What do you want to read for Banned Books Week?

[Raena]

Banned Books Week is celebrated during the last week of September every year to draw attention to the problem of censorship. This year the BBW takes place between September 24 and October 1. The Brown Ajah will also celebrate the BBW, and one of the activities will be a book discussion based around a book we have chosen.

 

In the list above I have included the books that were mentioned in this thread. I didn't include Harry Potter as the Blue Ajah recently hosted the HP week, His Dark Materials as we have chosen those books to discuss before, And Tango Makes Three as it's a 32 page children's book (but it seems very cute), and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark as it's also a children's book. If anyone disagrees with this I'll be more than happy to add them to the poll, though!

 

I added a book not mentioned in the other thread, Slaughterhouse-Five, as it has recently been pulled from school library shelves in Republic, Missouri.

 

The books in the poll might not necessarily have been banned, but they have been challenged, which means that someone wants them gone from libraries and curricula.

 

What's the difference between a challenge and a banning?

 

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

 

How does this work, then? It's pretty simple. Pick a book (or several) that you would like to read and discuss. If you have already read one or many of the books and would like to discuss it/them, that works too, just vote for the book(s). If there is a tie, I'll make a second poll. The goal is to have a book chosen by August 24 so that we have a month to find and read the book.

 

Sounds good?

[Raena]

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., by Judy Blume

 

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. is a 1970 book by Judy Blume, typically categorized as a young adult novel, about a girl in sixth grade who grew up with no religion. Margaret's mother is Christian and her father is Jewish, and the novel explores her quest for a single religion. Margaret also confronts many other pre-teen female issues, such as buying her first bra, having her first period, coping with belted sanitary napkins (changed to adhesive sanitary pads for recent editions of the book), jealousy towards another girl who has developed a womanly figure earlier than other girls, liking boys, and whether to voice her opinion if it differs from those of her friends.

 

Controversy

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret has been criticized by certain groups for being controversial in dealing with puberty and religious indecision. According to Blume, a woman called her in the early 1980s, and after confirming she was the writer of the book, called her a Communist, and hung up the phone. To this day, no connection between communism and the topics in the book has ever been made, but it was the start of her unfortunate battle with censors.

 

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Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

 

Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurology. Huxley answered this book with a reassessment in an essay, Brave New World Revisited (1958), summarized below, and with his final work, a novel titled Island (1962).

In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

 

Ban, accusation of plagiarism

Brave New World has been banned and challenged at various times. In 1932, the book was banned in Ireland for its language, and for supposedly being anti-family and anti-religion. The American Library Association ranks Brave New World as #52 on their list of most challenged books. In 1980, it was removed from classrooms in Miller, Missouri among other challenges. In 1993, an unsuccessful attempt was made to remove the novel from a California school's required reading list because it "centered around negative activity".

 

In 1982, Polish author Antoni Smuszkiewicz in his book Zaczarowana gra presented accusations of plagiarism against Huxley. Smuszkiewicz presented similarities between Brave New World and two science fiction novels written by Polish author Mieczysław Smolarski, namely Miasto światłości (The City of the Sun, 1924) and Podróż poślubna pana Hamiltona (The Honeymoon Trip of Mr. Hamilton, 1928).

 

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Crank, by Ellen Hopkins

 

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Cut, by Patricia McCormick

 

Cut is a 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick, targeted at young adults. It is considered a cult classic among teens.

 

Fifteen-year-old Callie isn't speaking to anybody, not even to her therapist at Sea Pines (nicknamed "Sick Minds"), the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor sent her after discovering that she self-mutilates. At some point, Callie does begin speaking to her therapist/doctor, and she helps Callie understand why she self-harms. As her story unfolds, Callie reluctantly becomes involved with the other "guests" at Sea Pines—finding her voice and confronting the trauma that triggered her behavior. Callie gets better with the help of Sydney (her roommate), Claire, Debbie, Becca, Tara, Amanda, and Tiffany. Only with the loving support of her family does she learn why she cuts herself.

