Amysue's Read-o-rama

Censorship is icky.

The ALA has published this list of 100 frequent challenged books from 1990-2000.   I've emboldened the books I've read and I have to say it amazes me what gets challenged or banned. I also want to insert a disclaimer that the only reason the Stern book is emboldened is because back when it was published my brother gave it to me as a Hanukkah gift.  Allowing special interest groups to ban particular books from our schools and libraries is a slippery slope that will lead to the eventual dumbing down of our children's healthy intellectual curiosity and stimulation.

I believe that the current surge to the right and it's attendant laws, actions and movements to ban access to literature and the arts is detrimental in the long run and insulting to our intelligence.  If you don't want your child to read Halloween ABC than don't give it to her, but don't take it from the library and force my child to live by your rules.  I grew up with parents whose basic philosophy was that if I could read it, it was my choice.  I needed special permission to read James Joyce in Jr. High.  I don't think we can blame him for my current quirky personality, but who knows?  My children sometimes choose books that don't appeal to me, if  I thought they were harming themselves or exposing themselves to harm by their choice I would discuss it with them, but I let them decide.  What is truly frightening to me is that today our stores, libraries, schools and even search engines are being guided by those with an agenda that is not mine and that in the end there may not be any real choices for any of us to make.  We may never see the truly revolutionary play, art work or novel because it may never be allowed to come into being or be marketed.  The Internet has been a great tool for folks who might otherwise never find an audience to put their art, music etc out there and that may end up being restricted as well.

So, you know, just like the title for the Post says, I think censorship is icky.  Try to avoid it.  Don't let others make your decisions for you.  Don't make mine for me!  Happy reading.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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Tapping the Dream Tree

Charles De Lint is probably my favorite contemporary author of fantasy.  I read his novels and short stories and never want to leave the places and people I meet within them.  This collection, as much of his work does, is mainly set in the fictional city of Newford.  It's a place that seems to exist on the borders of this and other worlds.  I pretty much loved and savored every story here, but Embracing the Mystery,really touched me.  The protagonist is such a by the book, straight forward, and by her own admission person intent on "figuring what fits in what box and making sure it stays that way."  I'm married to someone like that.  She starts her narrative this way: "I heard a dog speak once."  In the course of her tale she learns to stop using boxes shut herself "away from all that we don't" (know). 

Every story is magical and while I finish reading one of his books, and especially the Newford novels and stories, a little sad to be leaving the magic behind-it often awakens me to the magic in my own life, through my family, friends and the world around me.  There is a world that some in Newford can visit.  It's a dream city, called Mabon.. One recurring character's boyfriend lives there, she is only with him when she sleeps and dreams herself there.  Others have visited as well and I am so intrigued by this concept of a dream world that is as real as ours.  The characters call it serial dreaming and I think we all may have Mabons somewhere in our subconscious, whole worlds with in us.

That was book 6.  Read De Lint if you get a chance, his stories will transport you into a place where friendship and the power it brings is always a positive factor in the lives of his characters, as it should be in our lives.

Five.

Just finshed the latest (and 7th) book in Jim Butcher's, Dresden Files, Dead Beat.  Loved it.  Love Harry Dresden, the modern day wizard noire who for a guy with as much supernatural power as he has, really has no life.  It's what totally sells me on these books.  In this latest outing he spends a great deal of time with a side character named  Butters, who I couldn't get enough of.  Or maybe I'm just a polka fan.

These books are quick reads, with gret characters, interesting plots and no agenda.  Guilt free reading.  Go for it.

Now it's 4...

As I mentioned earlier today in my other blog, I started reading Cory Doctorow's latest novel, Somebody Comes to Town, Somebody Leaves Town and was mesmerized.  As I predicted I spent the rest of the day reading it and emerged back into real life somewhat dazed.

On the surface it's an odd concept, the main character, Alan (Adam,Alvin,Aidan) is the son of a mountain (dad) and  washing machine (mom), he has nesting doll brothers, a clairvoyant brother and an evil, dead brother, his girlfriend hates herself and has wings.  All of that is really beside the point, this novel resonated with me because it explores what it means to be human, to feel "real" and to be part of the world.  There's a subplot that touches on free wifi for all and a sort of anarchist agenda of sorts that is intriguing but it's not what made this book so compelling for me.  I want to stick this in the hands of everyone I know and make them read it, but first I want to reread it myself.

And 2 more make 3.

I have been reading Lian Hearn's (a pseudonym) books, Tales of the Otori.  The first two books, Across the Nightingale Floor and Grass for His Pillow, had me so engrossed that I read them in a couple of days, unable to put them down for long.  While the author writes that the books take place in a fictional land, there are many parallels to what we in he West think of as traditional feudal Japanese culture.

The book have been following the lives of two individuals, Takeo, whom we originally meet as a child just before his small village is sacked and Kaede, whose first appearance is also as a child being held hostage (a typical feudal arrangement) in the local Lord's domain.  There is a subtext about a deeply religious and oppresses people referred to as the Hidden, who clearly have a monotheistic faith.  They are persecuted by pretty much every faction we meet and seem to be the victims of an attempt at genocide by the ruling warlords.  There is also a secret society or clan known as the Tribe who have enhanced physical and almost supernatural powers and who involve themselves behind the scenes in nearly everything (not always for the good).

So clearly there is a struggle between what we in our culture perceive as a need for justice (equal rights for all, religious freedom, woman's rights etc.) and the traditional culture which stamps out anything or anyone who disturbs the status quo.  This isn't as heavy handed a sit might sound because the characters are compelling and it's there lives and stories that interest you. 

I'm hoping to pick up the third book this week and see where all that has gone before leads.

First finished book of the New Year.

I just finished reading Kevin Cross-Holland's ,Arthur:The Seeing Stone.  I have always had a fondness for novels about King Arthur and his cohorts and stumbled on this at my library.  I enjoyed it very much.  It's not typical of others I've read and it gives an amazingly realistic view of 12th century feudal living in England.  I'm not as certain how I feel about the Arthurian legend part of the story, but was completely enthralled by the tale of this young boy and his family.  I've requested others in the series from the library and will see where the Arthurian part is leading.   All in all a pleasant first novel for 2006.