Banned/Challenged Book: 1984 by George Orwell

George Orwell's 1984 is a dystopian novel that was written in 1948, and set in the then future year of 1984.  The planet is divided into three super-powers that are at constant war with one another, and which keep their citizens under totalitarian control.  Their methods include constant surveillance, dehumanization, mind control, physical and mental torture, executions and more. 

Our protagonist, Winston Smith, a member of the Outer Party, attempts to not only maintain his humanity, but to fight The Party.  At his side is Julia, a woman with whom he falls in love.  He also enlists the aid of O'Brien, a member of the Inner Party, someone he long felt he could trust because he sensed a connection with him. 

 1984 was subjected to challenges and bans immediately upon publication, and for decades afterward, making it one of the American Library Association's most challenged classics .

In Russia, the book was banned upon publication.

In 1981 parents in Jackson County, FL, challenged the book for being "pro-communist" (did they read it?) and complained that it contained "explicit sexual matter". 

Myriad challenges have been made regarding 1984's language, sexual content, "anti-government" stance, "pro-communism" stance, and other content. 

 If you haven't read it, do so and decide for yourself.  Even if you have already read 1984, read it again.  You won't be sorry.

Banned/Challenged: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian tale of starkly misogynist future theocratic America.  Fertility rates have plummeted, so women who are able to conceive, called handmaids, are assigned to upper-class couples to bear them children.  Infertile women are assigned menial roles such as cooks, housemaids and the like.  Reading, birth control, personal property, money, and the like are all forbidden to women. 

The book was banned by a Judson, Texas judge for myriad complaints including claims that the book was "sexually explicit" and "offensive to Christians".  In 2006 this ban was overturned.

Numerous other challenges have been made around the country, typically on claims  that the book is "offensive to Christians", that it is "sexually explicit", contains "graphic violence", and even that it is "morally corrupt". 

The Handmaid's Tale is not light reading.  It's meant to shock, to wake the reader up.  Written in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale is still relevant nearly 35 years later.  Perhaps that, more than any of the other claims, is why it is so often on the lists of challenged/banned books.

Banned/Challenged Book: A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age story that takes place in a New England boarding school during WWII.  The story follows quiet Gene and his best friend, outgoing, popular Phineas, through their senior year.  The boys find themselves growing apart not only due to the differences in their personalities, but because of the ongoing war.  







Over the years the book has been challenged numerous times: 

1980 - New York:  Vernon-Verona-Sherill school district (“filthy, trashy sex novel")
1985 - Pennsylvania (language/profanity)
1989 - Tennessee  (language/profanity)
1991 - Illinois (language/profanity and "negative attitudes")
1996 - North Carolina (language/profanity)


If you can handle some language/profanity, give A Separate Peace a try.  It's not a lighthearted read, but it's a good read.