#banned books week 2023

[thesmilingfish]

[veronicaleighauthor]

Banned Books Week 2023

It’s that time of year again, when we honor and focus on the books out there that have been banned. And boy, it seems the last few years that book banning has been on the rise. You know if you don’t like a book and you don’t agree with it, no one is forcing you to read it. I’ll even go as far as understanding parents taking books out of their own kid’s hands. My objection is when parents take books out of some other kid’s or adult’s hand. Growing up, if someone had taken “The Diary of Anne Frank” off of my library’s shelf, I would have been lost.

This year I’m focusing on… “Anne of Green Gables,” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Yes, you read that right, our dear old unromantic Anne Shirley was banned!

Description:

Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley has never known a real home. Since her parents’ deaths, she’s bounced around to foster homes and orphanages. When she is sent by mistake to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she wants to stay forever. But Anne is not the sturdy boy Matthew and Marilla were expecting.   She’s a mischievous, talkative redheaded girl with a fierce temper, who tumbles into one scrape after another. Anne is not like anybody else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special, a girl with an enormous imagination. All she’s ever wanted is to belong somewhere. And the longer she stays at Green Gables, the harder it is for anyone to imagine life without her.

Author:

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, in 1874. Educated at Prince Edward College, Charlottetown, and Dalhousie University, she embarked on a career in teaching. From 1898 until 1911 she took care of her maternal grandmother in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, and during this time wrote many poems and stories for Canadian and American magazines. Montgomery’s first novel, Anne of Green Gables, met with immediate critical and popular acclaim, and its success, both national and international, led to seven sequels. Maud Montgomery also wrote the popular Emily of New Moon in 1923 followed by two sequels, and Pat of Silver Bush in 1933 with its sequel. L. M. Montgomery died in Toronto in 1942, but it is her early years of lush, green Prince Edward Island that live on in the delightful adventures of the impetuous redhead, the stories Mark Twain called “the sweetest creation of child life yet written.”

Why It was Banned:

You’re probably asking yourself, who on earth would ban something as adorable, and funny, and innocent as “Anne of Green Gables?” (Who on earth bans any book?) Well, let’s find out!

After “Anne of Green Gables,” was published in 1908, it wasn’t long before it was translated into other languages, that way others could fall in love with Anne Shirley. In 1912, it was translated to Polish and it found a captive audience amongst the Polish people. Soon, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s other works were translated, and she grew very popular there. Anne’s individuality was endearing. In 1939, when the Nazis invaded Poland, Polish soldiers were issued copies of Montgomery’s novels to take to the frontlines, as a means to raise the moral. When the Nazis occupied the country, “Anne of Green Gables” and Montgomery’s other works were banned, but that didn’t stop the Polish people. Copies were sold on the black market; resistance members carried them. Anne Shirley had become a beacon of hope. The war in Poland ended in 1945 and I’m sure the Polish people were looking forward to being free…unfortunately, they had been liberated by the Soviets and a Communistic government was put into place. Similarly, because Montgomery’s works were so beloved and “Anne’s resistance to authority” was a threat, the Soviets viewed it as “subversive” and banned “Anne of Green Gables” in 1953 to 1956.

My Thoughts:

I first read “Anne of Green Gables” when I was thirteen or fourteen. My family and I were visiting family up north and we stopped by this huge warehouse that sold old, used books for cheap. I stumbled across “Anne of Green Gables” and from the title I was intrigued, and it was one of the ones we bought. I devoured it and soon fell in love with odd, weird, red-haired girl. She turns her hair green, hits a boy with a slate, gets her friend drunk – what’s not to like? I had no idea it was Classic Lit – to me Anne Shirley felt modern and realistic. I went on to read the rest of the series, and re-read them off and on over the years. Then, I found the miniseries! Imagine my surprise when I learned it was a banned book.  

So, you see, the Nazis and the Communists banned and censored books…Those who are on the side of good don’t ban and censor books. And I’ll leave it at that.

[thebanishedreader]

ALA Book Ban Statistics: January 1, 2023 - August 31, 2023

Support the American Library Association!

[blogthebooklover]

This guy hits THE NAIL on the head about why we need to support public libraries now more than ever.

[readerupdated]

In 2022, there was an unprecedented number of book challenges, with 1,269 reported. It’s the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA started tracking censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.

(via Top 13 most challenged books of 2022 (infographic))

[unrighteousbooks]

After Banned Books Week

Yet another Banned Books Week has come and gone. I regret not posting anything for the occasion, but lately life beyond the bookshop has made heavy demands upon my time. (I am aware that there are many people who believe that I have no life beyond the bookshop, but I assure you that I do. Well, not a "life," exactly, but something somewhat similar.)

