Happy Banned Books Week!
I love Banned Books Week for so many reasons. I don't believe in the institutionalized censorship of diverse voices and ideas, I don't believe there should be any censorship but self-censorship, and I don't think it's such a terrible idea to expose yourself to multiple arguments and perspectives about any subject.
So in honor of Banned Books Week, I'm going to be sharing my favorite banned books--one banned book a day with an anecdote about why I love that book. Enjoy!
Funny story about Go Ask Alice... It was the only book my family ever tried to censor in my reading life. I remember hearing someone at my middle school talking about it and, being a diarist myself, I couldn't resist reading an anonymous teenage girl's published diary.
I convinced my mom to take me to the book store and when she saw what I was buying, she said, "Oh, no. You're not reading that. I read it when I was older than you and it really scared me. I don't want you reading about a girl your age doing drugs." So, I asked her, "What, did it make you want to do drugs or something?" She glared at me with incredulity. "No, it scared me out of ever wanting to go near them." I smiled slyly and held up the book in my best pleasepleaseplease way. Needless to say, it was mine. And my mother never attempted to censor another book for me again.
