Ray Bradbury's all-time classic FAHRENHEIT 451 -- a cautionary tale about censorship that unfortunately is as relevant as ever.
Hey, SA — the ACLU Texas report Free People Read Freely 2009 is out, and it’s pretty damning, regarding the number of books banned, restricted or challenged in Texas schools. At Missions Unknown, we’re readers. We don’t hide it and we’re not pleased that our state, even a school district in our city, is attempting to limit our childrens’ access to books.
Sanford Allen: Sometimes I’m not too proud that I hail from Texas. This is one of those times. The ACLU of Texas is recognizing National Banned Book Week this year — as it has the previous twelve — by releasing an annual report documenting books that have been banned, challenged and restricted in Texas schools. While there are some positive trends, it looks like Texas schools are still busy banning books — Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451 (challenged in the Hull-Daisetta ISD) to Richelle Mead’s VAMPIRE ACADEMY.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney. Could be a gateway to better reading scores, but not in Laredo.
Paul Vaughn: I was completely surprised to see one of the books that my 7-year-old is currently reading on the list. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney was banned from a Laredo ISD elementary school for being politically, racially or socially offensive. This series of books is told from the point-of-view of a middle schooler whose mother makes him write a diary. He has typically juvenile adventures and there is plenty of humor that kids will love. This is the book that has my son wanting to stay up past bedtime to read. Not to play video games or watch TV, but to read! This is what we want for our kids, to develop a lifelong love of reading. It’s what helps make them smart. It’s what makes them realize that learning is not just important, but fun. The TAKS test doesn’t do this. Books like DIARY OF A WIMPY KID do.
Much of the rest of the country sees Texas as backward and we give them reasons like this to believe it. I’m embarrassed that even one school district in San Antonio, Northside ISD — allegedly San Antonio’s premiere school district according to their web site — joined the “ban wagon”. They successfully banned AND TANGO MAKES THREE by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS by Dav Pilkey. We can do better than this.
VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead -- one of several Mead titles on the 2008-09 Texas Banned Books List for Texas School Libraries. It's a USA Today bestseller and Texas school libraries are about to make it a whole lot more best-selling...
John Picacio: Ah, Texas. My homestate. Just when I think our state leaders have abused common sense and decency to new lows, they find a new rock-bottom. To add insult, my hometown of San Antonio is one of the least literate metropolitan areas in America. It’s no wonder when our school systems ban books, rather than encourage our kids to experience the full spectrum of reading and learning. When I was a kid, I was proud to be a Texan. I thought it meant having a sense of individualism, invention, and maverick spirit that didn’t suffer fools or tolerate ignorance. Unfortunately, when Texas chooses to ban books, our kids suffer the ignorance of fools, while fostering intolerance. We should demand better and demand it daily because fearmongering doesn’t take a holiday.
Ever notice that there’s a pride that overcomes authors and publishers when they find out their books have been banned? Take the case of best-selling author Richelle Mead who has no less than four books on the 2008-09 Texas Banned Books List. When notified today that Stephenville ISD’s libraries banned her VAMPIRE ACADEMY series (thankfully, not a San Antonio school district though), Richelle shared the following:
“As a former teacher, I absolutely respect and encourage parents to be a part of what their children are reading. However, banning books outright from schools and libraries takes this right away from families and denies them the chance to make their own decisions. It also flies in the face of the rights our country has always prided itself on, freedom of speech being the biggest. In my experience, many banned books are some of the greatest and most thought-provoking pieces of literature out there. Being in the company of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Robert Cormier is an honor.”
Well-said. For an author that’s on the Texas Banned Books List, she certainly doesn’t sound distraught. And why should she? Hey, Stephenville — if you hear that rising tsunami surge of “cha-chings” in the distance this afternoon, that’s the sound of your teenage girls screaming for the school exits, stampeding your bookstores, and snatching up copies of this book that you’ve branded as forbidden fruit. The ones that aren’t are frantically downloading it. We all know that telling teenage girls they shouldn’t read something is the best way to keep them away, right? Then again, maybe I’ve got Texas’ school leaders all wrong. Texas is “The Friendship State”. Perhaps this is my state’s way of helping Richelle and her publisher sell more books, while making a ton of new fans. Texas hospitality, right? If only it were true…
Thanks to Terri Burke, and all hard-working members of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. Thanks for being vigilant.
Hey, San Antonio — what do you think about this? Sound off below. We leave you with two thoughts:
“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit
the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
— Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
— Benjamin Franklin
Time to pull out and wear my “I Read Banned Books” button.
“It’s a USA Today bestseller and Texas school libraries are about to make it a whole lot more best-selling…”
Talk about reverse psychology. HA! You go, VA! B-)
I’m a little disappointed that Dead City and Quarantined didn’t get banned. I could use the sales.
i don’t get it- why (!) did they ban the va series?
i totally don’t get it at all.
