They all shock me. If you don't want to read a specific book, don't. Nobody should make that choice for someone else.

WTF with the Clifford one???

I'm surprised not to see one of my childhood favorites, Jacob Have I Loved, on there, simply because at one point the female protagonist has this horrific hormone surge and conceives a wild, randy lust for a seventy-year-old man. Talk about sexual themes...

Clifford? Who could possibly be offended by Clifford?!

When we read Huck Finn in high school my teacher mentioned that in her experience most people who are offended by it have never actually read it. I've found that to be very true. If anything, it's anti racism.

Spanish Clifford? who does that offend?

"Spanish Clifford? who does that offend?"

Probably some militant anti-bilingual-teaching people?

It seems Huck Finn was removed just for having racial themes, not because it promoted racism.

What, you guys have never heard of Parents Against Bilingual Red Dogs With Pituitary Disorders (PABRDWPD)? And you call yourselves news hounds!

I'm always kind of amused that books are banned for sexual content. I mean, I don't know, in this day and age, anyone can look up anything tawdry on the internet. It doesn't quite "jump out" at you in written form as it does online, does it? Er, well, I'm guessing, right?

When I was a kid, my friends and I used to get thrills just looking up naughty words and body parts in the dictionary.

God, were we ever nerdy

You know what else is nerdy? Looking at anatomy books and giggling over man bits and lady bits. But hey, it was done, and I'm not ashamed.

Also, don't forget those National Geographic "naked people of the Third World" spreads!

Challenged books are an English teacher's nightmare. But (Spanish) Clifford? Really?!

"Also, don't forget those National Geographic "naked people of the Third World" spreads!"

Or, as my cousin called it, the "floppy boob issue".

I had this completely irrational fear that my nipples would hit my navel before I turned 20, thanks to those spreads.

Clifford -- really??

OK, all this Clifford nonsense made me Google "Why is Clifford The Red Dog book banned". I found this blogpost that kind of explains it (love the blog title too):

redneckmother.blogspot.com/2006/03/big-red-scare.html

I used to look up words like vomit and snot - that either means I'm pervier than you or immature. (Uranus still cracks me up)

When I was in middle school my group of friends would read romance novels and then pretend to "be" the characters and write each notes describing our um, adventures. They were certainly not in the school library and we still got a hold of them! Most literary books describe the whole thing much less graphically too!

I never read The Lovely Bones but it is one of my little sister's favorite books..she is 16 but she must have read it when she was 14 or something..then again she can handle stuff like that. she wants to be a forensic scientist..so nothing seems to scare that child lol

steph!

MM--oh dear God. You just reminded me that this student teacher in fifth grade, who had taken a liking to bookish li'l me, once gave me a grocery bag filled with her old books. They were about 1/3 very explicit romance novels, 1/3 VC Andrews, and 1/3 Stephen King.

Em, that is such a strange explanation. Thanks for the link!

We had a program in elementary school and middle school called Accelerated Reader, where you took tests on the books you read and scored points, and you had to accumulate a certain number of points over a grading period. Our middle school library wouldn't carry the Harry Potter books, but created tests for them so those who read them could still get the points. I guess that's a happy medium.

Maybe Clifford promotes communism. I mean he IS red...

Jude, that's hilarious! Our parents would have freaked out if they knew we were reading those...I guess it was our act of rebellion. None of us turned into skanky hoes or got into any trouble, so they didn't have any negative influences on us.

What the heck?

banned book because it has sex in it....: It's Perfectly Normal: A Book about Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. (Patron stole book because she was horrified about sexual content)

Banned book: Brokeback mountain-
St. Andrew's Episcopal School returned $3 million donation rather than remove story from optional reading list.

Banned book; Where Willy Went ....ahahahahahahahahahah wonder what that is about? swimming in cold water maybe?

Books are a lot less negative influences than all the crap kids can see on the TV and magazine covers!

(I mean, I wouldn't want my kid reading American Psycho, but that's the obvious exception.)

I always got the most points in those "read X amount of books and get a Pizza Hut gift certificate" programs.

CG, Willy probably went spelunking in the wrong dark cave.

well then willy got mud on him.

And his adventures would explain why the book was banned.

speaking of books, did anyone ever win that Kindle?

I dont know Steph when was that ending?

I don't know, I couldn't find the rules on the post.

