Culture

Gay penguins book is most banned

by generaldecay | October 1, 2009 at 07:52 am

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Authors, artists and musicians are due to gather at a library in San Francisco to protest against the banning of books in schools and libraries in the US. The event, part of the 27th annual Banned Books Week, has been organised by the American Library Association.

What always fascinates me about the practice of censorship is that individuals and institutions still censor artistic works even though doing so is the singular best form of advertising. I would never have heard of this publication were it not for its banning. Instant notoriety!

In recent years, And Tango Makes Three - based on a true story and centring on gay penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo - has had the most ban requests. The book's authors are Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Reasons given by organisations and individuals for their requests to get it removed from public shelves, include "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group".

Other banned books include:

His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman

TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle

Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz

Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar

Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper