Banned Books Week

Library ISBN 978-0-7660-2688-9

Even though Banned Books Week doesn't start until next week, we thought we would blog about it early. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 after a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books  in school, libraries, and bookstores.

John Steinbeck is one author who has several books added to the banned books list, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl. The Grapes of Wrath has also been a frequent target on this list. Of Mice and Men has been banned for its use of racial slurs, profanity, and violence.

John Steinbeck: Banned, Challenged, and Censored, written for the high school student, discusses East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men, and talks about the challenges to these books.

It's Banned Books Week

ISBN 978-0-7660-2688-9
Grades 9-12

Looking at the list of classic titles on the banned books list, John Steinbeck has written The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. One of the main reasons Steinbeck's books are on the Banned Books list is because of their use of obscene language. Racism, sexuality, and other issues play a part, but obscene language is the recurring theme.

Enslow's Authors of Banned Books series includes titles on Mark Twain, Robert Cormier, Madeleine L'Engle, J.K. Rowling, and John Steinbeck. These titles include arguments of those opposed to these books and arguments of the books' supporters to help readers decide for themselves whether they should be banned.

Enslow supports Banned Books Week

Each of the following five titles in Enslow's Banned Book series highlights authors and their books that may have been banned from school and library collections. Founded in 1982, this annual campaign is meant to bring attention to the importance of the freedom to read. Librarians and teachers celebrate the ability to retain frequently-challenged books in their collections while encouraging readers to examine banned and challenged books.

J.K. Rowling
John Steinbeck
Madeleine L’Engle
Mark Twain
Robert Cormier

Today would have been Richard Wright's birthday

Credited with developing the protest novel, Richard Wright became the first best-selling African-American writer of the twentieth century. Regarded by many as a masterpiece, his book Black Boy took the literary tradition of the narrative to new heights by providing a first-hand account of living in the South as an African American male during the Jim Crow era.