Holly: It looks like somebody at Stephenville ISD doesn’t like vampire fiction. They not only targeted the entire Vampire Academy series, but also the House of Night series by P.C. Cast.
Being a vampire-phobe right now has gotta be hard with so much stuff being released!
Ya know I could see not having say The Anarchist’s Cookbook in a school library, but Captain Underpants wtf? As the parent of three small children I have to say kids know more about boogers and bodily waste than Captain Underpants could ever put in print.
The idea of banning Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451 is both comical and disturbing. This seems like exactly the book that school boards should read with some hope they might actually might be able to understand it.
My 8 year old is avid read of everything from manga to reference books. Anything that gets a kid interested in reading and to keep reading is okay by me. It really is in these early years where children can really develop a lifelong love of reading. Banning books that stimulate a child’s desire to read is nothing short of ignorance and far more damaging than it is helping to protect them in any way.
We think that these people are really sad and foolish for banning books they probably don’t understand themselves. And if that’s the case then they should probably read them. Don’t knock it until you try it!!!
ok all i have to say is – WTF? why the hell did they ban one of the greatest books on planet earth? what are they idiots or something? is it a religious thing against vampires? coz they banned house of night as well. i would full on swear here but i’d probs get my views deleted. i am so…um..ANGRY….this is outrageous. what happened to freedom of speech? its just a freakin story. a GREAT story at that. its not corrupting anyone! the characters are great in this book. they stand up for what they believe in an the save ppl’s lives! what is BAD about that? can someone PLEASE enlighten me! grrr
i think they should all go DIE IN A HOLE!
What I don’t understand really, is why these people who do the, erm, banning, can’t SEE that this will go all over the Internet. And once it does all sorts of people (who’d never even heard of the likes of VA) will be clamoring to buy these books.
Nuff said.
I completely agree. Banning, or attempting to ban books, brings additional attention to them. I’m sure that’s not what these censors intend, but that is the practical effect.
Joe: Maybe your next book should be about vampires hanging under the bridges of the riverwalk and it will get banned. I guess flesh-eating zombies are still OK.
Well, I could say something about how this, along with ranting about evolution, makes me embarrassed to be in any way “from Texas” … but here in my adopted home state of Wisconsin there are people not just banning books, but talking about burning them! AArrggghhhh!
Oh, how sad this is! That the country that gave the world some of the finest literature ever created would stoop to this. It’s so damn depressing. And I’m not even an American; I’m an Australian living in Australia — an Australian who has always thought much of the best and worst of just about anything originates in that great melting pot that is America, and here is more evidence of it. It’s a schizoid thread that has run through American social life almost since the beginning, and shows no signs of abating.
Those of you who value liberty and the pursuit of happiness must stand against these sad, mad people who believe they have a right to control what you and your children can see. From where do they obtain the authority to place themselves above your own native intelligence? They must be stopped, and forcefully. The must be made to understand the full meaning of the words: liberty, equality, fraternity. It was always the United States that achieved greatness in the past. Divided you can only fail.
Texas has long had a tradition of free thinkers. It is the right-wing religious zealots who want to impose their own sort of Christian Taliban on everyone. These are the ones who must be opposed at every opportunity. People should be allowed to believe what they want, just don’t force your antiquated beliefs on everyone else.
Paul I agree with you, one of my favorite book series is on the banned list P.C.Cast & Kristin Cast.
It’s such a shame any book is ever banned anywhere..It should be up to the person to choose… Not churchs,schools etc. but the person themselves….
It made me think about my daughters school and if they have banned books…
I wonder.. I’am in Canada..
wow, can’t believe there r ppl still out there doing stuff like this. It is like from last century (or the one before even)… might be true that US is the country of unlimited possibilities when ppl can freely come and decide to BAN books and the others LET them …. as i said WOW
They do know that there is no point in banning them cuz the ppl will just read it online or buy it, right?
I’m not quite sure I understand just exactly why they’re banning books?
As to you Guy Plunkett III, how on earth could they BURN books? Isn’t that illegal? If not, if really should be. Books are part of the foundation of civilization. Plus think of what a waste of paper that would be!!
I was rolling my eyes through half of this at the sheer idiocy of it all!! It’s completely unnecessary!! Makes me proud to be a New Englander!!
Well that’s all I guess.
Arrivederci!
This does make me really sad. Things did not used to be this way. It seems as if all of a sudden children must be sheltered from everything, which I disagree with. Honestly if a book is sold in Barnes and Noble in the children and teen section, then it is there for a reason and in no way should be banned. And Fahrenheit 451 was required reading when I was in high school.
Ironic that this comes from San Antonio, when you know this is also the nickname of this French author:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Dard
[...] enough of San Antonio’s technopop wonder twins. A close second in the popularity contest was our take on the ACLU Texas report about banned books in Texas, which also generated the most comments on a single post. We read a lot and take it personally when [...]