Sherman Alexie’s award-winning young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, tops a list of the books readers worked the hardest to remove from American library shelves last year.
in announcing the 10 most frequently “challenged” titles in the united states in 2014, the american library association said it had been “tracking a significant number of challenges to various titles” and that “authors of color, as well as books with diverse content are disproportionately questioned and banned.”
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Winner of the National Book Award in 2007, the semi-autobiographical story of Native American writer Alexie was removed from the curriculum in Idaho schools last year. According to the Idaho Statesman, this story of a boy leaving his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to go to an all-white high school was criticized by a local for containing the words “we don’t talk in our house,” and because it does ” reference to masturbation, contains profanity, and has been viewed by many as anti-Christian.”
alexie said at the time that “book banners want to control the debate and limit the imagination. I encourage debate and celebrate imagination.” the wing said her novel was challenged for reasons ranging from being “sexually explicit” to its “depictions of bullying”. It ranks first in Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series, which was the most criticized book of 2013 for its “offensive language [and] violence.”
Eight of the 10 most questioned books of 2014 include “diverse content,” the wing said. In second place was Marjane Satrapi’s acclaimed graphic novel Persepolis, about growing up during the Iranian revolution, cited as being “politically, racially, and socially offensive.”
third was justin richardson and peter parnell’s picture book about two male penguins raising a chick together, and tango makes three, and fourth was toni morrison’s the bluest eye, about a black girl who prays to have blue eyes like his classmates.
the wing pointed out the analysis of the author malinda lo of her 10 most prohibited books during the last decade. writing last fall, she found that 52% of the books challenged or banned in the 10-year period included “miscellaneous” content. “Books that fall outside the white, straight, empowered mainstream are questioned more often than books that don’t disrupt the status quo,” she wrote.
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“this is not surprising, but the degree to which the various books are represented on these lists, as a majority, is quite discouraging. diversity is scarce across all book genres and across all age groups, except when it comes to book challenges. the message this sends is loud and clear: diversity is actually under attack. minority perspectives are muted every year.”
The Wing’s Office for Intellectual Freedom received 311 reports of “attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library shelves” in 2014. The number is equivalent to the 307 challenges reported in 2013 and significantly lower than 464 in 2012. Most challenges (35%) came from parents in 2014, with the sexually explicit nature of a text being the most cited reason (34%) for a challenge.
The top 10 also includes robie harris’s guide to puberty and sexual health, it’s perfectly normal, in fifth place. the book, the wing revealed, was criticized for containing nudity and for covering “sex education”, for being “sexually explicit” and “inappropriate for the age group”. also, the library organization said, allegedly contained “child pornography.”
The list is completed by brian vaughan and fiona staples’ saga, khaled hosseini’s kite racer, stephen chbosky’s perks of being an outcast, jaycee dugard’s a stolen life, and raina telgemeier’s drama.
the 10 most questioned books of 2014
1. the absolutely true diary of a part time indian by alexie sherman reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, inappropriate for age group, violence. additional reasons: “representations of bullying”.
2. persepolis by marjane satrapirazones: bets, offensive language, political point of view. additional reasons: “politically, racially and socially offensive”, “graphic representations”.
3. and the tango makes three reasons by justin richardson and peter parnell: anti-family, homosexuality, political point of view, religious point of view, inappropriate for age. additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”
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4. the bluest eye by toni morrisonreasons: sexually explicit, inappropriate for age group. additional reasons: “contains controversial topics”
5. it’s perfectly normal for robie harris reasons: nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, inappropriate for age group. additional reasons: “alleged child pornography”
6. saga of brian vaughan and fiona staplesmotives: anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit and inappropriate for the age group
7. the kite runner by khaled hosseinireasons: offensive language, age inappropriate, violence
8. the perks of being an outcast by stephen chbosky reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, inappropriate for age group. additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”
9. a stolen life jaycee dugardreasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit and inappropriate for the age group
10. drama by raina telgemeierreasons: sexually explicit
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