ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010.

And the winners (?) are:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

Reasons: Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: Offensive language, Racism, Sex Education, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence

3. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit

4. Crank, by Ellen Hopkins

Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit

5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence

6. Lush, by Natasha Friend

Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

7. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones

Reasons: Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

8. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America, by Barbara Ehrenreich

Reasons: Drugs, Inaccurate, Offensive Language, Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint

9. Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit

10. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Violence

I've read 6/10. You?

Comments

[Annie]

Can I challenge Twilight for different reasons? Those being "Silly, bad role models, sparkles?!"

[Electric Landlady]

The Hunger Games is sexually explicit? Did I miss something?

[Leila]

Annie: But I love sparkly things! Just not when they come in the form of Edward "Stalker" Cullen.

EL: I clearly missed it as well, so at least we'll be clueless together!

[Beth]

6/10. Does religious viewpoint refer to the books or to the challenger?

I read "And Tango Makes Three" with my fourth & sixth graders, and then told them that it was a frequently challenged book and asked them why they thought it had been challenged. They were baffled for a while. The 6th grader eventually asked if it was the two males, but he thought I would laugh at him for that answer because it was so stupid.

One fourth grader thought maybe it was the birth scene -- there is a picture of an egg hatching. That's pretty raw stuff for some people, I guess.

I do wonder if the people challenging the book have ever noticed that none of the male/female penguin pairs have the benefit of marriage. The entire animal kingdom IS LIVING IN SIN.

[rockinlibrarian]

I had the same reaction as Electric Landlady. I'm not even sure what can be STRETCHED...

Beth, I love your entire comment muchly.

I've only read 3, though one (8) it's kind of surprising I even picked up in the first place.

[Leila]

Beth, that is AWESOME. Love it.

[Analea]

I'm so confused. Where are the sexually explicit scenes in The Hunger Games?

[Leila]

No one knows!