The ban in Utah sounds crazy. I’ve grown convinced that book bans have little to do with the books themselves, but more pertain to the desire for power and attention on behalf of the banners. It’s surprising how many there have been.
Yes, I also believe it's a control thing --- and it's also impossible to be consistent with the banning of similar subject matter in all the other books on the shelves. Librarians don't read every book there. They usually only find out about the "bad parts" after everyone's read them and talked about them. Ironically, when it comes out that these books are banned, it really only serves to send more people out to buy them, making them more popular than before.
This was brilliant, Debs. You point out so clearly the absolute absurdity of this entire book-banning enterprise. I didn’t realize As I Lay Dying was on the list too. I’ll have to add it to my list too. I share your outrage at all of these challenges. Well done, my friend!
Thanks Pat. No I didn’t realise As I Lay Dying was a banned book when we read it either. It seems like books are banned for being real and gritty. It makes me so cross
Good God. Inspired by this I’ve just been through what I’ve read so far this year and 12 of them are currently banned or challenged in the US. Just books I read this year. The only one I intentionally read as a banned book was ACOTAR. They weren’t even the ones I expected to be banned for sex, profanity and violence, it was just innocuous things like The Bell Jar and Wide Sargasso Sea. These people are insane.
I read A Court of Thorns and Roses. While I doubt an elementary school librarian would choose this book for their library just as they wouldn’t choose many books that are not of elementary school level. For Junior high and on I think a ban is not needed. Teenagers of that age will not be damaged by it. 😆
That’s just it, isn’t it. Kids to young to read it aren’t going to a) understand it or b) want to read it. Older kids should be allowed to decide for themselves, or with their parents, and not be dictated to by the state
I've been looking forward to this video from you. I think the bottom line is something you said toward the beginning --- the government, or anyone else, has no right to tell us what we may read. I suspect the Utah bans, like many others, are due to religious reasons. As a Bible believer, I do have limitations for what I allow my children to be exposed to at certain ages (as I have limits for myself) but this responsibility is MY choice and I don't want or need another entity stepping in and moralizing or policing my actions. By taking freedom from others, we are putting ourselves in a place to have freedom taken from us. In theory, I think if a government is going to establish a school that is available to everyone and is paid for by everyone then it needs to provide services that work for everyone. In reality, this is impossible. What do we do, then? Do we set up rules based on one sect's mentality? No, we function the same as we do in the rest of society and have each person (parent) be responsible for themselves (their own children). The Charlotte's Web thing cracked me up --- Balaam's donkey, anyone? 🤣🤣 Gonna have to ban the Bible now! I'm currently reading The Wizard of Oz to one daughter and the Little House books to another. We finished Charlotte's Web a few months ago.... oops!
I absolutely agree Sarah. I always believed it was my responsibility to oversee my children’s reading when they were young. By the time they were teenagers, I certainly trusted them to choose their own reading material. It’s a parental role and certainly not a government one
It's absolutely incredible that out of all the authors you mentioned, only one was a man. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the point wasn't only to bowdlerize, but to sprinkle in some misogyny to boot. But then again, I suppose those two usually go hand-in-hand.
The Witches by Roald Dhal has always been a favorite of mine. Someone I shared the story with, an adult, stared at me like I was a witch for liking this book, as if I was on the witch's side, when I was rooting for Luke and his grandmother.
It IS Utah, so I am not at all surprised. That’s why I’ll never live there-I am an Atheist, not a Mormon. Would not do well there at all for SO many reasons… 😂
The only thing I find vaguely amusing is that the banning of these books are likely to make them more sought after. I would not do well in Utah either 😂
How interesting, I did not know Call of the wild was banned in Yugoslavia at that period. I read that book which was my father's copy when I was a child and it was a Yugoslav print so they obviously changed their mind later. And we had a couple of other books by Jack London, my dad was a big fan in his youth. This video was really interesting and well done. My reaction to why Black Beauty was banned was disbelief at first. How low people can go. I haven't read Winnie The Pooh but I'm familiar and I have bo no idea why Piglet would be considered offensive to Muslims and Jews. Some of, if not all of the "reasonings" for these bans were offensive and against common sense and aainst critical thinking. How sad.
You know the more I discover about banned and challenged books, the more ridiculous it seems to me. So many absolute classics have been challenged or banned over the years. It makes me angry.
I’m so glad you were able to take part in #24BB and share in the madness of it all. Booktube is better with you in it! 🫶🏻🤗 Thanks Debs. I’m moving forward with reading more banned books and raising awareness in 2025. I love you and your fashion sense! Welcome to the peaceful resistance! 📚✊🏻
The ban in Utah sounds crazy. I’ve grown convinced that book bans have little to do with the books themselves, but more pertain to the desire for power and attention on behalf of the banners. It’s surprising how many there have been.
Yes, I also believe it's a control thing --- and it's also impossible to be consistent with the banning of similar subject matter in all the other books on the shelves. Librarians don't read every book there. They usually only find out about the "bad parts" after everyone's read them and talked about them. Ironically, when it comes out that these books are banned, it really only serves to send more people out to buy them, making them more popular than before.
