Banned Books Awareness: “Les Misérables”

November 11, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 4

I was searching literary lists trying to decide which novel to cover this week when I saw something that made my jaw drop and my head shake in a bewildered double take- Les Misérables, the classic novel by Victor Hugo about the trials and tribulations of an intertwined group of people during […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Bridge to Terabithia”

November 4, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 18

Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia is a 1977 children’s literature classic about two fifth-graders, Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke, who create an imaginary kingdom named Terabithia in the woods where they rule as king and queen and where the only limit is their imaginations. Inspiration for the novel resulted from […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Different Seasons”

October 14, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 3

Stephen King is one of the most recognizable names in literature. His horror-filled library of tales like Carrie and The Shining are classics on bookshelves and on the silver screen. His intense dramas exploring the human condition, such as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, are likewise celebrated. But […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Gossip Girl”

September 23, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 2

As we approach Banned Book Week, we set our attention on the 9th most-banned book series of 2011, Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar. While working at a book-packaging firm in New York City, she became inspired to create the Gossip Girl series, which presents a cynical view of high-maintenance teenage lifestyles. The Constance […]

Banned Books Awareness: “No Easy Day”

September 9, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 2

It is perhaps the most provocative foreign policy issue of our time- the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the largest foreign attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor. Like Pearl Harbor, which resulted in the United States officially entering World War II, the events of September […]

Banned Books Awareness: “The Grapes of Wrath”

August 12, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 8

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, was first published in 1939 and would achieve both the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize that same year. When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962 the novel was referenced frequently. Set during the Great Depression, the story centers […]

Banned Books Awareness: Gore Vidal (A Tribute)

August 5, 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro 2

The literary world lost another icon this week when Gore Vidal, author, playwright, politician, and commentator, died at the age of 86 last Tuesday from complications due to pneumonia. His over-the-top wit and unconventional wisdom shined in his literature and public opinions. He had a sullen regard for lost worlds, […]