Choosing the right curriculum for teachers is often a daunting task. For English teachers, choosing the right books for students is one of the most difficult tasks. Each English teacher has had at least one book challenged in her career. Books are intimate, personal, and often contain hard and significant problems, conflicts, and issues. Often book taught in the common high school classroom has been challenged at one point in time. For example, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and Lois Lowry’s The Giver.
Do some research. Examine the American Library Association’s website on Banned Books (http://www.ala.org). In a well-thought post, answer the following questions:
- What reasons might be given for the banning or challenging of a book?
- Why might a particular group or person want to protect a child from some of the ideas in the challenged books?
- Why might it be important for students to read books that explore controversial or sensitive topics?
- How might controversial books be used to break down stereotypes and bias?
Be sure to post links in your article to cite your information.
The Millinery 