Friends, Romans, Librarians!

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
– Ray Bradbury

Friends, Romans, librarians, welcome (back) to Bound and Gagged, a blog dedicated to banned, censored, and challenged books. As you may or may not know, Banned Books Week begins this Sunday.

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‘Part-Time’ Lovers Are the ALA’s Full-Time Friends

Hey, all, Happy Banned Books Week! As today is Native American Day, I thought I’d review a Sherman Alexie book. I almost got to see Sherman Alexie speak at UMass Amherst a few years ago, but he came down with swine flu and canceled the event so as not to infect anyone (although, given Amherst’s namesake, that would have been an ironic albeit tragic bit of poetic justice).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the review and find some small way to celebrate Banned Books Week in your own life. Go, read a banned book, donate a book, stage a read-in, or go on an anti-book-burning crusade with your friendly neighborhood librarian dressed as Batman and Robin. Whatever strikes your fancy.

The Big Red Scare

Can you tell I liked Clifford as a kid?

As some of you may know, today is the 50th birthday of a very famous literary figure: Clifford the Big Red Dog. There was a big birthday celebration for him with hundreds of children in floppy ears and elementary schools all over the country live-streamed it. What you may not know is that Clifford the Big Red Dog is a banned book.

The reason? According to NPR, Clifford the Big Red Dog is banned for “idealizing Communism.”

Thank Freja It’s Friday

Hello, readers! My apologies for not having more reviews up yet. I just started a new job and training has been kind of crazy. From now on I’ll be posting reviews on Fridays, as a nod to FridayReads. For those who don’t know, FridayReads is an organization that encourages literacy by having people share what they’re reading via social media sites every Friday.

I’ll be posting reviews either every week or every other week, depending on how busy I am. This Friday I’ll be reviewing the much-maligned Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and the week after I’ll review Lois Lowry’s modern classic, The Giver. I hope you’ll come back to check it out. Happy reading and waes hael!

Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

May contain spoilers. And by may, I mean does.

THE DEFENDANT: Looking for Alaska, John Green

THE VERDICT: Challenged in US schools and libraries. Cover censored due to bookseller concerns.

THE CHARGES: According to Penguin Group, Looking For Alaska has been challenged due to “booze and mischief.” High schools in New York and Tennessee faced an outcry, largely from parents, in response to the book’s presence as required or recommended reading. The outrage and controversy surrounding the book is largely due to sexual content and drug use. SafeLibraries.org uses Looking For Alaska as an example of “how the ALA pushes porn on children.”