I‘m thankful for having made it through my formal schooling years without too much uproar of banned books. Granted, I did get the joy of reading The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey series before it was removed from the reading list. Our English teacher enjoyed the fact that ‘one more group’ made it through before the gates of administration closed it.
If I were to try teaching now – no matter the grade – I don’t know if I would have liked to go through the political quagmire:
Are we expected to rewrite all of the books of the past to match the standards of the present? Or have we forgotten that what was written in that particular period of time was, in part, a reflection of the reality of that time?
While it is logical that maturity guides when a reader is ready for some things, to lock away books because you don’t like them; someone else shouldn’t get them does go too far.
For example, ‘what’s the point with Seuss?‘ some would say. Here’s this year’s list from the American Library Association. And here are some things you can do.