It is absolutely crazy. I have no idea how they have managed to get this through
This was brilliant, Debs. You point out so clearly the absolute absurdity of this entire book-banning enterprise. I didn’t realize As I Lay Dying was on the list too. I’ll have to add it to my list too. I share your outrage at all of these challenges. Well done, my friend!
Thanks Pat. No I didn’t realise As I Lay Dying was a banned book when we read it either. It seems like books are banned for being real and gritty. It makes me so cross
Good God. Inspired by this I’ve just been through what I’ve read so far this year and 12 of them are currently banned or challenged in the US.
Just books I read this year.
The only one I intentionally read as a banned book was ACOTAR.
They weren’t even the ones I expected to be banned for sex, profanity and violence, it was just innocuous things like The Bell Jar and Wide Sargasso Sea.
These people are insane.
So easy to read a book that has been banned or challenged that half the time we don’t even know we’re doing it. Scary isn’t it ?
Thank you Debs, for this list. Future looks very frightening.
Doesn’t it just. The more I discover about book banning, the more worried I become
I read A Court of Thorns and Roses. While I doubt an elementary school librarian would choose this book for their library just as they wouldn’t choose many books that are not of elementary school level.
For Junior high and on I think a ban is not needed. Teenagers of that age will not be damaged by it. 😆
That’s just it, isn’t it. Kids to young to read it aren’t going to a) understand it or b) want to read it. Older kids should be allowed to decide for themselves, or with their parents, and not be dictated to by the state
Hi Debbie, I'm in the Voxer group for ACOTAR and followed the link you posted there to this video. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽. Great video and agree 💯.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting. I’m becoming a bit obsessive about these banned books
I've been looking forward to this video from you. I think the bottom line is something you said toward the beginning --- the government, or anyone else, has no right to tell us what we may read. I suspect the Utah bans, like many others, are due to religious reasons. As a Bible believer, I do have limitations for what I allow my children to be exposed to at certain ages (as I have limits for myself) but this responsibility is MY choice and I don't want or need another entity stepping in and moralizing or policing my actions. By taking freedom from others, we are putting ourselves in a place to have freedom taken from us. In theory, I think if a government is going to establish a school that is available to everyone and is paid for by everyone then it needs to provide services that work for everyone. In reality, this is impossible. What do we do, then? Do we set up rules based on one sect's mentality? No, we function the same as we do in the rest of society and have each person (parent) be responsible for themselves (their own children). The Charlotte's Web thing cracked me up --- Balaam's donkey, anyone? 🤣🤣 Gonna have to ban the Bible now! I'm currently reading The Wizard of Oz to one daughter and the Little House books to another. We finished Charlotte's Web a few months ago.... oops!
I absolutely agree Sarah. I always believed it was my responsibility to oversee my children’s reading when they were young. By the time they were teenagers, I certainly trusted them to choose their own reading material. It’s a parental role and certainly not a government one
It's absolutely incredible that out of all the authors you mentioned, only one was a man. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the point wasn't only to bowdlerize, but to sprinkle in some misogyny to boot. But then again, I suppose those two usually go hand-in-hand.
I completely agree. The Utah legislature doesn’t appear to be particularly enlightened
The Witches by Roald Dhal has always been a favorite of mine. Someone I shared the story with, an adult, stared at me like I was a witch for liking this book, as if I was on the witch's side, when I was rooting for Luke and his grandmother.
It IS Utah, so I am not at all surprised. That’s why I’ll never live there-I am an Atheist, not a Mormon. Would not do well there at all for SO many reasons… 😂
The only thing I find vaguely amusing is that the banning of these books are likely to make them more sought after. I would not do well in Utah either 😂
How interesting, I did not know Call of the wild was banned in Yugoslavia at that period. I read that book which was my father's copy when I was a child and it was a Yugoslav print so they obviously changed their mind later. And we had a couple of other books by Jack London, my dad was a big fan in his youth.
This video was really interesting and well done. My reaction to why Black Beauty was banned was disbelief at first. How low people can go. I haven't read Winnie The Pooh but I'm familiar and I have bo no idea why Piglet would be considered offensive to Muslims and Jews. Some of, if not all of the "reasonings" for these bans were offensive and against common sense and aainst critical thinking. How sad.
You know the more I discover about banned and challenged books, the more ridiculous it seems to me. So many absolute classics have been challenged or banned over the years. It makes me angry.
I’m so glad you were able to take part in #24BB and share in the madness of it all. Booktube is better with you in it! 🫶🏻🤗 Thanks Debs. I’m moving forward with reading more banned books and raising awareness in 2025.
I love you and your fashion sense! Welcome to the peaceful resistance!
📚✊🏻
That’s great. I’m certainly with you. The more I learn, the more determined I am to raise awareness and fight against such bans
PS. This sweatshirt is so comfy and cosy 😊