Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

"The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society."
--from the ALA website

The American Library Association (ALA)has a lot of great information about Banned Books Week, which is celebrated from September 26-October 3 this year. This includes lists of Frequently Challenged Books by year by author, and by decade. They also feature some easily understood bannedbooksweek.org is another good resource, featuring tips on what you can do and a map of book censorship.

Here's some banned or challenged classics you might consider adding to your reading list:

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Color Purple by Alice Walker