In Honor of Banned Books Week: 21 Books to Read for Enhanced Grant Writing Skills
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” This quote comes from one of my favourite books by Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. If you read one book on the art of writing, I suggest this one. Banned books week was September 27 to October 3, 2020, and is conducted by the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom. Stephen King had four of the most 100 challenged books banned between 1990 and 1999: Cujo, Carrie, The Dead Zone, and Christine. Many of his other books have been challenged or banned also. King says people who ban books “don’t believe in democracy, but rather in a kind of intellectual autocracy.”
Improve your grant writing skills and celebrate our First Amendment rights at the same time by reading great literature that some people believe should be eliminated from our world. Becoming a better writer often involves leaving our comfort zone and learning about different subjects and other people’s lives, even if books involve subjects that we do not agree with or are hard to face. To be a good storyteller, you must read good stories. I do not ever want to live in a world without books or in a society where books are burned. Find out why the following books were banned in celebration of #BannedBooksWeek and read one of them today. This list includes several of my all-time favorites so far.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: This book helped me survive adolescence, and was banned due to “excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult.”
Anne Frank-The Diary of a Young Girl: Read it since it has been banned for its true depiction of a Jewish family hiding during the Holocaust. If we refuse to understand world history, atrocities such as this will happen again.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: I read this twice, including recently due to the current hateful political climate in the USA right now. Books are burned in this novel, and women lose their freedom. Banned due to “anti-Christian” propaganda.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker: A stunning book, and important to read so we understand slavery, banned due to its depictions of child sexual abuse by a young girl’s father plus descriptions of a lesbian relationship.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: I love this book, which was banned because of some cussing, witchcraft, and atheism. It is a heartfelt, sad story about a friendship between a ten-year-old girl and boy.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell; The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway; Charlotte's Web by E.B. White: https://www.dorrancepublishing.com/censored-story-five-banned-books/. I need to read To Kill a Mockingbird again—a wonderful book.
Beloved by Toni Morrison: A lyrical ghost story based on true events where a mother, Margaret Garner, chooses to do the unthinkable to save her children from slavery in America. Banned due to violence and rape descriptions.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles: A sad book about a friendship between two boys at a boarding school during war time, banned due to supposedly sexual content, but there is not much of this in the novel. It was called a “filthy, trashy sex novel” in 1980.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell: This book depicts the true story of two male penguins who raise a baby penguin in a zoo. Perhaps the people who challenge this book due to it’s so-called “homosexual tendencies” should take a hard look in the mirror and ask themselves why they feel this way?
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak: A fun book for children, banned due to a little boy being nude in the illustrations.
Animal Farm by George Orwell: Banned because of a supposed focus on socialism.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain): Banned because some feel it includes racist stereotypes, poor grammar, historical inaccuracies, and even called “mindless” by some. Mark Twain wrote this novel after he tried to publish an article about hypocrisy and slavery in America, which was censored.
1984 by George Orwell: Banned because of supposedly being anti-government, along with support of communism and immorality.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Banned for several reasons – “profanity; morbid and depressing themes; anti-business attitude; and derogatory towards African Americans, women, and the developmentally disabled.”
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: A parent wanted this important book about race in America banned due to its “lack of innocence, language, and sexual content.”
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway: Banned and burned by the Nazi government in Germany, the fascist government in Italy, and in America for sexual content. It was also banned in Ireland.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London: Banned due to depictions of violence.
These are just a few of many banned books. My list of banned and challenged books I still need to read keeps getting longer. What are your favorite banned books?
