Frankly, I think banning books makes for a stupider America. It's one thing to decide whether your child is READY to read a particular book. It's another thing to TELL ME whether or not MY child CAN read a particular book.
In fact, I think all teens should read Mein Kampf. Why? Because it shows how normal-sounding a HOMICIDAL PSYCHOPATH can be!
Here's a list of books I've read from ABFFE's most commonly challenged book list for 2012:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Forever by Judy Blume
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
There's a lot of books on the list, like The Catcher in the Rye, I simply haven't gotten to yet. Then there's others, like Catch-22, I was surpised to see not on the list this year. Joseph Heller's classic was a big stick up parents' collective asses when I was in high school.
Here's the thing, and this is me as a parent of a preteen saying this, the kids are going to learn about this stuff anyway. Wouldn't you want to open a dialogue with your kids about these subjects before street myths get stuck in their little brains?
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