 

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 17. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.

 

Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition.

 

Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about women's lives in a male-dominated society. Maya, the younger version of Angelou and the book's central character, has been called "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America". Angelou's description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the book, although it is presented briefly in the text. Rape is used as a metaphor for the suffering of her race. Another metaphor, that of a bird struggling to escape its cage, is a central image throughout the work, which consists of "a sequence of lessons about resisting racist oppression". Angelou's treatment of racism delivers a thematic unity to the book. Literacy, and seizing the power of words, help young Maya cope with her bewildering world; books become her refuge as she works through her trauma.

 

Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. It has been used in educational settings from high schools to universities, and the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries.

 

Censorship

Caged Bird has been criticized by many parents, causing it to be removed from school curricula and library shelves. According to the National Coalition Against Censorship, parents and schools have objected to the book's depictions of lesbianism, premarital cohabitation, pornography, and violence. Some have been critical of its sexually explicit scenes, use of language, and irreverent religious depictions. The book is challenging for young readers and some adults, so educators have stressed the importance of preparing teachers to introduce the book effectively. Caged Bird appears third on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999. It is fifth on the ALA's list of the ten most challenged books of the 21st century (2000–2005), and is one of the ten books most frequently banned from high school and junior high school libraries and classrooms.

[Raena]

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

 

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California.

 

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry.)

 

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

 

Reception

The novella has been banned from various US public and school libraries or curricula for allegedly "promoting euthanasia", "condoning racial slurs", being "anti-business", containing profanity, and generally containing "vulgar" and "offensive language". Many of the bans and restrictions have been lifted and it remains required reading in many other American, Australian, Irish, British, New Zealand and Canadian high schools. As a result of being a frequent target of censors, Of Mice and Men appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century (number 4).

 

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Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie

 

Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology, edited by Amy Sonnie (ISBN 1555835589), is an anthology created by and for radical queer youth, committed specifically to youth of color, young women, transgender and bisexual youth, (dis)abled youth, and poor/working class youth.

 

The anthology gave rise to the founding of RESYST (Resources for Youth, Students, and Trainers), a radical queer youth organization that had chapters across the country.

 

It was published in 2000 by Alyson Publications and was a finalist in two categories for a Lambda Literary Award.

 

Controversies

The book has been "facetiously" called child pornography. A "former township committeewoman proud of her conservative beliefs" who was seeking to get the book removed from local libraries called it "pervasively vulgar, obscene, and inappropriate" and said that it includes an illustration of Boy Scouts and men having sex.

 

An article by Mission America claimed that PFLAG, for recommending the book, was attempting to "encourage children to be self-indulgent and self-centered in every aspect of life; to reject the wisdom of parents and other authorities if they wish even at early ages; and to engage in just about any sexual behavior imaginable."

 

The ACLU Foundation of Texas reports that the collection was "banned" by the Texas Youth Commission because the book is “not consistent with the educational goals of the State and TYC" and would cause “inappropriate behavior by the students.”

 

In April 2010, the Burlington County Library System in Southern New Jersey removed this book. In May 2010, the Rancocas Valley Regional High School Board of Education, also in Burlington County, NJ, voted to remove the book from its high school library shelves after protests from a local 9-12 Project group.

 

In response to the book's removal in both the Burlington County Library System and the Rancocas Valley Regional High School library, a group of young theatre artists began a series of theatrical readings in several locations around New Jersey and New York. The theatrical reading project is entitled Revolutionary Readings and is under the direction of Brandon Monokian and dramaturged by Victoria Fear, both graduates of Montclair State University.

 

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Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

 

Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death (1969) is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier called Billy Pilgrim. Ranked the 18th greatest English novel of the 20th century by Modern Library, it is generally recognized as Vonnegut's most influential and popular work.

