Challenged Titles: yes, we have them all!

The American Library Association has just released its Top Ten "Most Challenged Books of 2006". I'll list them below, but first I want to correct a mistaken impression. Some in the public think it's libraries and librarians who ban certain books. In fact, in the great majority of cases, it's libraries and librarians who defend these books and convincingly argue why they should stay on our shelves. This year's list of most challenged books is not atypical, although we are happy to see that "Catcher in the Rye", "Huckleberry Finn" and the "Harry Potter" books, perpetual banned favorites, didn't make the top ten for 2006. It is sad to see two Toni Morrison novels there, however.

• "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
• The "Gossip Girls" series by Cecily Von Ziegesar
• The "Alice" series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler
• "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
• "Scary Stories" by Alvin Schwartz
• "Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher
• "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

The Dover Public Library has all these books. An important thing to remember is that a good library has something to offend almost everyone. Parents should watch what their children read, read together with them and make appropriate decisions for their family. As an adult, your reading choices are yours alone. No one individual should make judgments about what's "proper" for the entire populace which a library serves.