Handmaid's Tale,' Harry Potter on challenged books list

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Hillel Italie, Ap National Writer
Updated 8:23 am CDT, Monday, April 20, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) —

Stories with gay and transgender themes, a spoof inspired by the family rabbit of Vice President Mike Pence, and classics by J.K. Rowling and Margaret Atwood were among the books that received the most objections last year at schools and libraries.

On Monday, the American Library Association released its annual snapshot of books most “challenged” by parents and other community members. The top two were Alex Gino's “George” and Susan Kuklin's “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” both cited for transgender content. No. 3 was the best-selling “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” a gay parody of "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” by Pence's wife, Karen, and daughter Charlotte.

“The list shows a continued trend of attacks we've seen in recent years,” says Deborah Caldwell Stone, who heads the library association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. She noted that complaints were coming not just from individuals but from organizations such as the Florida Citizens Alliance, which has issued a list of “Porn in Florida Public Schools” that includes Toni Morrison's ”The Bluest Eye," Khaled Hosseini's “The Kite Runner” and a book in the ALA's new survey, Cory Silverberg's “Sex Is a Funny Word.”

. . .

Other challenged works included Rowling's “Harry Potter” books, which have long been criticized by some religious groups for themes of sorcery; and Atwood's dystopian “The Handmaid's Tale,” itself the story of a repressed society, for “vulgarity and sexual overtones.”

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Handmaid-s-Tale-Harry-Potter-on-challenged-15212396.php

[msongs]

1. bibles should be banned - witchcraft, perversion, adultery, s&m etc nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Don't forget the incest.

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. This, in case someone misses it

[abqtommy]

3. And yet a vocal minority of persons support the walking porn masquerading as POTUS...

It's a given that it doesn't make sense. At all...

[Marrah_Goodman]

4. This is because religious zealots are the most likely to complain about freedom of speech

[Igel]

9. There's a long, long history

of books like Huckleberry Finn being on the "challenged list."

My school library did a check for books that might be offensive to certain groups--not inclusive enough, used language that was offensive on the basis of gender/ethnicity, that sort of thing. Some things discretely vanished.

I'd agree, but would remove the word "religious".

[bucolic_frolic]

5. I'd bet the Literary Police are the same bunch who protests Stay-at-Home orders for public safety

These people have minds that are UPSIDE DOWN

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I love that their imaginary friend told them to be worried about imaginary 'sorcery'.

[Doodley]

8. Killjoys in every sense of the word.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Alice in Wonderland!

[Nitram]

11. We just have to fight back to make sure book banners don't get traction.