First up, after 105 years on the banned list, EVE'S DIARY by Mark Twain
has made it back to the shelves in the Charlton Public Library in Charlton, Massachusetts. Better late than never, right? EVE'S DIARY is a retelling of the Garden of Eden story through the eyes of Eve. Originally banned due to it's lurid drawings (boobies!), in honor of Banned Books Week, the book was dusted off and brought back out for public viewing, simply because those images are tame compared to what we as the public see on a daily basis. Quite right. I'm wondering just how hard core the images have to be now to render a good ol' fashioned banning.
Next, the repeal of SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE's insipid ban from the Vonnegut Library (I'm wondering if the banners even saw the irony in that) ended up being pretty half assed. The book, still deemed far too inappropriate for the yoots (<--10 points for reference), is held in a locked down secure location, entombed behind 7 foot thick cement walls and infrared laser beams ready to burn your eyes out if you happen to look at it without your parents' permission. Or maybe not, but the deal is the book is available only if a kid's parent physically comes down to the library to take it out for them. As if some kind of permission slip wasn't damning enough. Mom's gotta come get it for you. Yeah, that's unbanned. O_o
Last but not least, The Uprise Books Project is all about getting banned and challenged books into the hands of underprivileged middle and high school students. Their thought process is hopefully the notion that someone else is saying these books are bad will spurn interest in reading them. Considering teens have a tendency of doing the exact opposite of what adults tell them, that's a pretty good rationale. You can donate funds and allocate them to your favorite banned book or just give funds for the greater good. So if you've got some spare change, why not give a little?
