The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Last week was "Banned Books Week," and I meant to comment on it then. Oh well. Better late than never. Banned Books Week is sponsored every year by the American Library Association. Its goal is to draw attention to efforts by individuals and organizations to coerce libraries into removing "dangerous" children's books (or, more accurately, books that librarians think children might find interesting, thought-provoking, or just plain fun). Not surprisingly, books with LGBT themes are often targets of these attacks.

I thought folks might be interested in the top 10 most targeted children's books in 2004. I've grabbed the list from the Washington Post, but I'm writing from Safari, which doesn't let me create links very easily. So, all credit to the WP, and I'll try to edit in a link later.

1. "The Chocolate War," by Robert Cormier, for sexual content, offensive language, religious viewpoint, being unsuited to age group and violence.

2. "Fallen Angels," by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, offensive language and violence.

3. "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," by Michael A. Bellesiles, for inaccuracy and political viewpoint.

4. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey, for offensive language and modeling bad behavior.

5. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky, for homosexuality, sexual content and offensive language.

6. "What My Mother Doesn't Know," by Sonya Sones, for sexual content and offensive language.

7. "In the Night Kitchen," by Maurice Sendak, for nudity and offensive language.

8. "King & King," by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, for homosexuality.

9. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou, for racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and unsuitability to age group.

10. "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, for racism, offensive language and violence.

....because children who think are apparently dangerous.