The thing that cracks me up about banning books is that it usually only makes kids want to read them more! And to ban books like Huck Finn is ridiculous. What's that saying...something to the effect of the only way to go forward is to look at where you've been? What's next, banning history books because they too have "racial themes"...

Clifford in Spanish ha. Very odd.

I went to school in Berkeley, CA so we got to read anything lol they wouldn't dare ban something at that school because they know they would have a full fledged protest on their hands. I liked " I know why the caged bird sings" I also like "The bluest eye" but I think as an African American girl growing up these are not only great novels but important books to read culturally.

If the blog about the Clifford episode is accurate that is just depressing.

How odd about Huck Finn sad actually. IT makes me wonder what these children are reading.

I love The Adventures of Huckberry Finn well at least the first 2/3 of it...then...it like ER doesn't know when to stop.

Banned books are at the very least interesting.

I read all of those books except Harry Potter (don't ask) and I am really surprised about Huck Finn. I remember Beloved had some really sexual content and maybe it is more appropriate in the Young Adult section and not in the children's section but I don't think banning it makes any sense. Some kids are advanced in their reading level and they may be in 6th grade but can read at a high school level - I read YA books at age 11-12 all the time. I would be very upset if my library banned books because of my age.
Side note:
I remember when I was really young giggling with my friends over this one Sweet Valley High book -with Jessica and some college guy on the cover with a porn mustache- basically all he did was untie her bikini top and try to kiss her but we all considered it porn back then.

I was just thinking... the Bible has some violent parts. I mean, getting nailed to a cross is pretty gruesome. Does the Bible get special dispensation?

I read Lovely Bones and it does have some pretty tough subjects in there for kids so unless they were like high school age I don't thin I would want my kid to read that. But I've never liked the thought of banning books. I should be able to decided what's appropriate/not appropriate for my kids, but not for everyone else. Oh and WTF is wrong with Clifford??? Those people have got to have some screws loose or something.

THE GIVER??? Are they serious. Hands down, one of the best school age level, alternate reality books ever.

Of Mice and Men, Huck Finn, The Joy Luck Club, To Kill A Mockingbird aren't these classics?

Harry Potter...now they're just being silly. It's fiction not religious propaganda. I like how a few wizard books made the list, but not vampire or other sci-fi/fantasy.

GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens, I'm going to go ahead and assume their was prejudice involved in this decision.

" I should be able to decided what's appropriate/not appropriate for my kids, but not for everyone else."

Exactly.

I think the idea of banning ANY book is absolutely ludicrous! I mean Clifford? WTH? Is it offensive to Red Dogs everywhere? Please.

I think the idea of requiring parental permission for a book is a great idea. If a parent doesn't want a child to read something, ok, that I can get behind. But to make it unavailable altogether? Especially like the Maya Angelou book or Huck Finn!

I mean come on.

OH, and what about that school board member who "Promised to bring her religious beliefs to every meeting". Um, HELLO!

Em and Jude you ladies just gave me flashbacks to my childhood

I cannot believe that there are many school district that have banned the Judy Blume books from their libraries.

Holy cow. The girls at my elementary, middle and high school would have keeled over dead without their Judy Blume fix.

Me I was to busy reading Erma Bombeck and Stephen King books during that time never got into Blume.

And my sister, her husband and I will always be grateful to JK Rowling and RL Stine. Because my nephew's both became voracious readers because of those books. They already liked reading but when you have to tell two boys to put down the books and play video games or go outside and run around and punch each other, you know these kids found something they will always love. Apparently, Goosebumps and Harry Potter are both evil, satanic, anti-religion books that some schools now ban.

http://www.somdnews.com/stories/10152008/rectop193519_32398.shtml

A woman in my county wants to ban a picture book from the children's section that has two penguins, both male, raising a baby penguin.

wow that's funny that prep was on that list - i read the book, and yes there was a bit of 'stuff' in there that was less than pure but it's just a book about friends that are girls ...right? anyway, i think that people are often putting too much significance on books, and that's why they want to put them on a banned list. if you don't want your children to read a certain book, then don't let them read it. don't ban it for everyone else in the school or area to have to miss out.

i can't believe they banned clifford =) what's next? andersen's stories because they're violent?

I can understand the Toni Morrison, or the Maya Angelou books. Those two have rather adult themes. The Catholics banning Harry Potter is par for the course.