Banned Books

Every year when my library puts up its Banned Books display, I can’t resist spending a little extra time browsing. There’s something both funny and thought-provoking about seeing which titles have landed on that list, and, in many cases, why.

This year, a few of the choices made me laugh out loud. Right there among the “dangerous” and “controversial” works were Bad Kitty and Captain Underpants. Really? Those mischievous cats and underwear-clad superheroes are what we’re worried about corrupting young minds?

When my sons were growing up in the 1990s, Captain Underpants books were a fixture in our household. They made the boys laugh, and, truth be told, they made me laugh, too. The idea that they’re banned for “offensive language,” being “unsuited for their age group,” or “encouraging disruptive behavior” is almost too funny to me. My kids were perfectly capable of coming up with their own disruptive behavior without any help from a cartoon character in his underwear.

As for Bad Kitty, it turns out some of the books have been challenged because they include a lesbian couple and use symbolic expletives (those cartoon-style symbols like @#$%! that suggest a swear word without actually saying one). Hardly scandalous, in my opinion, and certainly not something worth banning.

I ended up checking out two books from the display that I’d read before: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I had to look up why they’d been banned or challenged, too, themes of witchcraft, madness, and repressed sexuality for the first, and profanity and atheism for the second. It made me realize how easily books can be misunderstood or reduced to a single “offensive” element, when what they actually offer is depth, empathy, and perspective.

 

 

I completely support the idea that parents should decide what they feel is appropriate for their own children. That’s a personal and important responsibility. But I draw the line when someone tries to make that decision for everyone else’s children, too. One family’s comfort zone shouldn’t define another’s reading list.

Banned Books Week (it was October 5 -11 this year) is a good reminder of why libraries matter so much; they should be able to offer everyone the freedom to explore ideas, to question, to laugh, and to learn. Standing in front of that display each year, I’m grateful for the librarians who work hard to ensure those stories stay on the shelves, waiting for curious readers to discover them all over again. Checking out the books that make people uncomfortable are often the ones most worth reading.