They still BAN books!

I just came across a few sites that reminded me that this is STILL happening. It makes me so angry. Why are some people so afraid? Are they afraid their children might hold a belief different from theirs? My mouth really is hanging open slightly. Even though I know this happens, it still shocks me and leaves me in disbelief. Here are three banned books I came across.

Superfudge: Judy Blume
Harriet the Spy
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Shell Silverstein

Whoa…look out. Are you kidding me? Not that any book should be banned, but come on. Each of those books encouraged children to question their parents.

Stephen King must actually be the devil or some type of evil being. I think some people believe this. He had so many books on that list I stopped counting. I wonder how much this bothers him? I loved Stephen King growing up and still enjoy his books now. He writes STORIES. I guess some people don’t make this connection easily.

Do you know who censored my books when I was growing up? My dad. When I was 10/11, that weird age when you couldn’t read kids book but weren’t ready for adult books yet (not too many YA around then), he would check out the back covers. Sometimes I had to put them back and pick something else. Did he check every book? No. But he did check.

I guess what really bothers me is that people allow this to happen. They are just passive. I’m guilty of this too. I’ve allowed this to happen. I came across a banned book challenge on a blog. It’s over now but I’m going to make it a point to read a few banned books. Kite Runner made the list along with Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I’m also going to do a little research into Pittsburgh’s library and see if we ban books around here. There is a quote at the bottom of my blog from Benjamin Franklin dated 1957. It is 2007 and we still have to worry about censorship.