“The New English Canaan” by Thomas Morton, published in 1637, was the first banned book in the history of the United States.
Its critical analysis of customs, perceptions, and systemic power structures brought by the Puritans was a significantly unpopular opinion among New England settlers. While Morton took a great interest in the traditions of the Indigenous people, many perceived Indigenous practices as wild and untamed. His book unleashed a wave of fury amongst the government, and it was revoked.
The practice of banning books did not stop with “The New English Canaan.” According to the American Library Association (ALA), there have been about 414 attempts tracked in 2024 to censor literary materials.
In response, every year, the ALA and Amnesty International promote and campaign for Banned Books Week. It is an effort, to not only celebrate the freedom to read, but also, to bring awareness to books that are banned in schools across the United States, and expose the banning of common themes in literary materials.
“I’ve seen the patterns of banning books change over the years. There’s a lot more concern and ban of books that have LGBTQIA content,” says Janet Lexow, Reference Librarian of Freel Library at MCLA.
Lexow first started as a public librarian working with fiction and young adult literature before moving into the academic libraries. In every library she’s worked at, each year without fail, she has done a banned books display, featuring banned books she thinks might interest readers most. These displays include a summary about why each book was banned. It is one of her favorite weeks of the year, she says.
“I do try to read most banned books,” says Lexow, “One of the most interesting ones that I found was “Little Red Riding Hood,” a children’s book. But it’s banned because the cover illustration of the book has Little Red Riding Hood carrying a basket of food to visit her grandma, and it’s got a bottle of alcohol in the basket. The concern was that it was promoting underage drinking.”
People challenge and ban books for all sorts of reasons: their personal beliefs, political views, and even individual beliefs, which is often argued to be a disruption of the separation of Church and State.
Included in Lexow’s Banned Books display is “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White, a book many people read in elementary school, which was banned because some argued the portrayal of talking animals was an act of the devil, therefore it contradicted their personal religious beliefs.
“I think we must push back on these bans,” says Lexow, “because a lot of times books are banned or challenged because of personal concerns and political views. I think it’s a whole educational process where you should be able to choose what you want to read when you want to read it, and no one should have the ability to say, ‘that’s not appropriate’.”
Lexow says she was reading an article in a recent issue of Publisher’s Weekly (Sept. 23, 2024) about banned books, which declares a current surge in politically-motivated book bans, with the attempts to censor books increasing by 65% in 2023. The ALA concludes this was the highest reach ever tracked by its Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Texas has reached the top of the list, banning the most books in the country and continuing to ban materials, specifically, consisting of LGBTQ+ literature.
The image of Lexow’s Banned Books display (see above, taken by Lexow herself) shows the books included:
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger (profanity, sexual themes, and “encouragement” of rebellion)
“Nickel and Dimed” by Barabara Ehrenreich (religious, politics, offensive language, and drugs)
“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” by Emily M. Danforth (inappropriate language)
“Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin (offensive language, homosexuality, and sex education)
“This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki (profanity, sexual references, and certain illustrations)
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson (LGBTQ content, sexual content)
“To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (strong language, discussion of rape and sexuality, perception of black people’s experiences, featuring a white savior character, racism)
“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White (talking animals is “the work of the devil”)
“Persepolis” by Marjane Satrap (graphic images)
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K Rowling (promoting witchcraft)
Several of these books were once required reading in school curriculum. Those same works are being revoked in schools, now. Many have expressed that it is dangerous to ban literature, because it erases history and disrupts individual thinking.
Lexow wants readers to know that we have a voice in the matter, and we are more than entitled to use it.
