# Poll: What banned books did you read? (Carry-over from GD) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472 "2003-01-09T07:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/1 "2003-01-09T07:13:21Z")
[GD thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=155148) Link to the [list of banned books from 1990-2000](http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top100bannedbooks.html) I thought it might be interesting to list which of these we read while in elementary or high school. I don’t mean just for class, but also that maybe you read and your parents just knew about it (Stephen King books for me).[ul][li]Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz [/li][li]The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain [/li][li]Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck [/li][li]My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier [/li][li]The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger [/li][li]The Witches by Roald Dahl [/li][li]To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee [/li][li]The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton [/li][li]Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes [/li][li]A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein [/li][li]Cujo by Stephen King [/li][li]Lord of the Flies by William Golding [/li][li]Carrie by Stephen King [/li]The Dead Zone by Stephen King[/ul]No wonder I’m so screwed up, huh? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/2 "2003-01-09T08:33:54Z")
I not only read them; I made sure to teach them to college students to make sure they were all exposed. 😉 I used to teach these novels: **Brave New World, Animal Farm, 1984, A Clockwork Orange, Planet of the Apes** , and sometimes **Catch-22.** They voted to see the film of **Orange** , so I ran it for 'em. Subversion feels good. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/3 "2003-01-09T08:42:32Z")
In high school or before, with academic or parental approval: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (parental approval only, though I’m sure my English teacher secretly approved) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Blubber by Judy Blume To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell Many of the others were after my time. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/4 "2003-01-09T08:48:51Z")
Most of the same ones as **masonite** , plus all the Stephen King and J.K. Rowling ones. Sorry, I’m too lazy to type them all. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/5 "2003-01-09T08:52:08Z")
Required course reading in high school from the top 100 : [ul][li]The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn[/li] [li]Of Mice and Men[/li] [li]To Kill A Mockingbird[/li] [li]Lord of the Flies[/ul][/li] Catch-22 and Animal Farm were also required course reading (I’ve noticed other people mentioning them, although they don’t appear on the top 100 list). ---
**Author:** ![BrightEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BrightEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightEyes)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/6 "2003-01-09T09:05:15Z")
I’ve read all the Stephen King ones. And the J.K. Rowling ones… Why are Judy Blume’s books banned so much? ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/7 "2003-01-09T09:14:20Z")
These books were banned? Wow… ::scratches head, feels very old:: I’ve read most of these, many in school as required readings no less. It just amazes me that people work themselves into such a state that reading becomes a banned activity. Just as with most things illegal/banned, the more so the more people want to do it. People should have a choice, IMHO, of what they read personally. In school, if the subject matter is controversial, then let the parents know and go from there. Don’t deny kids a different view of things. They are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/8 "2003-01-09T09:22:43Z")
Cuz she talks about seeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxx. Seriously, though, it’s actually kind of prurient IMO. I’m completely down with sex education in the abstract, but _Forever_, for example, is pretty much guaranteed to be _very_ erotic reading for a teen. I know it got _me_ all hot and bothered. Not as much as _Wifey_, though! 😃 I did have a few Judy Blume titles on my little shelf, right next to _Stewart Little_, and that shelf didn’t contain nuthin _evil_, I can guarantee that. _Blubber_, _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing_, these were very slightly _risque_ but nothing more. If I remember correctly, of course. It’s been a long time. _why can’t I stop using the italic tag?_ ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/9 "2003-01-09T09:23:50Z")
(sorry, that was directed at **BrightEyes**.) ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/10 "2003-01-09T10:15:48Z")
:: Correcting myself :: Actually, _Blubber_ wasn’t so much risque (hell with the italics, and the accent mark too) as “controversial”. The same goes for many other Judy Blume titles (I overgenaralized on the erotic aspect, of which _Forver_ is the classic example). They delved into subjects that just make a lot of people uncomfortable. _Blubber_, for example, is fairly emotional stuff, and I say that as a person who was not fat as a kid. People will fuss about anything that forces kids to really think - like the pain of a fat kid. I’m not surprised someone, somewhere, was terribly offended by every one of her titles that attempted to cover topics with an automatic emotional impact. Some people get freaked out easily. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/11 "2003-01-09T12:28:12Z")
I read: 1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz 2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3. Forever by Judy Blume 4. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier 5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 6. Deenie by Judy Blume 7. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein 8. Cujo by Stephen King 9. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende 10. Lord of the Flies by William Golding 11. Carrie by Stephen King 12. The Dead Zone by Stephen King 13. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford 14. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman 15. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene 16. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell It’s sad that lists like these are made. Inevitable disagreements with some of these choices aside (I found _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing_ WAY more upsetting than _Little Black Sambo_), it’s terrible to deal with objectionable material this way. I’d very much prefer that students read and discuss books like these, and in the process understand why they’re controversial. Not necessarily all agree that they’re objectionable, but just hear and appreciate others’ points of view. ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/12 "2003-01-09T12:46:21Z")
