BANNED BOOKS ARE 'BELOVED'
AT ATHENEUM THIS WEEK

The irony of banning a book is that the act can only increase a book's appeal to readers. (While the best possible way to get someone to ignore a book is to require them to read it.)

From the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (2nd ed.): "During the 1920s, the phrase 'banned in Boston' became famous because the long-established Watch and Ward Society of the so-called Hub of the Universe was forever getting the city censor to ban books from sale. Many publishers actively sought to have their books 'banned in Boston' because they knew the label would increase their sales in the rest of the country..."

I read "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier in eighth grade and honestly cannot remember much about it; the lead characters had to sell chocolate. The one who played football was a jerk. It had a green cover.

Apparently, the book was one of the most challenged in 2005 - for language, depiction of schoolchildren bullying other children and many references to the protagonist's pondering about his sexual orientation. (Meanwhile, I read banned books "Bridge to Terabithia," "AWrinkle in Time" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" on my own time and felt they each opened a window in my brain to the greater world.)

Now in its 24th year, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week will be observed from September 23-30 at the Nantucket's Atheneum. The purpose of Banned Books Week is to fight the abject tyranny and selfishness of censorship. Some of the books on the most-banned list are educational books on human development and puberty; others include gay themes or racial matter. Even Christian author Madeline L'Engle's youth classic, "AWrinkle in Time," is on the banned book list.

"Books that are banned have fallen prey to the library system (school or public) and the authorities who oversee its operation. The majority of challenges to books come from parents who want to protect their children from material they deem inappropriate," explained Ruth La France, Intellectual Freedom Chair of the Massachusetts Library Association. "What these parents and any supporters they attract fail to understand is that other parents have a fundamental right to allow their children to read a challenged book."

The ALA's most challenged books are "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," (Mark Twain), the "Harry Potter" series (J.K. Rowling), "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (Maya Angelou) and "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Haris.

La France noted that three of the top books challenged in Massachusetts are classics: "A Farewell to Arms," "All Quiet on the Western Front," and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich."

The list also includes books as innocuous as "Where's Waldo?" - which has been banned by many schools and libraries because it includes a small drawing of a topless mermaid.

The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom received 405 challenges to books available to the public last year, most of which were reported at public libraries, schools and school libraries. A challenge is a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed due to content or inappropriateness.

According to LaFrance, the American Library Association summarizes the First Amendment this way: "Under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, each of us has the right to read, view, listen to, and disseminate constitutionally protected ideas, even if a censor finds those ideas offensive."

"I can only speak about my tenure here, but to my knowledge, no one here has done an official challenge on a book," said Atheneum Director Molly Anderson, who has been with the library for two years. "Part of living in a democracy means respecting each other's differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they will read and think," Anderson said. (Anderson said she could not speak to the history of the library, because it doesn't keep any records on banned books. La France said a query to ALA returned no mention of any banned books on the island.)

According to the Atheneum's Amy Jenness, the library will be giving out buttons to anyone who checks out a book that has been banned. It will also be raffling off Banned Books tee shirts and giving away Banned Books bookmarks to all patrons. As a courtesy to interested readers, the library will host a display of books that have been banned and offer pamphlets with lists of the most recently banned books and who did the banning. Nantucket professionals, teachers and thinkers were

more than happy to share their own favorite banned books from a list of the 100 most challenged:

Annye Camara, Owner, Annye's Whole Foods

"THE COLOR PURPLE" In looking at the list, I was interested to see that Toni Morrison is all over the list; the Times has her at the top of the 25 best books since 1960, or some such date. And look at all the juvenile books. It's amazing! What are we afraid of as a society?

Susan McGinnis, Director, The Nantucket Lighthouse School "TO KILL AMOCKINGBIRD "ADay No Pigs Would Di,", "Catcher in the Rye," "The Color Purple," "Forever," "Harry Potter," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Flowers For Algernon," "Of Mice and Men" - I can't choose only one!

I'm 42 years old, and these books were some of the most memorable reading experiences of my entire life. There's no question that they helped form me into the adult I've become. "To Kill a Mockingbird" may be my favorite book. Other than the dictionary!

Dave Provost, Headmaster, The Nantucket New School

"THE CATCHER IN THE RYE" The pain of Holden Caulfield is so raw and so real as he realizes that he is not a perfect fit for the world in which he is coming of age. I think so many kids read that book at 15 or 16 and may miss a good chunk of what's so beautiful about it; it didn't really resonate with me until I picked it up in my midtwenties as I was trying to really figure out my place in the world. I still read it every five years or so and find something else to think about.

Sandy Mitchell, Reading Specialist

"SCARY STORIES" Icannot choose just one of those books, although "Scary Stories" is a huge favorite of mine, since, as a reading specialist, I work with kids all the time who are working on their reading. 'Scary Stories' is a perfect example of a well-written book that is high in appeal for children, and yet is simple enough that beginning readers can read it and enjoy it on their own. My main goal as a reading teacher is that a child develops a love for reading. Alvin Schwartz, JK Rowling, and Robert Cormier are examples of (banned) authors who have made that happen for countless young readers.

Len Germinara, Co-host, Nantucket Poetry Slam

"TO KILLAMOCKING BIRD" It was the first book I earned through the "Paper Back Book Club" in grade school. It sparked a love affair with reading that keeps me warm still. The Banned Books list has always been a guide for me, more valuable than the NY Times "Best Sellers" list.

Kate Merlini Fraser, Development Director, Artists'Association of Nantucket "THE OUTSIDERS" As a pre-teen reading "The Outsiders" for English class, it opened my mind to the circumstances of others, to thoughts and perspectives completely outside my frame of reference. It forced me to consider the lifestyles of other people.

Elizabeth Sundell, Co-Founder, Nantucket Lighthouse School

"The Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" is flawless. I have read it 20 or 30 times. It inspires me to write, to read and to know.

Jascin Leonardo Finger, Curator, Egan Maritime Foundation

"BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA" Wow! I had no idea that some of those books were on that list! So many of them were a part of my growing up - both as books that I read for school or on my own, books that were read aloud by my mother or by a teacher and books that I have read as an adult. It's so hard to pick just one because they have all become a part of me and helped to shape me even in just a small way. "Bridge to Terabithia" was read to my 3/4 class by our teacher, Mrs. Chessman. I just think of the silence in our classroom as she read that book and how it made us all feel - even as third and fourth graders. Read-aloud time was such an important part of the classroom and a time that we all enjoyed and looked forward to. The teachers always found books that made us reach and ask questions and think beyond our years.

Linda Zola, Founder, Teacher, Nantucket New School "I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS" Iuse many of these books quite regularly with students, and it's painful to see them on this list. It was hard to pick one favorite, but since I'd just recommended "I Know why the Caged Bird Sings" to a student (with her mother's permission), and since her mother had read it last night, in one sitting, and came in this morning raving about how wonderful it was, I guess that will have to be my choice. The broadening of one's frame of reference is what I value it for.

Lucretia Voigt, Owner, Brant Point Books

"NATIVE SON" Richard Wright changed my life. Even though I grew up in the South, I never really understood racism and how a black person's experience is any different from my own until reading "Native Son." It is a lesson I will never forget.

Marie Henke, Photo Archivist, Nantucket Historical Association

"HARRY POTTER" Harry Potter is the best I've read from this list. Winner by a mile. My teenage niece introduced Harry and all the marvelous cast to me. What a fabulous new world! I couldn't put them down.

I