To Read or Not To Read

In honor of Banned Books Week (Sept. 23-29), here's a list of some of the books that have been challenged and/or banned here and around the world. It includes classics like To Kill a Mockingbird ("Challenged at the Moss Point, MS, School District [1996] because the novel contains a racial epithet. Banned from the Lindale, TX, advanced placement English reading list [1996] because the book 'conflicted with the values of the community.'"), Sons and Lovers ("In 1961 an Oklahoma City group called Mothers United for Decency hired a trailer, dubbed it 'smutmobile,' and displayed books deemed objectionable, including Lawrence's novel."), The Call of the Wild ("Banned in Italy [1929], Yugoslavia [1929], and burned in Nazi bonfires [1933]."), and Lady Chatterley's Lover ("Dissemination of Lawrence’s novel has been stopped in China [1987] because the book 'will corrupt the minds of young people and is also against the Chinese tradition.'"): http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons