Banned Books

There are a lot of dark images that come to mind when one thinks of WWII.  Pain, Suffering, Death, Darkness, Fear. Rubble and Dust from buildings blown apart. Ash and Smoke pluming from the bonfires made up of books and art. 

May 10, 1933.  Nazi students gathered in 34 different towns and cities and burned approximately 25,000 books that had been declared “un-German”.  In Berlin, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, addressed the crowd of 40,000 saying: “No to decadence and moral corruption!” and “Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann,  Ernst Gläser, Erich Kästner.”

(https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/book-burning)

According to When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped us Win World War II by Manning, Molly Guptill, The ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), a Nazi organization whose purpose was to seize Jewish and other cultural items “...burned a staggering 375 archives, 402 museums, 531 institutes, and 957 libraries.”  

Fast forward to October 1948 in West Virginia; 13-year-old David Mace, in front of 600 of his fellow students declared that they were “here today to take a step which we believe will benefit ourselves, our community and our country.” before laying claim that comic books “are mentally, physically, and morally injurious to boys and girls, [and] we propose to burn those in our possession.”  2,000 comics, which had been collected through the efforts of 250 children under the guidance of reading teacher Mabel Riddel, burned for over an hour, in flames that reached over 25 feet in height.  

(https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/great-comic-book-conflagration)

People have a tendency to write comic books off as being just for kids despite the fact that during WW2 a majority of comic book sales in the United States went to the Army.  The love for these comics, which were intended to act as diversions, gave way to the rise of comic legends: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Syd Shore, Alice Marble, Curt Swan, and Bob Kanigher.  (This is Why WWII Troops Are to Thank for the Rise of Comics; THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF COMICS IN AMERICA DURING WWII)

Dr. Fredric Wertham worked in Harlem with kids who were labeled Juvenile Delinquents.  Upon realizing that these kids liked comic books he opted to conclude that comic books are the root of their delinquency, (rather than root out things like nature vs. nurture, socio-economic struggles, racism, bias, and everything else that could possibly contribute to a child’s delinquent status…). In 1948, Wertham made his stance against comic books public.  In 1954, at a U.S. Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Juvenile Delinquency, Wertham stated: “I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry”  (1948: The Year Comics Met Their Match by Joe Sergi • June 8, 2012)  

According to Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Howe, Sean, just  a few months later, a rifle salesman, upon learning about Stan Lee’s job as an editor of Comic books, said to him: “That is absolutely criminal, reprehensible. You should go to jail for the crime your committing.” In the Summer of 1954, fifteen comic book publishers went out of business, and by September, most of those remaining came together under the Comics Magazine Association of America.

“...in September 1954 the comics industry formed the trade group known as the Comics Magazine Association of America, which created the self-regulating Comics Code Authority to enforce a newly strengthened Comics Code.  Crime and horror comics vanished from the shelves; of the 650 comics of all genres on the stands as the Kefauver subcommittee began in 1954, only 250 would still be around by the close of 1955.”  The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon

January 10, 2022, The Board of Education for McMinn County in Tennessee votes to ban the graphic novel “Maus” in the 8th-grade classes. One week later, the sales for Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Maus rose by 50%.

Comic books and graphic novels can be easy targets for people looking to promote censorship.  A static image can be paraded about as an exemplar of all that is indecent more effectively than script. This has led to some books having their graphic novel versions challenged and not the print version.

  In Medford Oregon,(as well as school districts in Kansas and Texas), the 2019 Graphic novel version of The Handmaid's Tale was challenged and removed from circulation in the district’s school libraries; the print version, however, remains. (Graphic novel removed from North Medford HS By Kevin Opsahl). 

