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:

•  Snow Falling on Cedars faced it hurdles
• Harry Potter caught in various spells of protest
• I’m sure The Chronicles of Narnia have been challenged at some point
• Some still argue, ‘what’s the point with Seuss?‘

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.