 

The work is also known under the lengthy title: Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty Dance with Death, by Kurt Vonnegut, A Fourth-Generation German-American Low Living in Easy Circumstances on Cape Cod [and Smoking Too Much], Who, as an American Infantry Scout Hors de Combat, as a Prisoner of War, Witnessed the Fire Bombing of Dresden, Germany, ‘The Florence of the Elbe,’ a Long Time Ago, and Survived to Tell the Tale. This is a Novel Somewhat in the Telegraphic Schizophrenic Manner of Tales of the Planet Tralfamadore, Where the Flying Saucers Come From. Peace.

 

Censorship controversy

Slaughterhouse-Five has been the subject of many attempts at censorship, due to its irreverent tone and purportedly obscene content. In the novels, American soldiers use profanity; his language is irreverent; and the book depicts sex. It was one of the first literary acknowledgments that homosexual men, referred to in the novel as "fairies," were among the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

 

In the USA it is frequently banned from literature classes, removed from school libraries, and struck from literary curricula; however, it is still taught in some schools. The U.S. Supreme Court considered the First Amendment implications of the removal of the book, among others, from public school libraries in the case of Island Trees School District v. Pico, [457 U.S. 853 (1982)], and concluded that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to 'prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.'" Slaughterhouse-Five is the sixty-seventh entry to the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999.

 

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Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene

 

Summer of My German Soldier is a book by Bette Greene first published in 1973.

 

The story is told in first person narrative by a twelve-year-old Jewish girl named Patty Bergen living in Jenkinsville, Arkansas during World War II. The story focuses on the friendship between Patty and an escaped German POW named Anton. Patty first meets Anton when a group of German POWs visits her father's store. Anton teaches Patty that she is a person of value. In return, she protects Anton by hiding him above her father's garage.

 

The book was followed by a sequel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming.

 

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The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger

 

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. Around 250,000 copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than 65 million. The novel's protagonist and antihero, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.

 

The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the United States and other countries for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst. It also deals with complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation.

 

Controversy

In 1960 a teacher was fired for assigning the novel in class; he was later reinstated. Between 1961 and 1982, The Catcher in the Rye was the most censored book in high schools and libraries in the United States. In 1981 it was both the most censored book and the second most taught book in public schools in the United States. According to the American Library Association, The Catcher in the Rye was the tenth most frequently challenged book from 1990–1999. It was one of the ten most challenged books of 2005 and although it had been off the list for three years, it reappeared in the list of most challenged books of 2009. The challenges generally begin with Holden's frequent use of vulgar language with other reasons including sexual references, blasphemy, undermining of family values and moral codes, Holden's being a poor role model, encouragement of rebellion, and promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity. Often the challengers have been unfamiliar with the plot itself. Shelley Keller-Gage, a high school teacher who faced objections after assigning the novel in her class, noted that the challengers "are being just like Holden... They are trying to be catchers in the rye." A reverse effect has been that this incident caused people to put themselves on the waiting list to borrow the novel, when there were none before.

 

Mark David Chapman's shooting of John Lennon (Chapman was arrested with his worn copy of the book, and inside, he had scribbled a note: This is my statement, From Holden Caulfield.), Robert John Bardo's shooting of Rebecca Schaeffer, and John Hinckley, Jr.'s assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan have also been associated with the novel.

 

In 2009 Salinger successfully sued to stop the U.S. publication of a novel that presents Holden Caulfield as an old man. The novel's author, Fredrik Colting, commented, "call me an ignorant Swede, but the last thing I thought possible in the U.S. was that you banned books." The issue is complicated by the nature of Colting's book, 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, which has been compared to fan fiction. Although commonly not authorized by writers, no legal action is usually taken against fan fiction since it is rarely published commercially and thus involves no profit. Colting, however, has published his book commercially. Unauthorized fan fiction on The Catcher in the Rye existed on the Internet for years without any legal action taken by Salinger before his death.

