- Tip to authors out there,
if you really want to make an impact,
make sure that the book you write
will absolutely be banned.
That way, people will talk about it
in videos such as this one.
Unless it's total crap.
(upbeat energetic music)
Since 1990, the American
Library Association
has received reports of more than 18,000
attempts to ban books from
schools and libraries.
And, we're not talking about
Fifty Shades of Grey here.
The irony of banning Ray
Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
is that the story itself is
about the perils of censorship.
But, without his permission,
Bradbury's publisher
cut words like hell, damn and abortion
so it could be distributed in schools.
When Bradbury insisted they
be returned in the reprint,
a school in Mississippi banned it in 1999.
The colorful illustrated
children's book Where's Waldo
seems innocent enough,
but schools in Michigan
and New York banned it
for supposedly including dirty things
like a topless sunbather,
interracial gay lovers
and character raising heavy metal horns.
In 1997, a special release of the book
covered the topless lady
with an obvious swimsuit.
Wait, what the stuff?
Someone banned the dictionary?
Yep.
Between 1976 and 1987, the
American Heritage Dictionary
was removed from school libraries
in Alaska, California and Indiana
because of objectionable language.
Concerned parents have been contesting
the complete Grimm's fairytales
since the early 1800s.
Now, it is fairly brutal in
its depictions of children
being devoured and thrown into ovens,
but one school banned it because
Red Riding Hood carried
wine through the woods
to her grandmother.
And others accused it of anti-semitism
and negative portrayals
of female characters.
Ironically, author Jacob Grimm was himself
appointed the public sensor
of his hometown in Germany.
Once upon a time, a mother in Michigan
launched a formal complaint against the
definitive version of Anne Frank's diary,
but it wasn't for
anti-semitism or genocide,
but because of a passage in which Frank
discusses parts of her anatomy, quite,
well, frankly.
Judy Blume's young adult novels have sold
more than 82 million
copies and are translated
into 32 languages,
but Blume is also one of the
most frequently challenged
authors of the 21st century.
Her book, Forever, has
been continually contested
for its story of premarital sex.
Her other books have also drawn fire
for depictions of puberty,
sexuality and masturbation.
So, have you ever found any books banned
from your school or
library that made you go,
"What the stuff?"
Let us know in the comments below
and click the subscribe
button if you don't want us
to ban you for life.
Just kidding.
I don't know how we'd do that.
Seriously though, for more
information about banned books
like Harry Potter and Tom Sawyer,
see the article How Banning a Book Works
at howstuffworks.com.
And, by the way, I wrote it.
That's how you know it's awesome.
