Seriously, in this day of banned books and other nonsense my daughter and her friends started the Horror Club in their high school. They even found a teacher to be their sponsoring advisor.
The thing I like about Stephen King novels is the strong sense of good and evil. I also like the fact that his books make the banned book list almost every year. Banned books are good for the reading business. Who doesn’t want to read a banned book?
Most banned books have a strong sense of wrong and right. Most are entertaining. Most are fun to read. So today make it a goal to read a banned book. Seriously – do it. You’ll be glad you did.
Below is a list of banned books my kids have read. In many cases I’ve encouraged them to read the books. This list is taken from the top 10 banned books from the past 10 years.
- Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence - The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group - Looking for Alaska, by John Green
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group - The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit - The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence - To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language; racism - Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint and violence - The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
Reason: religious viewpoint - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Reason: racism - In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit - Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Reasons: offensive language, racism, violence - Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
Reasons: occult/Satanism - Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
Reason: drugs - Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Reason: occult/Satanism, offensive language
If you’ve read ANY of these books you’ll see how absolutely ridiculous the list is.
By the way, my husband offered to buy a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird for every kid in my daughter’s English class. 38 copies. Money well spent if you ask me.
I have to admit that my goal as a writer is to one day have a book on the banned book list. Oh my goodness – can you imagine how sales would spike! Please ban my book!
But seriously, back to school…
Posters are being designed for the Horror Club. Everything looks good to me. I think they’ll have a good turn out.
What was your favorite club or banned book?
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
Vampire Maman 
Nearly all of these are my favourite banned books! None of these are banned in British schools – in fact many are on the recommended reading list.
We’ve never had banned books in our schools either (Northern California.) Thank goodness. One has to wonder about parents who over protect their children to the point of keeping them ignorant with no imagination or choices or exposure to the world. That makes for an adult who has no tools to face the real world.
Hey, thanks for dropping by Karen. Always good to have you here.
Okay… this list is GREAT… I was giggling nearly all the way through… in particular about the Harry Potter Series making the banned lists. GREAT!! If they made it, the chances are GREAT my Trilogy might make it too. 🙂 LOL
Seriously you should have your book banned. I guarantee you could quit your day job due to the publicity and sales. Hey, if your trilogy is available send me a link and I’ll post it here (and I’ll read it of course)
The first book goes public September 25. 🙂 Finally. I hope I’ll be able to keep the date. 🙂
I will never end up wiring a banned book (or a book of any kind), but I do strive to one day make the banned blog list!
BANNED: Evil Squirrel’s Nest, by Bill Brown
Reasons: Offensive language, sexual innuendo, bad grammar, gratuitous violence against possums, poor rendering of unicorns, associating with vampires, and bestiality