Should Books Ever Be Banned?
Posted on 05. Feb, 2013 by Jill Hallam-Miller in Uncategorized
A high school teacher in Prosser, Washington wants two books that are available to kids in the middle school library to be removed from the shelves.
A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
The books are Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called “It”, in which he recounts the horrendous abuse he sustained at the hands of his mother, and The Popularity Papers, a series intended for younger children that deals with social challenges, such as having two parents of the same sex.
Challenging books, calling for their removal from a library, tends to make them much more popular than they might have been without the negative hype. Most people want to find out just what’s so offensive that someone would call for the book’s removal. Would books like 50 Shades of Grey, for example, ever have been so wildly popular without all the controversy?
Our library carries A Child Called “It.” While some readers might find the book objectionable, our library staff strongly believes in the rights of readers to make their own decisions about what they wish to read. We are opposed to censorship, and we value intellectual freedom, the freedom to read, and to obtain information of all kinds.
What do YOU think? Have you read A Child Called “It” and would you recommend it? How about any of the books on our Banned Books board on Pinterest? Can you think of any reason a book should be made unavailable to ANYONE?
We’d love to hear what our students, alumni, staff, and faculty have to say about this!
I read A Child Called It. Upon researching Dave Pelzer and the book,I have found that there are a lot of people who do not believe the story is true. There were parts of the book that sounded odd to me, but I wouldn't claim he was lying. In the end though, I don't think the book should be banned.
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