Library touts reading banned, challenged books - Here's the list

Sault Ste. Marie Public Library is challenging the public to read books that have been banned or challenged in celebration of Freedom to Read Week, an annual nationwide event organized by the Book and Periodical Council which takes place during the third week of February.

The local library has put together a list of 50 books that have been pulled from the Freedom to Read Week's list of challenged works with hopes readers will digest as many of the banned or challenged books as possible over the course of the next month. 

Elise Schofield, manager of community engagement for Sault Ste. Marie Public Library, says the library is joining other libraries across Canada to highlight Freedom to Read Week in order to celebrate people's intellectual freedom and freedom of expression that are granted under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

“The library safeguards that right, and we encourage people to exercise that right by reading a banned or challenged book during this Freedom to Read Week,” said Schofield. “It’s important to be able to have access to those contents, so we can see in history that books have been banned, or even burned, for their knowledge or what they contain inside of them.

“We really look to support all expressions, ideas and opinions to celebrate that we are able to read whatever we would like.”

The library is encouraging the public to pick up reading sheets at James L. McIntyre Centennial Library or the North Branch. The sheets can also be accessed online or by calling the library's North Branch at (705)759-5248. 

Readers will be given one ballot for each of the books on the list that are read. All forms and ballots must be submitted by Feb. 28.

“I foresee a lot of people taking on this event, especially since there’s some childhood classics that they might enjoy re-reading,” Schofield said. 

The following is the library’s list of banned or challenged books:

Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

Beloved, Toni Morrison

The Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Native Son, Richard Wright (e-audio only)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie 

A Separate Peace, John Knowles

Maus, Art Spieglemen

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (Spanish and e-book only)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

All American Boys, Jason Reynolds

The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Alexie Sherman

Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Perez

Harry Potter (series), J.K. Rowling

We All Fall Down, Robert Cormier

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

Thirteen Reasons, Jay Asher

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

Habibi, Craig Thompson

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard

Drama, Raina Telgemeier

The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls 

Crank, Ellen Hopkins (e-book only)

My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult

The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman

Forever, Judy Blume

Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, Michael A. Bellesiles

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

Summer of My German Soldier, Bette Green 

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

This One Summer, Mariko Tamaki