Read #BannedBooks All Year
We just wrapped up Banned Books week, the time of year where libraries, schools, bookstores, and lit nerds alike celebrate the amazing books banned and challenged every year in our public institutions. The world of books is changing, but the book itself it still an unparalleled tool to teach empathy and secure free speech.
[WORD Jersey City’s displays and visiting illustrator Lori Richmond and her awesome son celebrating the week]
In the US this year we banned picture books, novels, nonfiction, religious texts, comics, and joke books. While not all of us have personally suffered from a limited reading selections, the end result of banning effects all of us,
Banning books limits exposure to experiences different than our own. Simultaneously, it prevents people from finding representation and legitimacy in print. Banning books is done out of fear, not consideration. It is especially dangerous in educational sessions, which are supposed to be safe spaces to learn about horrors of history, controversial topics, or even just experiences that differ from yours. When we ban a book we are not saying, "This is not for me", which is your individual choice as a reader, but, "This is for no one".
Banned Books week may be over, but the list of banned books continues to grow. Instead of ignoring it, let’s read it. Check out several WORDie’s favorites:
Bookseller Dylan and Jersey City Events Coordinator Katelyn cosign Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Dylan further recommends This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki.
Kid Lit expert Lydia recs And Tango Makes Three while her cohort Crystal will always love Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and has been converted to the Saga comics. YA lover Melody adores John Green’s Looking for Alaska.
Offsite Events coordinator Karrie champions Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston and our events director Michelle sticks with the classics for As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
From our cafe comes Kristina’s rec for Burroughs Naked Lunch and Christopher is ready for the wild rumpus with Where the Wild Things Are while Avery <3′s Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing (and not just because he shares the name of a character...although that helps).
Inventory Director Ashanti is torn between Snow Falling On Cedars and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Hannah, the Operations Manager of Jersey City, keeps Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich close at hand.
Finally, what would a banned books list be without mentioning the boy who lived? Inventory coordinator Jasper and bookkeeper Will find Harry Potter a hard series to top (especially in its snazzy new paperback edition).
Want more reading? The American Bookseller’s Association has partnered with the American Library Association to help track books banned each year, classics and new reads alike. Don’t challenge the book, let the book challenge you. #dadpuns