(http://cbldf.org/2015/09/banned-books-week-2015-free-posters-and-resources/)

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was released on Netflix on August 5th and in 3 days had over a billion viewing minutes. (‘The Sandman’ Opens Well on Streaming Chart) but The Sandman series has a history of controversy and wears a crown for being one of the top banned or challenged graphic novels since its publication in 1989. (Case Study: Sandman). The 2nd volume of the series Doll's House was found to be so upsetting that in 2015, a College student from Yucaipa, California said that the book should be "eradicated from the system" (along with Persepolis, Fun Home, and  Y, The Last Man. Book One)

“In a report, the American Library Association reported that it tracked 729 challenges in libraries, schools, and universities in 2021, resulting in 1,597 individual book challenges or removals—many of which were by Black or LGBTQ authors and/or featuring BIPOC or LGBTQ characters. It was the highest number of attempted book bans since the ALA began compiling the list in 2002.” -In 2022, a New Urgency for Banned Books Week By Claire Kirch  

The #1 most challenged book of 2021 is a Graphic Novel, Gender Queer, and restricted over LGBTQIA+ content and what some consider to be sexually explicit imagery. Between October 2021 and August 2022, 40 different comic titles have been challenged; with multiple challenges to Gender Queer, This One Summer, Drama, Flamer, The Breakaways, and Fun Home (HERE ARE THE MOST CHALLENGED COMICS AND MOST BANNED COMICS SINCE 2000 By Kelly Jensen)

 

Gender Queer by Kobabe, Maia

All Boys Aren't Blue: a memoir-manifesto by Johnson, George M.

Out of darkness by Pérez, Ashley Hope

The Hate U Give by Thomas, Angie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie, Sherman

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl : a novel by Andrews, Jesse

The Bluest Eye by Morrison, Toni

This Book is Gay by Dawson, James

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Kuklin, Susan

Check out these resources for more information on Banned Books, Challenges, and Censorship:

https://pen.org/

https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech

https://bannedbooksweek.org/

https://ncac.org/topic/internet-censorship

https://freemuse.org/

http://cbldf.org/

Books about Banned Books

 

In no way does a person have to wait until September to read banned books or to become more informed about banned books. The American Library Association (ALA) has a count of 330 books that were challenged from September 1 through November 30th of 2021 alone.: 

"In 2021, libraries of all types stepped up to meet the needs of their communities as they responded to the impacts of a second year of the global pandemic. Library staff in every state faced an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. Most targeted books were by or about Black or LGBTQIA+ persons."https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2022

 Books About Banned Books

Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times by Nafisi, Azar
What is the role of literature in an era when one political party wages continual war on writers and the press? What is the connection between political strife in our daily lives, and the way we meet our enemies on the page in fiction? How can literature, through its free exchange, affect politics? In this galvanizing guide to literature as resistance, Nafisi seeks to answer these questions. Drawing on her experiences as a woman and voracious reader living in the Islamic Republic of Iran, her life as an immigrant in the United States, and her role as a literature professor in both countries, she crafts an argument for why, in a genuine democracy, we must engage with the enemy, and how literature can be a vehicle for doing so. Structured as a series of letters to her father, who taught her as a child about how literature can rescue us in times of trauma, Nafisi explores the most probing questions of our time through the works of Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood, and more.

Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge by Ovenden, Richard

Opening with the notorious bonfires of "un-German" and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it. Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens. Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before. In this fascinating book, he explores everything from what really happened to the Great Library of Alexandria to the Windrush papers, from Donald Trump's deleting embarrassing tweets to John Murray's burning of Byron's memoirs in the name of censorship. At once a powerful history of civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters; and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to preserve and rescue knowledge, ensuring that civilization survives. From the rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the desert, hidden from the Romans and lost for almost 2000 years to the medieval manuscript that inspired William Morris, the knowledge of the past still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at our peril.

Light Changes Everything by Turner, Nancy E.

"Light Changes Everything is a novel as gritty and authentic as the women of the Arizona Territory. Nancy E. Turner brings the west and its people fully to life." --Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours It's the summer of 1907 and the sun is scorching down on Mary Pearl in the Arizona Territory. Mary Pearl and her sister Esther take their minds off the heat by sneaking banned Jane Austen novels from Aunt Sarah Elliot's lively bookshelf. Whispered read aloud preoccupy their nights, and reveries of getting hitched to their own Mr. Darcy à la Pride and Prejudice swirl through their daydreams. In walks old-fashioned old-money suitor Aubrey Hanna, here to whisk seventeen-year-old Mary Pearl off her feet with a forbidden kiss and hasty engagement. With the promise of high society outings and a rich estate, Aubrey's lustful courtship quickly creates petty tension among the three generations of Prine women. As autumn approaches all too quickly, Mary Pearl's Wheaton College acceptance counters quick marriage preparations. Days of travel by horse and by train carry her deep into a sophisticated new world of Northern girls' schooling. Seeking friendship but finding foes, Mary Pearl not only learns how to write, read, and draw, but also how to act, dress, and be a woman. Light Changes Everything is the story of a resilient young feminist a century ahead of her time. Full of gumption and spirit, Mary Pearl's evocative coming of age is destined to be the next American classic"-- Provided by publisher.

