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YA Banned Books

Welcome to our Young Adult Banned Literature Wiki! Here you will find information on the history of banning and challenging books, examples of challenged/banned books, and links to interesting websites. The mission of this wiki is to educate young adults on banned books and provide unbiased information on the topic.

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 I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. ~Voltaire =====

=__**What is the difference between banned and challenged books?** __= ==A challenge is merely an attempt to remove materials or restrict their usage by either an individual or an entire group. Objections to books can be based on many reasons such as religious grounds, political grounds, sexual grounds, or social grounds. A book that is banned, however, has been completely removed from a library or curriculum. == []

__**Banned Books Week and Intellectual Freedom:** __
Banned Books Week (BBW) is celebrated each year during the last week of September. The purpose is to bring to light the danger and harm caused by restricting open access to information. The foundation for BBW is intellectual freedom. Our diverse society means that individuals are going to have differing viewpoints. What may be offensive to one person may not be offensive to another. Intellectual freedom allows us to express our thoughts, opinions, beliefs, whether popular or not and also allows us all access to those differing ideas. []

__** Books Banned, Challenged or Restricted in 2009-2010 as reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom: ** __

__50 Years of Reading Free: __
In celebration of Banned Books Week, the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Intellectual Freedom Committee,compiled a list of 50 banned books that have special interest for teens. []

__Harris Poll on Book Banning: __
﻿﻿﻿This link provides a variety of statistics from a recent Harris Interactive Poll on book banning. The majority of Americans are opposed to banning for any reason. The recent controversy over the sanitization of Huckleberry Finn is also examined. []

__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Author Lauren Myracle __
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Popular teen/tween author speaks with ABC News Radio about being one of the most consistently challenged authors. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[]

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Reasons Book are Banned: **__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Drugs and Alcohol <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">LGBTQ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Offensive Language <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Religious Viewpoint <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sexually Explicit <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Violence

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Challenges by Reason
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Statistics," American Library Association, May 29, 2007. <span class="cite" style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengesbytype/index.cfm (Accessed May 17, 2011)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Books Bans and Challenges, 2007-2010 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&source=embed&t=h&msa=0&msid=201608118063299995048.00047051ed493efec0bb8&ll=38.68551,-96.503906&spn=47.452815,74.707031&z=3&output=embed" height="586" width="703" align="left" <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This map is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids' Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Details are available in ALA's "Books Banned and Challenged 2007-2008; 2008-2009; and 2009-2010,"and the "Kids' Right to Read Project Report."

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2010," Chris (Google Maps User), May 6, 2011 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&source=embed&t=h&msa=0&