Help the American Library Association (ALA) defend the freedom to read by celebrating Banned Books Week, September 22-28, 2013. Books on the ALA's "challenged or banned" lists have been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
This wonderful award-winning book for young adults tells the story of a gifted boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Art by Ellen Forney highlights the character's cartoonist
dreams and his day to day reality, which is filled with heartbreak, humor, hope, and resiliency. The book also conveys how difficult it is to fit in and be yourself - a reality that resonantes
with young adults.
Other books I have read that appear on the 2012-2013 list include:
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
And who hasn't read these banned &
challenged classics?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
For more information about Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, visit Banned & Challenged Books - A Website of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association.
See also: National Book Festival - September 21-22, 2013