[Raena]

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

 

The Chocolate War is a young adult novel by American author Robert Cormier. First published in 1974, it was adapted into a film in 1988. Although it received mixed reviews at the time of its publication, some reviewers have argued it is one of the best young adult novels of all time. Set at the fictional Trinity High School, the story follows protagonist Jerry Renault as he challenges the school's cruel, brutal, and ugly mob rule. Because of the novel's language, the concept of a high school's secret society using intimidation to enforce the cultural norms of the school, and the protagonist's sexual ponderings, it has been the frequent target of censors and appears at number three on the American Library Association's list of the "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2009."

 

The sequel to The Chocolate War, Beyond the Chocolate War, was published in May 1985.

 

Critical reception

The book was well received by critics. The New York Times wrote, "The Chocolate War is masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful; complex ideas develop and unfold with clarity."

 

Children's Book Review Service said "Robert Cormier has written a brilliant novel."

 

In an interview with Robert Cormier, he explained that he is "interested in creating real people, dramatic situations that will keep the reader tuning pages." He went on to say that although some adults dislike the book because of the topics discussed "the kids can absorb my kind of book because they know this kind of thing happens in life."

 

The New York Times Book Review complimented that "Mr. Cormier is almost unique in his powerful integration of the personal, political and moral" and The Australian wrote that young readers "recognised his vision as authentic and admired his willingness to tell things as they are". However, the book has been banned from many schools and it is one of the most challenged books of 2006 "for sexual content, offensive language, violence".

 

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The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

 

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative fiction, written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985. Set in the near future, in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government, The Handmaid's Tale explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency. The novel was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories ("The Merchant's Tale", "The Parson's Tale", etc.).

 

The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987, and it was nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. It has been adapted for the cinema, radio, opera, and stage.

 

Frequent challenges, ALA conference, and controversy

The American Library Association (ALA) lists The Handmaid's Tale as number 37 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000".

 

Atwood participated in discussing The Handmaid's Tale as "the subject of the ALA's first conference-wide discussion series, 'One Book, One Conference,' which was so successful that its Public Programs Office was considering hosting a second series in 2004."

 

According to Education Reporter Kristin Rushowy of the Toronto Star (16 Jan. 2009), in 2008 a parent in Toronto, Canada, wrote a letter to his son's high school principal, asking that the book no longer be assigned as required reading, stating that the novel is "rife with brutality towards and mistreatment of women (and men at times), sexual scenes, and bleak depression." Rushowy quotes the response of Russell Morton Brown, a retired University of Toronto English professor, who acknowledged that "The Handmaid's Tale wasn't likely written for 17-year-olds, 'but neither are a lot of things we teach in high school, like Shakespeare. … 'And they are all the better for reading it. They are on the edge of adulthood already, and there's no point in coddling them,' he said, adding, 'they aren't coddled in terms of mass media today anyway.' … He said the book has been accused of being anti-Christian and, more recently, anti-Islamic because the women are veiled and polygamy is allowed. … But that 'misses the point,' said Brown. 'It's really anti-fundamentalism.' " In her earlier account (14 Jan. 2009), Rushowy indicates that, in response to the parent's complaint, a Toronto District School Board committee was "reviewing the novel"; while noting that "The Handmaid's Tale is listed as one of the 100 'most frequently challenged books' from 1990 to 1999 on the American Library Association's website", Rushowy reports that "The Canadian Library Association says there is 'no known instance of a challenge to this novel in Canada' but says the book was called anti-Christian and pornographic by parents after being placed on a reading list for secondary students in Texas in the 1990s."

 

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The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

 

The Hunger Games is a young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was originally published on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic. It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once existed. This is where a powerful government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The Hunger Games exist to demonstrate that not even children are beyond the reach of the Capitol's jurisdiction.

 

Collins says that the idea for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the Iraq War. The two blended together and the idea for the book was formed. The Greek myth of Theseus also served as inspiration for the book, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus. Collins' father's service in the Vietnam War helped her understand how it feels to fear the loss of a loved one.

 

The book has been released as a paperback and also an audiobook, which was read by Carolyn McCormick. The Hunger Games has an initial print of 200,000 - increased twice from an original 50,000. Since its initial release, the novel has been translated into 26 different languages and rights have been sold in 38 countries. The book received mostly positive reviews from major reviewers and authors, such as Stephen King. Hunger Games is the first novel in a trilogy, followed by Catching Fire, published September 1, 2009, and Mockingjay, published August 24, 2010.

