Title: What Makes a Banned Book? | Education.com
Headings: What Makes a Banned Book?
What Makes a Banned Book?
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Content: offensive language, violence, having an occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism, being unsuited for an age group, promoting homosexuality, racism, sexual education, being anti-family or promoting a religious viewpoint, and nudity. And if a book is challenged enough times, a school (or public) library usually feels pressure pull it from the shelves, at least for a time. Children’s author Betsy Franco’s anthology You Hear Me? Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys, was banned for language, sexual content, and references to drug use. Says Franco, “I purposely did not censor the book, which makes it authentic to teen readers.” Franco admits that parents will not understand this book as well as teenage boys will, but says she wanted to present the uncensored accounts of teenage boys without the filter of adult sensibility. Here are just a few of the banned books, per the ALA, that you may recognize from the last few years: The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language and violence. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman for religious viewpoints. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker for homosexuality, sexual content, and offensive language.