Thanks to everyone who stopped by, left a comment, and perhaps tweeted about Banned Books week! I've gone ahead and selected my two winners and they are:
Please email me at elschneider@hotmail.com with the following:
1. Full Name
2. Your top 3 banned book titles in order of your preference (in case The Book Depository is sold out).
3. Your mailing address where you'd like your book shipped
Thanks again and happy reading!
For as long as I'm a writer and reader, I'll always support the FREADOM to read. And I've never hidden the fact I believe that what I read, is my own decision - and not that of someone else.
So I'm proud to yet again support Banned Books Week by participating in the 2nd Annual Banned Books Week giveaway hop, hosted by the lovely ladies over at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books.
As posted on the American Library Association website, Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. This is something the ALA has been supporting for years - in fact, this year marks their 30th anniversary of supporting the freedom to read!
Which is a good thing, because unfortunately the list of banned books is long - and grows longer every year. And we all know some of the classics that have been included on this list:
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee, 1960: Harper Lee’s great American tome stands as proof positive that the censorious impulse is alive and well in our country, even today. For some educators, the Pulitzer-prize winning book is one of the greatest texts teens can study in an American literature class. Others have called it a degrading, profane and racist work that “promotes white supremacy.”
THE SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850: According to many critics, Hawthorne should have been less friendly toward his main character, Hester Prynne (in fairness, so should have minister Arthur Dimmesdale). One isn’t surprised by the moralist outrage the book caused in 1852. But when, one hundred and forty years later, the book is still being banned because it is sinful and conflicts with community values, you have to raise your eyebrows. Parents in one school district called the book “pornographic and obscene” in 1977. Clearly this was before the days of the World Wide Web.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by the late, great, Maurice Sendak, 1963: Sendak’s work is beloved by children in the generations since its publication and has captured the collective imagination. Many parents and librarians, however, did much hand-wringing over the dark and disturbing nature of the story. They also wrung their hands over the baby’s penis drawn in In the Night Kitchen.
And as posted on the BannedBooksWeek.org website, according to the ALA, there were 326 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011 - and many more have gone unreported. And the 10 most challenged titles of 2011 were:
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So to celebrate this great week, what's up for grabs you might ask?
The giveaway will run from Friday, September 28th - Saturday, October 6th and I'll be announcing my winners on Sunday, October 7th.
A few housekeeping rules:
PLEASE be honest with your entries. If you commit to leaving a comment - then do so! I review all entries for accuracy and honesty and reserve the right to remove any invalid entries.
Remember to stop on over at I Read Banned Books and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer to check out all of the other great participants in this blog hop!
