Some people don’t want you to read these books. Why not check one out and decide for yourself?
Banned or Challenged in Oregon Libraries:
Annie On My Mind, by Nancy Garden, was challenged in 1993 at Bend High School because "it encourages and condones homosexuality." It was also challenged at the Cedar Mill Community Library in 1988 because the book portrays lesbian love and sex as normal. It’s still on the shelves at both libraries.
"Have you ever felt really close to someone? So close that you can’t understand why you and the other person have two separate bodies, two separate skins? I think it was Sunday when that feeling began." -- Annie on My Mind
Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel, was banned from the Cascade Middle School in Eugene in 1992 after a parent complained about a rape scene.
"You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy." - The Color Purple
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, was challenged in Junction City High School in 1995 due to "inappropriate language, graphic sexual scenes, and [its] negative image of black men." Fortunately, after months of controversy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was retained.
Father Christmas, by Raymond Briggs, was challenged at the Astoria Public Library in 1988 because it contains cursing, drinking, and a negative image of Santa Claus.
In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak, was challenged, but retained, in 1995 at the Beaver Grade School in Beaver and the William Knight Elementary School in Canby because of concerns over nude pictures of children and (in Canby only) concerns that the book would contribute to sexual abuse.
Jumper, by Steven Gould, was challenged at the Bolton Middle School in West Linn in 1995 due to concerns about the book’s graphic homosexual rape scene. The challenge was unsuccessful and Jumper was kept on the shelves.
The Kid Who Only Hit Homers, by Matt Christopher, was challenged in 1989 in the Beaverton School District because the book mentions the occult, witchcraft, and astrology.
Random House Thesaurus of Slang, by Esther Lewin, was placed on a limited access shelf at the Floyd Light Middle School library in Portland in 1992.
"censor \ n....2: one who supervises conduct and morals... an official who examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter..." Miriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
The Stand, by Stephen King, is restricted to ninth grade students at the Whitford Intermediate School in Beaverton, who have parental consent, because of sexual language, casual sex, and violence.
Censors were successful with Tapping the Vein, by Clive Barker. It was removed from the Multnomah County Library in 1991 because of graphic violence, language and sexual content.
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, by Judy Blume, was challenged in the Salem-Keizer School District in 1989 because it is a "dismal tale of a young boy’s inability to cope and his very inappropriate responses to the changes taking place in his life." Luckily, students in Salem-Keizer still have access to this book.
Witches, Pumpkins & Grinning Ghosts, by Edna Barth, was challenged in the Salem-Keizer school libraries because it would encourage children to experiment with witchcraft.
Banned or Challenged Elsewhere
(...but not in Oregon, so find out what all the fuss is about -- read one.)
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." -- The Catcher in the Rye
The Lorax, Dr. Seuss
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." -- The Lorax
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh
How to Eat Fried Worms, Thomas Rockwell
Go Ask Alice, Anonymous
Naked Lunch, William Burroughs
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck