Banned Books Week 2009

I was a lucky kid growing up. Why? Because my parents never told me "no, you can't read that book." Because my parents gave me the freedom to choose my own reading material (with obvious exceptions like erotic romance) and respected my individual right to read books I enjoyed, which happens to be fantasy. Unfortunately for many kids, reading fantasy is just that: a fantasy. Fantasy books are prime targets for banning/challenging by angry mobs of parents. In honor of Banned Book Week 2009 and supporting our freedom to read whatever we choose, I've compiled a list of the banned and challenged books that have changed my life forever.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
1984 by George Orwell
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (my fave)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Please, do your children a favor and don't censor them from their right to read. I once saw a poster that phrased it perfectly: "Censorship causes blindness." Do we really want to raise another generation full of ignorance and bigotry and other forms of blindness? For more information on banned books visit the ALA's (American Library Association) website.