Regarding censorship and the unsettling trend toward the suppression of free speech, I can only say this: There will always be an array of forces aligned against free expression. Sometimes the motivation will be anger and sometimes it will be fear. In either case, the underlying intolerance will be cloaked under a mask of sanctimony. This is, of course, a poor disguise. It is akin to concealing one's racism beneath a hooded white robe.

[yours-etc]

Today marks the first day in banned books week! This is your reminder to pick up a banned book and read it! Censorship is dangerous for everyone!

October 7th is Let Freedom Read Day! Learn more about it here: https://bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-read-day/

Learn more about the whole week here: https://bannedbooksweek.org

[thatwritererinoriordan]

[lgbtq-history-museum-cfl-intern]

Click the GIF for this week's post!

I've decided to try recording my thoughts this week instead, in a little conversation about censorship and book banning as Banned Books Week 2023 comes to a close!

Resources and Ways to Resist Book Censorship:

Stay informed and educated on the issue of censorship

Read, Rent, Purchase, Borrow, Lend, and/or Donate Banned/Restricted Books

Encourage others to read banned books or just a diverse collection of narratives

Support young readers' curiosity

Get involved!: Volunteer at your local library or with organizations fighting censorship in your area.

Follow the links below for more ways to resist book banning and censorship!

[tabijozwick]

Banned Books Week 2023

October 1-7, 2023 is Banned Books Week for 2023. During this week, people are encouraged to read books that are challenged or banned from schools and public libraries. Here are some of the banned/challenged books I read in the past.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain This book has been challenged due to racism and offensive language, despite the fact it was published in the 1870s for a story that took place in the 1840s. I believe a lot of people use their presentist thinking as a reason to challenge this book and not take the historical context into consideration. This book, I have read several times, and it is one of my favorites. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank This book has been challenged because Anne Frank wrote about the changes in her body caused by puberty and her own sexual awaking. I believe she wrote those things because when she started writing her diary, she didn't plan on having it published. It was when she heard of a radio broadcast about collecting diaries after World War II that when she decided to change her focus from just writing for her own personal record for publication. When the diary was first published, her father Otto did not include those entries, but today's editions will have her original diary, her edited diary, and the diary edited by Otto. I have read at least the original edition of the diary and have not read the most recent editions in both print and graphic comic form yet. The True Adventures of Esther the Wonder Pig by Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter, and Caprice Crane  This one, while it's a children's book, it should have its own entry. Esther was adopted by Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, who was at time, a same sex couple (I do not know if they identify as gay, bisexual, pansexual, or whatever, but I do know Steve had dated at least a woman in the past when he wrote the first memoir about Esther.) Steve's and Derek's relationship at the time (if you follow them on Facebook, you will know that they are now split) was the reason why the book was challenged. It's a good book to read to the kids, especially those who like pigs. Other banned books I read include To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cather in the Rye, Bridge to Terabithia, and Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Take the time to read a banned book for Banned Books Week.

[readingaway]

A perfect read for banned books week

[afropuffsstudios]

Banned Books Week Is Here!

[gareteddybear]

Another question

[thebanishedreader]

Book Bans in Georgia

As of June 2023

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Brief Summary: In a post-plague world, Jimmy - now known as Snowman - mourns the loss of his best friend Crake and their mutual love-interest, the beautiful Oryx. With the Children of Crake, Snowman embarks on a journey for answers through the post-apocalyptic hellscape created by capitalist brutality.

Banned from libraries as of June 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Dime by E. R. Frank

Brief Summary: Dime, a teenaged girl drifting in the foster system, falls victim to a "family" that promises to care for her - so long as she brings back money by working the streets. Dime begins to realize her abuse and struggles to understand what to do to best protect herself.

Banned from libraries as of June 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Brief Summary: Four high school seniors face varying meanings of being "perfect"; for one, it's leaving behind a family whose strictness is driving her to suicidality, for another its taking whatever substances they can to feel good enough. A brutally riveting story of adolescent anxieties and the consequences of unrealistic expectations for success.

Banned from libraries as of June 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

Brief Summary: Three teens struggling with hurting family lives and personal challenges are brought together by their parents' relationships; but as the teens grow older, their bonds through hardship bring them closer than they could have ever imagined.

Banned from libraries as of June 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Statistics Source: Pen America

Support the American Library Association!

[harveyguillensource]

Harvey is supporting Pride and Less Prejudice with a personalized video for auction!

[readerupdated]

There were almost 700 attempts to censor library books in 2023. Most of the challenges were to books written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.