Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

1. Banned Books Week 2014
September 21 – 27

2. Today is the last day of Banned Books Week 2014, but the fight
against censorship never ends. It's an ongoing battle. So, you
may ask yourself what you can do throughout the year to
continue the fight.
First, know what books are being challenged/banned in the
United States...and beyond. Pay attention to the news and visit
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks and read
all the lists of the top most challenged books from this year and
years past. Read as many books from the lists as you can.
Knowledge is power and if you’ve read the books, you will have a
strong foundation for arguing against their being challenged.
Here’s a jump start for you with 2013’s top ten challenged books
and the reasons they were challenged:
1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group,
violence
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to
age group, violence
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by
Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language,
racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint,
sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

3. 5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive
language, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited
to age group
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually
explicit, unsuited to age group
9. Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious
viewpoint, sexually explicit
10. Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence
Let your kids read books from the list (within the parental
constraints you are comfortable with) and then discuss with them
the reasons for the proposed ban on that book.
Speak out about challenged/banned books. Tell your friends
and family about books that are on the lists. If you read a book
and review it on your blog that is on the list, mention it in your

4. review. Many people would be surprised about some of the books
that are challenged in this country.
We certainly do not want to go back to the practices of the Dark
Ages in which wholesale book burning and the destruction of
libraries and schools were common place. We must hold precious
the freedoms given us by our founding fathers in the First
Amendment of the Constitution. To do this, we cannot stand idle
and allow censorship to take free rein in our country.
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most
dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act
that could most easily defeat us.
~Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas ("The One Un-
American Act." Nieman Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 1953, p. 20)
Exercise your FREEDOM to read!
http://www.truebookaddict.com