Caroline Neel
Article Reports 2 & 3
About Banned and Challenged Books:
This article talks about how and why books are challenged, and later banned. Many educators fight to
keep challenged books in the schools, but sometimes the community has rationales as to why they do
not find certain books appropriate. Censorship is in place to shield the minds of younger generations
from reading about challenging topics. However, the censorship can take place in different ways. The
community can try to censor what the students are reading, or the schools can censor what objections
are being made. They do this by creating rationales that defend books rather than allow them to be
taken out of schools. The community and the schools have the freedom to speak for what they believe,
and everyone has the freedom to choose what they think is right. For my project, I think that it is
important to be looking closely at who is challenging books and why. I understand the reasoning behind
challenging a book, but I am also determined to provide rationales that dispute those reasons.
However, this article sheds light on the idea that we all have the right to choose, and to speak about
what we believe.
"About Banned & Challenged Books," American Library Association, July 29, 2008.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks/index.cfm (Accessed
November 02, 2011)
Document ID: 501522
Those Challenging Books Find Strength in Numbers:
This article shows that banning and challenging of books is becoming extremely prevalent. Parents are
striving to “protect” their kids from reading books that they don’t deem appropriate. Even books in
honors and college prep courses are starting to be challenged. Parents are petitioning to remove the
books, and many schools are complying. However, the English teachers are given no warning, and are a
lot of the times not talked to about the removal of the books. I think that many articles want to express
their rationales to defend books, but it seems that in many cases, the schools to get rid of them
altogether. This article really shows me the radical side of this issue. It shows that parents are tearing
apart the literature that generations of students have read before them, without even looking into what
positives the literature offers. We are trying to prepare our students for the real world, but how can we
do that when they are being sheltered from any “real” issues that are presented in many of these
challenged books?
Marklein, Mary Beth. "Those Challenging Books Find Strength in Numbers." USA Today. USA Today,
12/6/2010. Web. 2 Nov 2011. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-12-01bookbans01_ST_N.htm>.