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Reviews of subversive literature
Last year I challenged myself to catch up on a number of banned books I missed while growing up. I’ve read and reviewed 17 of the 18 books on my list, but there are many, many more . . . so many, in fact, I could keep making new lists of banned books to read […]
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker The Color Purple is a story told in short letters. Letters, at first, from a barely-literate Celie to God, letters that are little more than raw observations of a brutal, degraded, hopeless life. Letters, later, from Celie’s sister Nettie, reminding Celie of their shared history, relating the progress of […]
This time they’re after Anne Frank’s Diary (again).
What book? “It’s just not age appropriate,” said Cadmus, adding that this is the first time a book has been removed from classrooms throughout the district. This book.
Forever, by Judy Blume. Prominent on any list of banned and challenged books is Judy Blume’s Forever. It’s a great title, but Judy Blume could just as well have named it My First Fuck. Considering that Blume’s audience is made up of pre-teen and early-teen girls, it’s easy to understand why so many parents have […]
When I started my banned books project in September, I didn’t realize that other people have done similar things. Searching the web for information on why John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany (review below) has been challenged so many times, I stumbled upon a very nice site called Banned Books. Bonnie, the proprietor […]
When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he reportedly said “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.” It’s impossible to overstate the impact Uncle Tom’s Cabin had on mid-19th Century America, indeed the world. Lincoln was dead on. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a barn-burner, even today. What a […]
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier Stories for and about adolescents follow certain established conventions. Brave young boys and girls stand up to social and peer pressure, buck conformity, and do the right thing. They look bullies in the eye and the bullies back down. The bad guys lose. The good guys experience adversity but […]