Banned Books Week: Sidescrollers

This week is Banned Books Week. No, it doesn't mean a week to go out and ban books, but is actually an awareness campaign about the materials that have been challenged or banned in libraries--both public and school--or removed from reading lists in schools throughout the nation. for more information about Banned Books Week, check out this website on it.

Banning and challenging books happen throughout the country and teen books in particular get challenged the most. "Why?", you might ask. It's mostly about protecting young readers. At least, that's the justification that it given typically.

Take for example, Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux. This Great Graphic Novel for Teens list winner is about three teen gamers who end up in an adventure like a video game and combating a bully by the end. This title was pulled from a ninth grade summer reading list in Connecticut due to the "profanity and sexual references" contained in the graphic novel. When one parent says that they don't want their teen to read something--we call that good parenting and applaud the parent for taking an interest in their teen's reading. That's not what happened in this case. One parent complained and said that it's not appropriate for any of the teens to read it for this assignment (which, by the way, there were other titles to choose from). When this occurs, it takes away the rights of the student and the parents to choose what is appropriate for their own teen. That's what we call banned books.

Anyway, today is the first of my posts on challenged teen books in hopes that the posts may strike an interest in celebrating your own right to read which is what Banned Books Week is all about.