The magazine of the American Library Association entitled, American Libraries recently published an article about the top ten challenged books of 2010. The following is a list of books and the reasons given for why they were challenged from the article:
“1. "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, Racism, Sex Education, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
3. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit
4. "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit
5. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
6. "Lush" by Natasha Friend
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
7. "What My Mother Doesn’t Know" by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
8. "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: Drugs, Inaccurate, Offensive Language, Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint
9. "Revolutionary Voices" edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit
10. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Violence” (American Libraries Magazine, 2011)
Out of curiosity I went to the library and checked-out And Tango Makes Three. I read it and looked through the illustrations. I could see the challengers’ point of view about homosexuality and unsuited to age group. I myself would not read this book to my child because I feel that an enormous line of questions would come from the book that would link to discussions about topics that he is not old enough to understand or discuss. However, I would not challenge this book. I would merely not check it out for my child.
As far as why books are on the list and why they are removed I would assume that it is based on the number of challenges a specific book receives each year. However, I have not found any documentation that states why a book is removed from the list. Rather, the information I have found covers why they are on the list and challenged.
I also wanted to share what the American Library Association has to say about the difference between a challenged book and a banned book. I think it is important to clarify the difference to students.
“About Banned & Challenged Books
What's the difference between a challenge and a banning?
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.” (American Library Association, 2011)
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