Nov
9

Whee Censorship

Posted in banned books, wtf | Leave a comment
You know, I don’t object to them having their opinion. It’s quite probable that most graphic novels aren’t really meant for kids. By all means bring it up to the library, or the parents, or whoever, but did she *really* have to resort to just constantly checking it out?  Hello, passive-aggressive? And way out of line? Point is – it’s not their place to determine a book’s readability. If you want to set age limits on certain books (and given that some graphic novels really do fall into a Mature level), then I guess that might be okay – but where does it stop? I was reading adult books in 4th grade. Should the library limit my borrowing practices simply because I wasn’t into Sweet Valley High? *shudders* This is where parents should be stepping in to monitor what their kids read/watch or whatever**. Maybe limits could be put on… Read more
Sep
29

Banned Book Week

Posted in banned books | 3 Comments
Not that I’m the first one to talk about it. ALA Banned Book Week The above link actually has the list of the top 100 frequently challenged or banned books. Looking through them, I saw the usual suspects – Song of Solomon, A Separate Peace, Rabbit Run, Slaughterhouse Five, and well, a host of others. I’ve never understood the practice of banning or protesting books – all it does is fire up the imagination of the kids who aren’t allowed to read them. Better, perhaps, to sit in a classroom and dissect just what *might* make a work offensive – but even so, some of the reasons given for being offensive seem downright laughable, these days. “Foul language.” “Sexual explicitness.” “Vulgarity.” Racism of one sort or another – whether degrading to blacks or considered “anti-white”. (WTF??) Some of these reasons I suppose could be explained by the year of banning,… Read more