Banned Books Week

09/25/2010 9:00 am
10/02/2010 7:00 pm
Banned Books WeekBanned Books Week
September 25 - October 2

Banned Books Week (BBW) is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week.  BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2009 are:

Ttyl (Paperback)

$6.95
ISBN-13: 9780810987883
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Amulet Books, 4/2005

TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series)

Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Drugs


$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780689878459
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 6/2005
Reasons: Homosexuality

$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780671027346
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: MTV Books, 2/1999
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Drugs, Suicide

To Kill a Mockingbird (Mass Market Paperback)

$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780446310789
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Grand Central Publishing, 1/1988
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language

Twilight (Mass Market Paperback)

$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780316038379
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 11/2008

Twilight (series)

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint


The Catcher in the Rye (Mass Market Paperback)

$6.99
ISBN-13: 9780316769488
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 1/1991
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

My Sister's Keeper (Paperback)

$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780743454537
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Washington Square Press, 2/2005
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Drugs, Suicide, Violence

$8.99
ISBN-13: 9780763620912
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Candlewick, 6/2005
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

$8.95
ISBN-13: 9780156031820
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Mariner Books, 11/2006
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

The Chocolate War (Mass Market Paperback)

$7.99
ISBN-13: 9780440944591
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Laurel Leaf, 8/1986
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

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