Banned Books Week - September 30, 2012 to October 6, 2012

Banned Books Week is an annual event that was launched in 1982 celebrating "the freedom to read". Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information, bringing together the entire book community - librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types - in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Banned Books Week marks its 30th anniversary this week, with libraries and bookstores around the nation celebrating "the freedom to read". Banned Books Week will be honored with displays of censored/banned books, read-outs and more, according to the ALA.

Since 1990, the ALA has recorded more than 10,000 book challenges, according to The Charleston Gazette, with the most recently challenged title being Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels written by E. L. James. The 10 most challenged titles of 2011 are:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r; g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle
Reasons for challenge: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

2. The Color of Earth (series) by Kim Dong Hwa
Reasons for challenge: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

3. The Hunger Games (trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
Reasons for challenge: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence

4. My Mom's Having a Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy by Dori Hillestad Butler
Reasons for challenge: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons for challenge: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

6. Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Reasons for challenge: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint

7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Reasons for challenge: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit

8. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Reasons for challenge: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit

9. Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Reasons for challenge: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit

10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Reasons for challenge: offensive language; racism

While I haven't read any of these books, I have read other books that have been censored or banned in other years for certain reasons. Over the following week, I will highlight different posts featuring interesting trivia about Banned Books Week.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight