Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" tops the list.
The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) kicked off Banned Books Week today by releasing the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the Decade (2010-2019). Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is No. 1 with the "Captain Underpants" series by Dav Pilkey, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Looking for Alaska by John Green, and George by Alex Gino rounding out the Top 5. George was the most challenged book of the last two years. Among the week of events on the Banned Books Week Facebook page, the OIF will host a Q&A with Gino about censorship and the importance of representation in literature on Wednesday, September 30 at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Year after year, LGBTQIA+ content is the top reason for challenges, and the OIF has reported a rise in those attempts in recent years. Some newer titles with LGBTQIA+ themes and characters vaulted up the list thanks to challenges over the last few years. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, a parody book about vice president Mike Pence's pet rabbit from the staff of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, was released less than three years ago but cracked the Top 20 of the all-decade list at No. 19.
Familiar titles and authors from decades ago share the list with later generations and more recent releases. There's Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck, and Harper Lee, as well as Angie Thomas, Raina Telgemeier, and Mariko Tamaki. Toni Morrison and Walter Dean Myers appear twice. Eric Carle's Draw Me a Star, challenged for an illustration of a naked man and woman, is No. 64, a couple of spots behind Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl at No. 62 because of its sexual material and homosexual themes. The Holy Bible checks in at No. 52, challenged for having a religious viewpoint. (The Bible made the Top 10 in 2015 when then director of the OIF James LaRue noted that at times the challenge to the Bible is a counteraction after a religious group challenges another title.)
The OIF has been compiling an annual list of most banned and challenged books since 1990. This list represents both public and confidential reports OIF received but is only a glimpse at what is happening at schools and public libraries around the country. Anywhere from 82 to 97 percent of challenges go unreported, according to OIF, which compared its database with the results from independent students of third-party Freedom of Information Act requests regarding school and library book censorship. The books are challenged for different reasons, including LGBTQIA+ content, sexual references, religious viewpoints, content that addresses racism and police brutality, and profanity.
[Read: Virtual Banned Books Week Ideas and Events]
Here are the Top 100 of 2010-2019:
[READ: The 10 Most Challenged Books of 2019]
See the full press release from ALA:
ALA releases list of Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the decade CHICAGO – Today, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) released the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books from the past decade ( ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019 ). The list’s release launches Banned Books Week, Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, a vibrant week of programming to rally readers to the cause of First Amendment protections and remind them to remain vigilant about continual threats to our freedom to read. Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” tops the list as the most banned and challenged book from 2010-2019. Alexie joins Toni Morrison, Alex Gino, John Green and E. L. James as some of the most censored authors. Many of the titles on the list have also been adapted for the screen, including “Captain Underpants,” “The Hunger Games,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Hate U Give,” “The Glass Castle” and “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.” The list includes books challenged for a variety of reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sexual references, religious viewpoints, content that addresses racism and police brutality, and profanity. Although the reasons differ, the censorship of literature in libraries share a common result: the violation of our First Amendment rights. Since 1990, the OIF has documented attempts to ban books in libraries and schools. The list of the most banned and challenged books from 2010-2019 was compiled by OIF by reviewing both the public and confidential censorship reports it received. This list draws attention to literary censorship but only provides a snapshot of book challenges. About 82-97% of challenges remain unreported, estimates OIF, which compared results from several independent studies of third-party FOIA requests documenting school and library book censorship with the information in its database. This year’s Banned Books Week theme is Censorship is a Dead End. Find Your Freedom to Read, and is largely going virtual, as libraries, bookstores, universities, and organizations are hosting more online programs. The general public is also welcome to participate in a series of virtual activities. Each day of Banned Books Week, OIF will promote a different action that draws attention to censorship. Titled #BannedBooksWeek in Action , readers are encouraged to share their activities on social media, with the focus on the following daily topics: Read a banned book (Sunday); Speak out about censorship (Monday); Create something unrestricted (Tuesday); Express the freedom to read in style (Wednesday); Write about your rights (Thursday); Watch, listen and learn from others (Friday); Thank those who defend the freedom to read every day of the year (Saturday). Readers are encouraged to write, tweet, or email their favorite banned/challenged author during Banned Books Week for the Dear Banned Author letter writing campaign. The Banned Books Week Facebook page will offer a series of events including: Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. CT Video premiere of City Lit Theater reading excerpts of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2019 Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. CT Live Q&A about censorship and the important of representation in literature with Alex Gino, award-winning author of the banned book “George” Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. CT Discussion during the watch party of “Scary Stories,” a documentary about the banned and challenged series “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz, followed by a live Q&A with director Cody Meirick on the Banned Books Week YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/bannedbooksweek ) |
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Gianna Dekermenjian
It is crazy to see "The Holy Bible" and "Captain Underpants" are going to be one of the books that are band. I currently read my bible daily or at least I try it is the foundation of who I am. I also grew my imagination from reading and looking through captain underpants books
Posted : Sep 30, 2020 03:38