Banned books! Can you believe Where's Waldo is one of the top 100? - Page 2

[pink gal]

Seeing a book is causing a controversy just makes me want to read it more.

I started reading Harry Potter just to see what all the fuss was about and ended up totally loving it and reading the whole series.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Amaranth

This was a really thought-provoking article:

Would You Ever Challenge a Book?

Ye-ep.

Things that are 100% okay in the public domain are not okay when they are required reading.

Things that are 100% okay in a library where you have to attend your child under age 6, 7, 8 are not okay in a library where parents never go.

Lots of truly great books should not enter the hands of a child too young for them.

(Incidentally, *that's* what Measure 9 was about? With *that* wording?? O.M.G. )

And again, some books are just plain lousy. Not a reason to ban them, but sure as heck a reason to object to them being required reading for school.

[Minarai]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

You ever suspect publishers of paying to get books banned so they'll sell? Not necessarily any from that list, but a lot of people read things specifically because they're banned and some books that happen to be banned just aren't good reading and wouldn't be touched if they weren't banned.

That would be counterintuitive; if books are banned, it's illegal to sell them.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by Minarai

That would be counterintuitive; if books are banned, it's illegal to sell them.

Well, not really.

There are no truly banned books in the United States. There aren't any books that are illegal to sell in this country. When the ALA talks about "banned books," it's almost tongue-in-cheek. The books on their lists are the books most frequently complained about or reported as offensive, but none of them have been removed from society.

That being said, any library can choose not to carry a book on their shelves. That doesn't mean you can't go one town over and find it, or pick it up at the bookstore.