âTo Kill a Mockingbirdâ by Harper Lee and âAdventures of Huckleberry Finnâ by Mark Twain are among the most challenged books in U.S. history. A school district in Virginia temporarily suspended the use of two classic American novels after a concerned mother complained about the racial slurs in them.
âLathbury, who specializes in early American fiction and modern British poetry, pointed out that âHuckleberry Finnâ was banned in Boston and elsewhere when it was first published in the U.S. in 1885 for reasons that had nothing to do with racial slurs.
âThe reason was that Huckleberry Finn was judged to be too low-class for literature, too rough and uncivilized a person for readers to focus on,â he said. âOf course, that is exactly Twainâs point â to be âsivilizedâ is to be on the wrong side of human values â but the banners did not redline the book for that reason; they wanted a more acceptable hero, closer to Tom Sawyer.â
