I have read most of these listed books (in the slideshow) and think it is absolutely ridiculous that they were banned in some schools...and I think it's even more ridiculous when a book is banned purely because it contains sexuality...

Too often, parents freak out over sexual scenes/content, and are too blinded by it to see the deeper issues that the book is dealing with...

In many cases, sexuality (including orientation and masturbation) is a tool to express something about a character or a theme...for example, in "Beloved", Paul D's sexual encounter with Beloved was a clever metaphor for his love-hate relationship with his past...

In many of these books listed, sexual content isn't even graphic ("Perks of Being a Wallflower")...

It really, really irritates me when books are banned from schools because of sexuality...those kids are missing out on some really great books.

Thank you for finally mentioning that it was Banned Books Week!

Surprise, surprise. These books were banned in the South. Illiteracy for all!

I don't agree with the banning of books, especially for reasons like these. My mother never censored what I read, and always let me read books that were far above my age level, and while there were things when I was younger that I didn't understand, I really think it helped me in the long run. I was far less naive and clueless then my friends were about so many issues. Sometimes it can be easier to learn and explore things through books then by talking to someone about these issues, and most the time the people getting these books aren't talking to their children about these issues and tolerance for differences, so there's such a huge knowledge gap. I went to school with a girl in the 6th grade (13 years old) that was afraid to have/go to sleep overs because she thought sleeping in the same room with other girls would make her gay, and according to her parents being gay was a sure trip to hell.

There are t-shirts and bracelets that you can purchase to tell others that you read banned books lol. Like one of t-shirts says "I read Banned Books". I want one

I don't agree with banning books either.

hmm tricky topic... the age that children are at when they read books with sexual contact should be the variable...... I dont find it necessary for younger children because they dont understand it... and i dont think its appropraite to raise sexual content levels when kids become closer to age 13 and then just give up on restrictions afterwords..... but based on americas obession with perverted movies that are usually pg13 so that the movie gets more viewers.... i dont think america really wants their children to have any sense of right and wrong.... sexualizing everything is just.. well part of the way we are entertained now... were just so smart

I had to write a mid term about this subject and I think censorship is the worst, you can't deny an opinion, or in this case the contents of a book, of course you can disagree with it's contents or think they are inappropriate, you have a right to do that, just as an author has a right to write what he or she wants.