Book Blogger Hop!

It's Friday and that means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop! Hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books it's a fun, weekly gathering of over 200 book bloggers and a great way to get to know the community. This weeks question is in honour of Banned Book Week:
What is your favourite banned or frequently challenged book?

One of my favourite books is The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I read it in high school and at the time didn't see anything wrong with it, and I still don't. In fact, it was one of only two books that I read in high school that I enjoyed and was interested in. One book from the 2010-2011 list that I really enjoyed is Push by Sapphire. I wouldn't have a problem with my children reading it in their teens.

I am against banning books. There may be some that I feel are inappropriate for certain age levels, but I think that's the responsibility of parents to pay attention to what their children are reading and talk to them about it. I'm especially against banning books that are classics just because they present values that go against the ones we have today.

Example - here is the listing for Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (which I haven't read) - A resident had objected to the novel's depiction of how blacks are treated by members of a racist white community in an Alabama town during the depression. The resident feared the book would upset black children reading it.

I would have no problem with my children reading this book and I doubt it would upset them. The reason for this is, we've already explained to my four year old how things once were. This summer we visited the Martin Luther King Jr Historical Site in Atlanta and sat down to explain everything to her. And over the years we will continue to explain things to her as she matures and has a better understanding of things. A book like this shouldn't upset her when she's in high school because she will already know that this is how things really were. We're not going to sugarcoat what is history.

Comments

  1. Kat @ NoPageLeftBehindSeptember 30, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Oooh - I just bought The Handmaid's Tale and can't wait to read it!

    And I agree with your sentiments - do people actually read these books before banning them??

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2011 at 12:35 PM

    Just blogging by.

    http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-bologger-hop.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. ElizabethSeptember 30, 2011 at 6:23 PM

    Stopping by from the blog hop.

    There are a lot of books on that list that I love. :)

    Elizabeth

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Guestbook" by Holly Martin

Image
Welcome to Willow Cottage - throw open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home.  Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook! Annie Butterworth is the landlady of Willow Cottage, a beautiful cottage in the English countryside with a colourful array of guests.  Every guest is encouraged to write their thoughts in the guestbook and do they ever!  Love, loss, happiness, sadness, guilt, affairs, births, and surprises, it’s all in there.  Even Annie’s life gets caught up in the book. As a young widow, Annie herself is going through some changes.  And the appearance of her brother-in-law, celebrity crime writer Oliver Black isn’t helping.  As the guests of Willow Cottage go about their seaside vacations, Annie and Oliver must figure out how to move on in their lives, and most importantly, if they will do so together. The Guestbook by Holly Martin is a lovely, sweet, and unique book.  Written in the form...
Read more

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop

Image
I am so excited to be participating in the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, hosted by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog . There are over 50 participants hosting giveaways on their blog between October 15 and October 19. Be sure to hop around and check out all the awesome giveaways! My Giveaway Award season is underway in the Canadian literary world and to celebrate I would like to send someone some fabulous Canadian literature. One lucky winner will be able to choose which book they would like me to send them. Here are the choices (click on title to find out more about the book): A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (bought at library sale) Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (bought at library sale) Two of the books were bought at a library sale as mentioned. They are still in good condition but are obviously well-loved and do still have the library stickers on them. The other t...
Read more

"Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home" by Esi Edugyan

Image
“But where are you from, really?” This is a question that Canadians of all walks of life are often asked.  Part of our identity as Canadians is that we all come from somewhere else, and no matter how long ago, it is a defining part of who we are.   But for many people, this question is about more than where their family came to Canada from.  For many, it brings about a question of home and belonging.  These are the ideas that Esi Edugyan explored in her 2013 Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home .  Born in Canada to parents from Ghana, Esi Edugyan has travelled to and lived in various countries, all the while searching for her identity and coming to understand the meaning of home. As an author, Edugyan also reflects on Canadian literature and the notion of the “Canadian story.”  Her wildly successful novel, Half-Blood Blues , was set outside of Canada, and something she often heard was that it was not a t...
Read more