Happy Banned Books Week!

It's banned book week so I decided to make a list of some of my all time favorite banned book!

Catch-22: This book was banned several times for language and because it had references to women as "whores". In Heller's defense, the women he called "whores" were hookers, so the shoe kind of fit. (Source)
 

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: This book was banned for the use of the N-word and the controversy over whether or not it was racist or anti-racist. Jim and the word slavery were actually removed from a 1955 CBS representation of the book. How short was that representation?  How does that even work? (Source)

 
The Goosebumps Series: This was considered too frightening for young people and depicting occult or satanic themes. These books were a huge part of why I got into reading, so it baffles me. (Source)

The Great Gatsby: This was banned for language (hell and son-of-a-bitch) and sexual references in the book (the implied affair). However, if you were to take those things out, the book loses all meaning. (Source)

In Cold Blood: This was banned for language and graphic scenes. It's about real life murders, so.....yeah....awkward. What was he supposed to do, not talk about the murders? Silly people. Newspapers reported on the murders, so should they be banned?  (Source)

James and the Giant Peach: This lovely childhood story was banned for inappropriate language, encouraging disobedience to parents, references to drugs and alcohol, and because it contains "magical elements".  This book is so great for kids who grew up in rough environment or who have lost a parent. Are we just supposed to tell stories of well-behaved children with perfect parents?  Man, those would be BORING books! (Source)

A Light in the Attic:  This book of fun filled children's poems was banned because of  the poem "How Not To Have To Dry The Dishes" which of course encourages messiness and disobedience and the poem "Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" for describing the death of a girl after her parents refuse to buy her a pony. Obviously these should be banned.....NOT!  Come on people, have a sense of humor! (Source)

Of Mice and Men: This book was banned due to the promotion of euthanasia, racial slurs, being anti- business, and containing offensive language. Because we all know that THAT was the point of the story. Geez, did you even READ the book? George didn't kill Lennie because he believed he should be euthanized.  He killed him to save him from being tortured in a matter of minutes. It's like killing a wounded animal to save it from suffering. Ok...so that sounds like euthanizing, but it wasn't the point.  (Source)

Lord of the Flies: This was banned because of the excessive violence and bad language. Well, its about war time and survival, so....yeah. (Source)

Slaughterhouse-Five: This was banned for the use profanity and because it depicts sex. Well, that isn't inaccurate, but again, you are missing the point of the book. Its about war and how it affects people.  It isn't going to be pretty. (Source)

To Kill a Mockingbird: This book was banned for racial slurs, profanity, and frank discussion of rape. Nevermind the fact that the book is teaching a young girl why all of these things are inappropriate. (Source)

And finally, one of the most commonly challeneged or banned books.....
 
The Harry Potter series: Apparently the novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. As a Christian, I whole-heartedly disagree with this assessment. Stop taking everything so seriously! (Source)

So there you have it.  If you want to write a book that doesn't get banned, write about well-behaved children who have loving and kind parents, who love God, who never use their imaginations, and who never encounter anything negative ever.  Because that sounds like a GREAT book.  Not.