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/

Celebrating Black Authors

One of the ways to observe and celebrate Black History month

is to read books by Black Authors.  Here is a list of books that were published in 2021.  

The Prophets by Jones, Robert

"Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. When an older fellow slave seeks to gain favor by preaching the master's gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony. -- adapted from jacket"

 

Black Buck by Askaripour, Mateo

For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street - a blazing, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cultlike, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother's home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC's hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor. After enduring a "hell week" of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as "Buck," a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he's hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America's sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America's workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream. --. From dust jacket.

Yellow Wife : a novel by Johnson, Sadeqa

Born on a plantation but set apart from the others by her mother's position as a medicine woman, a young slave is forced to leave home at eighteen and unexpectedly finds herself in an infamously cruel jail.

The Kindest Lie : a novel by Johnson, Nancy

It's 2008, and the rise of Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He's eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to, and abandoned, when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she'd never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. Determined, Ruth begins digging into the past. As she uncovers burning secrets her family desperately wants to hide, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. When a traumatic incident strains the town's already searing racial tensions, Ruth and Midnight find themselves on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

Libertie : a novel by Greenidge, Kaitlyn

"Coming of age as a free-born Black girl in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson is all too aware that her mother, a physician, has a vision for their future together: Libertie will go to medical school and practice alongside her. But Libertie feels stifled by her mother's choices and is constantly reminded that, unlike her mother, Libertie has skin that is too dark. When a young man from Haiti proposes to Libertie and promises she will be his equal on the island, she accepts, only to discover that she is still subordinate to him and all men. As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman, Libertie struggles with where she might find it-for herself and for generations to come"--. Provided by publisher.

Caul Baby : a novel by Jerkins, Morgan

"Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This time has to be different, so she turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power. When a deal for Laila to acquire a piece of caul falls through, she is heartbroken, but when the child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn't know is that a baby will soon be delivered in her family--by her niece, Amara, an ambitious college student--and delivered to the Melancons to raise as one of their own. Hallow is special: she's born with a caul, and their matriarch, Maman, predicts the girl will restore the family's prosperity. Growing up, Hallow feels that something in her life is not right. Did Josephine, the woman she calls mother, really bring her into the world? Why does her cousin Helena get to go to school and roam the streets of New York freely while she's confined to the family's decrepit brownstone? As the Melancons' thirst to maintain their status grows, Amara, now a successful lawyer running for district attorney, looks for a way to avenge her longstanding grudge against the family. When mother and daughter cross paths, Hallow will be forced to decide where she truly belongs."--. Publisher's description.

Happily Ever Afters by Bryant, Elise

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She's rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she's a true leading lady is in her own writing--in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader. When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she's excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just...gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she's ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa's stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming. But as Tessa checks each item off Caroline's list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about--including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She's well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?

Concrete Rose by Thomas, Angie

Maverick feels strongly about family ties, making choices he feels necessary to help support his mom while his King father serves time, and leave him literally holding his son in a doctor's waiting room after he gets paternity test results back and his babymomma ghosts. Now the child he's raising is impacting the lives of his family and his girlfriend, and the gang life he led to support them all financially could leave them all bearing his responsibilities since it endangers his life. It looks like he may have been offered a chance to go straight, but leaving the King Lords won't be easy, and a "real" job has high demand for low return.

Remote Control by Okorafor, Nnedi

"The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From here on in she would be known as Sankofa--a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks-alone, except for her fox companion-searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers. But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?"-- Provided by publisher.

Wings of Ebony by Elle, J.

When her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for Rue and her sister Tasha changes forever. Taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, Rue is forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon-- a hidden island of magic wielders. Rue is the only half-god, half-human there, where leaders protect their magical powers at all costs and thrive on human suffering. Desperate to see Tasha on the anniversary of their mother's death, Rue breaks Ghizon's sacred Do Not Leave Law and returns to Houston, only to discover that Black kids are being forced into crime and violence. And her sister, Tasha, is in danger of falling sway to the very forces that claimed their mother's life. -- adapted from jacket

The Gilded Ones. by Forna, Namina.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death. Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat. Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.

Honey Girl by Rogers, Morgan

"With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, 28-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls' trip to Vegas to celebrate. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn't know, until she does exactly that. This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father's plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn't feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her parent's expectations, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows. In New York, she's able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she's been running from all along, the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood."--Publisher's description.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev : a novel by Walton, Dawnie

"Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can't imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job--despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar's amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records. In early seventies New York City, just as she's finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal's bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially black women, who dare to speak their truth. Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo's most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything."--. Provided by publisher.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Smart, Ciannon

This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom--and vengeance.

Jazmyne is the Queen's daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother's power.

Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain--except the lengths they will go to win this game.