 

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel written by American novelist Stephen Chbosky. It was published on February 1, 1999 by MTV. The story is narrated by a teenager who goes by the alias of "Charlie"; he describes various scenes in his life by writing a series of letters to an anonymous person, whom he does not know personally.

 

The story explores topics such as introversion and the awkward times of adolescence. The book also touches briefly on drug use and Charlie's experiences with this. As the story progresses, various works of literature and film are referenced and their meanings discussed.

 

The story takes place in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1991–1992 school year, when Charlie is a high school freshman. Charlie is the titular wallflower of the novel. He is an unconventional thinker, and as the story begins he is shy and unpopular.

 

Chbosky names J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as an inspiration, and pays homage to Salinger's work by naming it as one of the books that Charlie's English teacher Bill gives him to read.

 

The book was third on the American Library Association's list of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009, for reasons including the book's treatment of drugs, homosexuality, sex, and suicide.

 

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ttyl, by Lauren Myracle

 

ttyl is a young adult novel by Lauren Myracle, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. In 2004, it gained attention for being the first-ever novel written entirely in the style of instant messaging conversation. The novel was a New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Book Sense bestseller, and has had two sequels, ttfn and l8r, g8r.

 

Controversy

The book's use of frank and mature content has led to some controversy. The novel was on the American Library Association's list of Most Challenged Books in 2007. In November 2008, the school district superintendent pulled the book from middle school shelves in the Round Rock Independent School District.

 

Despite the controversy, ttyl has been selected for entry into Anita Silvey's "500 Great Books for Teens" and received a starred review in the April 2004 edition of School Library Journal.

[Raena]

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

 

Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

 

It became an instant bestseller when published originally in hardback in 2005, debuting at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list within a month of its release and later peaking at #1. That same year, Twilight was named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2005. The novel was also the biggest selling book of 2008 and the second biggest selling of 2009, only behind its sequel New Moon. It has been translated into 37 different languages.

 

When first published, Twilight gained much critical acclaim. Critics often described it as a "dark romance that seeps into the soul" and praised it for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation". On the other hand, in more recent reviews, some critics thought that Bella's appeal to Edward was "based on magic rather than character" and that Bella is a weak female character. However, almost all critics, whether they acclaimed the novel or not, agreed that it was a literary phenomenon.

 

A film adaptation of Twilight was released in 2008. It was a commercial success, grossing more than $392 million worldwide and an additional $157 million from North American DVD sales, as of July 2009.

 

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What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones

 

What My Mother Doesn't Know (2001) is a novel in verse by Sonya Sones. The free verse novel follows ninth-grader Sophie Stein as she struggles through the daily grind of being a freshman in high school, her romantic crushes and family life.

 

Controversy

The novel appears on the ALA’s list of most frequently challenged books in 2004 and 2005. The most common reason for the basis of the challenges is the poem “Ice Capades” which describes how Sophie is fascinated by her breasts’ reaction to a cold window pane.

[Elgee]

There are so many must-read books on that list! Unbelievable that some of them have been banned *shakes head*.

[Mirshann Uuranor]

Voted!

[Raena]

Mirsh gets a brownie!

[Mirshann Uuranor]

Whoo hoo! \o/

[Elgee]

Oy, I voted too! *sniffles*

[Raena]

You can have a brownie too, Mother. *pats*

[Elgee]

*Beams*

 

I do hope our local library has whatever book(s) are eventually decided on - I'm looking forward to this.

[Dwynwen]

Yikes, I wish I could pick more than one! There are so many good books on this list.

[markieta]

Gah, so many choices! *voted*

[Raena]

Last chance for voting! Right now The Handmaid's Tale is in the lead. Want to read that or something else? I'll leave the poll open for one more day, so get your votes in.

 

*gives brownies to everyone who has voted*