he said: “so this is the little lady who made this big war.” The impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was tantamount to its popularity as the second best-selling book of the 19th century behind the Bible. Published in 1852, it did indeed […]
Back in October, 2010 I heard about Banned Book week. This is a project spearheaded by the American Library Association as “an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment”. Held during the last week of September, Banned Book Week highlights the benefits of free and open […]
As I Lay Dying, by American author William Faulkner, was published in 1930. The title derives from Book XI of Homer’s The Odyssey, when Agamemnon says to Odysseus: “As I lay dying, the woman with the dog’s eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.” As I […]
Since 1990 there have been more than 50,000 incidents in which a book’s right to an existence has been called into question. Why? For nothing more than the simple fact that they expressed ideas that made someone, somewhere, feel uncomfortable; and that discomfort was taken as a personal offense. There […]
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