I was such a prolific reader as a kid, it was hard - okay nearly impossible - for the librarian and my parents to keep up with everything I read. Heck, my folks were just glad books were more important to me than the tv (which, trust me for my generation is one heck of an achievement!). My folks never censored my reading material. They even _bought_ me books that were probably inappropriate (ie. Johnson and Masters book at the age of 11, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, all manner of Stephen King, etc) but as long as I learned something and enjoyed reading it, that is what mattered. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/13 "2003-01-09T13:00:09Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by erislover \* \*\* [ul][li]Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz [/li][li]The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain [/li][li]Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck [/li][li]The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger [/li][li]The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton [/li][li]Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes [/li][li]A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein [/li][li]Cujo by Stephen King [/li][li]Lord of the Flies by William Golding [/li][li]Carrie by Stephen King [/li][li]The Dead Zone by Stephen King[/ul]No wonder I’m so screwed up, huh? :rolleyes: \*\*[/li][/QUOTE] Out of those, the ones that I kept are the ones that I read, while in highschool (not all of them for highschool mind you). Flowers for Algernon is banned???How in God’s name is that right? Why?? That book was great! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vivalostwages \* > \*\*I used to teach these novels: **Brave New World, Animal Farm, 1984, A Clockwork Orange, Planet of the Apes** , and sometimes **Catch-22.** \*\* I read all of those, except for Planet of the Apes-I didn’t know the apes wrote a novel about the future:D ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/14 "2003-01-09T13:17:07Z")
Scary Stories (Series) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings The Chocolate War The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Of Mice and Men Harry Potter (Series) Bridge to Terabithia My Brother Sam is Dead The Catcher in the Rye A Day No Pigs Would Die The Color Purple Earth’s Children (Series) Go Ask Alice The Stupids (Series) The Witches Anastasia Krupnik (Series) Blubber The Handmaid’s Tale The Pigman Deenie Flowers for Algernon A Light in the Attic Brave New World Sleeping Beauty Trilogy Cujo James and the Giant Peach The Anarchist Cookbook Ordinary People Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret The House of Spirits The Face on the Milk Carton Slaughterhouse-Five Lord of the Flies Native Son Carrie Tiger Eyes The Dead Zone The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Summer of My German Soldier Pillars of the Earth How to Eat Fried Worms These books were not necessarily banned from any specific school/library, but challenged because someone felt that they weren’t appropriate in some way. Anyway, those are the ones I’ve read - and I don’t regret reading any of them. Some were on my own, some were for school - they do go into tough themes in some cases (but How to Eat Fried Worms? Yeah, sure…it’s about kids being kids). If I go on any longer I’ll get into GD territory, and that’s for the GD thread, not here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/15 "2003-01-09T13:39:12Z")
I’ve read at least 3/4 of the books on that list, and all of **Viva’s**. (aamof, I’m reading Catch-22 right now). Book banning? Damn. A lot of those books were assigned reading when I was in High School. Here’s the **Book Burner’s Pledge** : We will read the Bible, but not contemporary American Classics. We don’t want to read about violence, unless it’s Our Brand™ of violence: Good-old-fashioned Biblical violence, with a smattering of smiting thrown in for flavor. Furthermore, what’s good for us is good for you, so do what we tell you to, or we’ll report you to the Thought Police. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/16 "2003-01-09T13:53:01Z")
Please note that the above list is NOT of banned books, it is a list of those books that a single parent has raised an objection about to the school board, i.e., a “Challenged” book. The ALA estimates that about 24,000-40,000 books have been challenged since 1990, but are strangely silent as to how many of these challenges have resulted in a banning. If somebody finds out, please report to the [other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=155148&perpage=30&pagenumber=1). ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/17 "2003-01-09T15:01:56Z")
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman (hey, don’t laugh – I was working at a children’s bookstore and I was bored) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Giver by Lois Lowry The Color Purple by Alice Walker Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel (well, the first two, anyway) The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry (BTW, does anyone know what on _earth_ people found objectionable about this one?) Blubber by Judy Blume The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Beloved by Toni Morrison Deenie by Judy Blume Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein Brave New World by Aldous Huxley James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Lord of the Flies by William Golding Native Son by Richard Wright The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford (?!?!) How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/18 "2003-01-09T15:22:05Z")
These are the ones on that list that I’ve read: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain \* Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger \* A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Lord of the Flies by William Golding \* Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell - - was assigned in a high school class. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/19 "2003-01-09T15:22:28Z")
WTF is wrong with Where’s Waldo? It is the same book that I’m thinking right, find the dumb guy in the picture? If so how can you be offended by that? Anyway I’ve read all the books by King, Catcher in the Rye, The Twain books, and I’m in the middle of the Harry Potter series right now. On a side note some of these book look intersting enough to include in my 50 Book challenge. That should piss some people off, now where’s Waldo? ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472/20 "2003-01-09T15:39:52Z")
Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Giver by Lois Lowry Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Go Ask Alice by Anonymous The Witches by Roald Dahl The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Beloved by Toni Morrison Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein Brave New World by Aldous Huxley James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Lord of the Flies by William Golding On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney Many of these were assigned for class, quite a few of them in elementary school. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-banned-books-did-you-read-carry-over-from-gd/147472.md?page=2)