The Only Thing to Fear by Richmond, Caroline Tung

"It's been nearly eighty years since the Allies lost World War II in a crushing defeat against Hitler's genetically engineered super soldiers. America has been carved up by the victors, and sixteen-year-old Zara lives a life of oppression in the Eastern American Territories. Under the iron rule of the Nazis, the government strives to maintain a master race, controlling everything from jobs to genetics. Despite her mixed heritage and hopeless social standing, Zara dares to dream of an America she's only read about in banned books--a land of freedom and equality."--Back cover.

Ban this Book by Gratz, Alan

A fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don't mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.

Banned Book Club by Kim, Hyun Sook

"The autobiography of a South Korean woman's student days under an authoritarian regime, and how she defied state censorship. When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up the ideas of Western Literature far from the drudgery she was promised at her family's restaurant. But literature class would prove to be just the start of a massive turning point, still focused on reading but with life-or-death stakes she never could have imagined. This was during South Korea's Fifth Republic, a military regime that entrenched its power through censorship, torture, and the murder of protestors. In this charged political climate, with Molotov cocktails flying and fellow students disappearing for hours and returning with bruises, Hyun Sook sought refuge in the comfort of books. When the handsome young editor of the school newspaper invited her to his reading group, she expected to pop into the cafeteria to talk about Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Scarlet Letter. Instead she found herself hiding in a basement as the youngest member of an underground banned book club. And as Hyun Sook soon discovered, in a totalitarian regime, the delights of discovering great works of illicit literature are quickly overshadowed by fear and violence as the walls close in. In BANNED BOOK CLUB, Hyun Sook shares a dramatic true story of political division, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism, the death of democratic institutions, and the relentless rebellion of reading."-- Provided by publisher.

Property of the Rebel Librarian by Varnes, Allison

When twelve-year-old June Harper's parents discover what they deem an inappropriate library book, they take strict parenting to a whole new level. And everything June loves about Dogwood Middle School unravels: librarian Ms. Bradshaw is suspended, an author appearance is canceled, the library is gutted, and all books on the premises must have administrative approval. But June can't give up books . . . and she realizes she doesn't have to when she spies a Little Free Library on her walk to school. As the rules become stricter at school and at home, June keeps turning the pages of the banned books that continue to appear in the little library. It's a delicious secret . . . and one she can't keep to herself. June starts a banned book library of her own in an abandoned locker at school. The risks grow alongside her library's popularity, and a movement begins at Dogwood Middle--a movement that, if exposed, could destroy her. But if it's powerful enough, maybe it can save Ms. Bradshaw and all that she represents: the freedom to read.

Americus by Reed, M. K.

Oklahoma teen Neal Barton stands up for his favorite fantasy series, The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, when conservative Christians try to bully the town of Americus into banning it from the public library.

Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Ray

In a future totalitarian state where books are banned and destroyed by the government, Guy Montag, a fireman in charge of burning books, meets a revolutionary schoolteacher who dares to read and a girl who tells him of a past when people did not live in fear.

Suggested Reading : [a novel] by Connis, Dave  

After her principal bans a number of books from the school library, bibliophile student Clara joins forces with her friends to start an underground library.

(Kivvit Design)

Library Wars. Love & War / 1 : by Yumi, Kiiro

"In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves---the Library Forces! Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she's finally a recruit, she's finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!"--P. [4] of cover.

Disclose by Charbonneau, Joelle

"Meri Buckley has lost everything. She lost her mother to a fight much bigger than herself. Her father to grief, fear, and denial. And the truth--to an overbearing government that insists that censorship and secrecy is the only path to peace. But though Meri and her band of truth-seeking Stewards did lose the first battle in their quest to enlighten the public, they have not yet lost the war. Meri can start the revolution she seeks, if the powerful figures who profit from the status quo don't find her--and kill her first."