And now that I've scanned over this year's list...
I have become less enamored with the ALA list each year, in large part because people discuss it as if it is a list of banned or almost-banned books, and as if books could only get on that list for evil reasons. (Yes, this is a shift in opinion from the 2007 commentary that I linked.) The ALA list is more accurately a list of books that parents have raised flags about, typically within a specific context. F'rex, Huckleberry Finn showing up on the list this year (as it often does), is within the specific context of teaching it in a high school classroom, where everyone must read and discuss it, and where its nasty racial stereotypes could (and often do) slide by unchallenged in favor of emphasizing the anti-slavery aspects of the book. In my opinion, whether and how to teach it in class, especially when there are many other worthy alternatives, is an absolutely appropriate conversation to have.
I do agree that a lot of books make it onto the list for worrisome reasons, and that the ALA must have Banned Books Week in order to counter the chilling effect of the sheer hassle of trying to keep worthy, but frequently-challenged, books on the shelves. Unfortunately, the challengers tend to uniformly come off as demons during Banned Books Week, when some of them are attempting to initiate good faith discussions about how educational time should be best spent, and to what purpose.
no subject
I have become less enamored with the ALA list each year, in large part because people discuss it as if it is a list of banned or almost-banned books, and as if books could only get on that list for evil reasons. (Yes, this is a shift in opinion from the 2007 commentary that I linked.) The ALA list is more accurately a list of books that parents have raised flags about, typically within a specific context. F'rex, Huckleberry Finn showing up on the list this year (as it often does), is within the specific context of teaching it in a high school classroom, where everyone must read and discuss it, and where its nasty racial stereotypes could (and often do) slide by unchallenged in favor of emphasizing the anti-slavery aspects of the book. In my opinion, whether and how to teach it in class, especially when there are many other worthy alternatives, is an absolutely appropriate conversation to have.
I do agree that a lot of books make it onto the list for worrisome reasons, and that the ALA must have Banned Books Week in order to counter the chilling effect of the sheer hassle of trying to keep worthy, but frequently-challenged, books on the shelves. Unfortunately, the challengers tend to uniformly come off as demons during Banned Books Week, when some of them are attempting to initiate good faith discussions about how educational time should be best spent, and to what purpose.