The Banned Books List

I've finally managed to finish "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.  It's tough to finish a book when the most time you dedicate to it is standing by the crib, soothing a sleepy but stubborn baby!

This book was a real eye-opener.  I had never read anything by Maya Angelou before, and her biography of her childhood is shocking at times, including details of when she was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of eight and growing up in post-slavery racism in the American South during the 1930's/1940's.   Her writing is honest, beautiful and raw and I really enjoyed the book.  I looked at Goodreads reviews after I was finished and the average rating appears to be five stars.   Some people call it raw and empowering, others find it disturbing.  One reviewer even called it disgusting, adding that the details of the book made them sick to their stomach.  I wasn't surprised at all that this classic is often challenged and is on the original "Banned Books List."  Yes, I understand that people have a right to their opinion.  But I didn't find the book disgusting.  This is the story of Ms. Angelou's life, and the rape, though the details are just a small part of the book, really played a part of who she became and how it affected her life.  Without the details, she wouldn't have been able to illustrate to the reader what part it played in her later years.

After reading the book, it got me thinking about banned books.  I started a new shelf on my Goodreads account, "Banned Books."  Then, with a little help from the internet, I started sorting books into that category.  Out of the 500+ books I have listed (WOW!) I've so far found 11 that have been on a "Banned Book List" at one time or another.  I haven't spent much time on it, so I am guessing that there are more. 

I feel fortunate to have grown up in a household where my parents didn't censor what I was allowed to read.  My parents didn't freak out that I was reading "Are You There God?  It's Me Margaret" by Judy Blume.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that my mom picked that one up at a yard sale!  Nor did they storm the high school when my junior class was reading "The Catcher in the Rye" or protest when I listed my favorite author in the yearbook as V.C. Andrews.  I don't believe in censoring what kids should be allowed to read because of uncomfortable topics (Are You There God: religion, adolescence.  V.C. Andrews:  incest.)  Why should a group of people be able to sit down and make a list of books that nobody else is allowed to read??  I'm willing to bet that at the time these books were banned, the people doing the banning probably hadn't even read them!  

Since the original banning of these books (1970's/80's??) a lot of them have been allowed in schools.  But there still are groups out there that express their outrage by insisting that not only their kid not be allowed to read a book, that nobody's kid should be able to read it.  All I can say is that I will never be that type of parent that goes along with the crowd and reigns down on a school or library insisting that certain books are not to be read because of sensitive topics.  Without sensitive topics in books, how do kids learn about them?  (Judy Blume  has a really good take on censorship, and, having spent a long time on the Banned Books List, I believe she knows what she's talking about.)  The bottom line is, I don't believe that I have the right to limit what kids read.  I want my boys to grow up the same way I did, with the freedom to pursue whatever books they choose.