Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!

Top 10 Challenged Books 2010
1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson;
2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie;
3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley;
4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins;
5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins;
6) Lush, by Natasha Friend;
7) What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones;
8) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich;
 9) Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie;
10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

10 years ago the most challenged books were:
2001: 1) Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling;
2) Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck;
3) The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier;
 4) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou;
 5) Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene;
 6) The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger;
7) Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor;
8) Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous;
9) Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers;
10) Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause

Does the lack of classics on the list now show any sort of improvement?  I find it interesting that #10 on both lists is a vampire book...Although, Blood and Chocolate is SIGNIFICANTLY better than Twilight...
I have to be honest, I have only read 2 of the books on this years list and I'm totally confident that the V.C. Andrews books that I found on the libary shelves in junior high blows both of those away...I also find it really sad that And Tango Makes Three consistently makes the list.  It's the true story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who have raised an orphaned baby penguin as their own.  Instead of appreciating the sweetness and love of this story, angry parents have demanded it be taken off the shelves due to its "homosexual" themes.  Shame on you, parents.  Everyone else--buy it, read it, check it out, give it as a gift!

In the meantime, READ BANNED BOOKS!  And let your kids read whatever they want because I know from experience, it won't hurt them!
ALA Banned Books Week