All around the country, books are being banned in schools and libraries. It is an infringement on free speech, as authors’ voices are being shut down. National Banned Books Week, a time meant to celebrate literary freedom, was Oct. 5-11. As an avid reader who read many of these books before knowing they were even seen as controversial, I wanted to honor this event by recommending five frequently challenged books that impacted me.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
The women in this book are given no rights at all in a near-future dystopian setting. In this society, the main character, Offred, is only valued as a child-bearer. While the book is obviously fictional, the themes surrounding sexism are scarily reflected from today’s society. I recently finished this book over the span of a couple days. It was a difficult read, both in the linguistic style and the content, but it was necessary. I was curious about it because of videos that went viral of women dressed as handmaids following a congressman that was not supportive of women’s rights — I felt that I needed to read the book to understand their protest. Now having read it, I realize how important that protest was. It may have been silent, but it spoke volumes.
“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
This is a book about a young Latina girl living in Chicago. I read this book as a kid, and I sincerely enjoyed it. It is very poetic and talks about identity and culture, which was even more interesting to hear from the perspective of a kid. Honestly, I can’t see what could possibly be problematic about this book. It is challenged because it discusses tough social issues, but reading about these issues teaches kids to be aware of the world around them and understand right from wrong. Why wouldn’t you want your kid to learn about other cultures and become more open minded and curious about the world around them?
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is a kids’ book about Margaret Simon, a girl who just moved from New York City to New Jersey. She is dealing with a new home, new school, friends and her body starting to change. At the same time, she is figuring out how to connect with her grandparents on both sides despite the distance between them, and she is starting to have questions about religion that she tries to answer through a school project. Essentially, this book is about growing up.
This one is particularly upsetting to me because it is one of my favorite books of all time. I read this book at least a dozen times growing up. The things Margaret deals with are things that every single young girl experiences, and it makes no sense to ban it under the grounds that it mentions menstruation or bra shopping. If anything, this book gives girls an opportunity to normalize an experience society has deemed taboo. It gives girls someone to relate to so that they are not alone. Even for us college students, I would recommend reading this book. I recently watched the movie and it made me reflect on that time in my life.
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
This book follows Black teenager Starr Carter in the aftermath of losing her best friend, Khalil, to police brutality. Starr is grieving while the media and her peers at her mostly white prep school spread false perceptions of Khalil being a criminal. Released during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, this book tells the story of someone directly affected by systemic racism and is based on true events. This isn’t just a story; it reveals the emotional and societal impact of racial injustice. Restricting access to books like “The Hate U Give” only delays understanding and meaningful change.
“A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini
I was assigned this book for my senior year English class in high school. I was fortunate enough to go to a school that did not ban books and had a diverse curriculum of assigned reading, which is why I think it is so important that others get the same reading experience in school that I did. We didn’t have time to finish this book in class, so I went home and finished the entire book in one sitting. It made me cry, made me angry and made me so attached to the characters.
The book follows Mariam and Laila, two women living in Afghanistan at different times and eventually their paths cross in a tragic, horrendous way. The book deals with war, abuse and oppression of women. These topics are all hard to grapple with, but banning books doesn’t change the reality that they exist.
Banning Books is Not the Answer
These are just a few of the challenged and banned books in the U.S. I highly recommend checking these out as well as any other challenged books. The best way to stand up against this violation of free speech is to educate ourselves, support the authors and talk about these books.
If you are interested in checking out more challenged books, here is a more in-depth list from the American Library Association.