Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop: Sept. 21-27

It's banned books time, baby! I have been participating in the Banned Books Week celebration since 2010. I am kicking off this week with my Banned Books Week Proclamation and the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and BookHounds. I've also added a Twibbon to my Twitter profile pic to show my support for Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. - American Library Association

I believe that people should be allowed to select their own reading material (and that of their children). Don't like it? Don't read it. And don't police my reading. I especially cringe at the idea of books being banned in public libraries. I try to read at least one banned book during the event to celebrate the freedom to read. Like a mischievous little kid, nothing moves a book up my TBR list like being told not to read it. LOL!

“Hey Upper East Siders…” I am giving away a box with a few Gossip Girl books (and a surprise) to a randomly drawn winner* (U.S. mailing addresses only) via the rafflecopter widget in this post. The Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar is number 23 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 and number 9 on the 2011 Most Challenged Books lists.

"Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, originally ran on The CW for six seasons from September 19, 2007 to December 17, 2012. Narrated by the omniscient blogger "Gossip Girl", voiced by Kristen Bell, the series revolves around the lives of privileged young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City. The success of Gossip Girl led to adaptations outside the United States. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning 18 Teen Choice Awards." - Wikipedia

a Rafflecopter giveaway


* If teen drama is not your thing and you are selected as the winner, you can choose a book from my PaperBackSwap bookshelf (in the brown footer at the bottom of the blog) instead. I have some other banned books listed.

Thanks for stopping by MAD Hoydenish. Hop through all the blogs for giveaways at each stop!

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Please help support Banned Books Week, add a #Twibbon now! http://t.co/qZdpSAE10c pic.twitter.com/o17sbUWkzx
— Tallulah Scribbles (@madhoydenish) September 21, 2014

"YALSA Recommends Books For Young Adults Who Enjoy 'Gossip Girl' Series

54 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About "Gossip Girl"

2014 Banned Books Week Proclamation

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish celebrates the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, September 21 - 27, 2014 and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.


Adopted by MAD Hoydenish

September 20, 2014

Out in the Yard, USA



Check out the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop: Sept. 21-27. 2014. 

* Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association.

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

So many books. So little time. Below is a list of the 100 most challenged books during the years 1990 – 2009, as compiled by the American Library Association. Ironically, I think banning books has the opposite effect. Banning makes them even more appealing. I wanted to see Eddie Murphy's Raw comedy video even more after my parents said that I was too young to watch it. I eventually saw it and my parents were probably right. Even if I was not scarred by it.

I have read some of the books on the list - mostly from middle school to high school. That said, I feel like I need to start from scratch as I am sure that my interests and perspectives have changed since then. There are quite a few scribble-to-flick choices on the list.

Next stop ... Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Join me!


1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

"2000-2009," American Library Association, April 06, 2010.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009/index.cfm (Accessed October 02, 2010)
Document ID: 582764

Most Frequently Challenged Books Written by Authors of Color 1990-1999

My goodness. I didn’t see most of these books as titillating as the challenge reasons imply.  Well … maybe The Color Purple. I didn’t read the book. The movie was kind of racy, but not ban-worthy. Toni Morrison is on this list a couple of times. Nefarious creature or crafty social commentator? The number is the rank within the list of the  100 most frequently challenged books, 1990-1999. ¹

3 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Reason for challenges: racism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

17 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, violence

31 Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Reason for challenges: homosexuality, sexually explicit

34 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language

36 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Reason for challenges: racism, offensive language, violence

45 Beloved by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, violence

69 Native Son by Richard Wright
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, violence

73  The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language

78 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language, occult

84 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Reason for challenges: racism, sexually explicit, offensive language

85 Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Reason for challenges: sexually explicit, offensive language

¹Out of 5,711 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association.

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“Authors of Color,” American Library Association, July 24, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedauthors/authorsofcolor/index.cfm (Accessed September 30, 2010)
Document ID: 127379