A Touch of Book Madness
Welcome! I'm glad you found us. A Touch of Book Madness is a nutty book blog where anything can happen, but mostly book reviews and bookish related discussions. We are all Mad about books here, and we know you must be too, otherwise you wouldn't have come here. So please, make yourself comfy and share a cup of tea with us.
Mad Tea Party: Freedom To Read
Hello everyone! In case you missed it, last week was Banned Books Week! With the purpose to celebrate our Freedom To Read!
I am a great believer that not all books are suitable for everyone, and that there is such a thing as age appropriate, but no one has the right to determine what you read, except for your parents when you are still a minor, which is just responsible parenting. But after that, you are on you're free and the sky's the limit!
In order to prepare for this week did some research and to my surprise I found I've read quite a few banned or challenged books. Some of which I wouldn't have even guessed. Why are people questioning these amazing thought provoking books?! Beats me.
Therefore, as you may have already anticipated, this party's theme is: Freedom To Read.
I decided to make this an all girl party, after all we are who most enjoy tea parties, and invited 5 awesome young girls whose stories I've read and have been banned or challenged.
With no further ado I hereby introduce you to (you may already know them, but humour me):
- Eleanor from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. She is an awkward girl who's had to endure more hardships than a regular teen. She is brave and smart and quite original. I have to admit I like her very much because of her quirkiness. Her story was challenged because: profanity and age inappropriate subject matter.
- Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. She is a curious young little girl, but the most adorable one. She has the tendency to wander off into the greatest adventures I should warn you. Her story was challenged because: alleged drug use promotion and the abomination of talking animals (not kidding on this one: keep in mind they were other times).
- Jean Louise "Scout" Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This girl is rebellious, a book nerd and simply decided to enjoy life they it pleased her the best, even if it didn't please those around her much. I must add she is also curious. Her story was challenged because: offensive language and racism.
- Anne Frank from the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. This girl is resilient and brave, but also very innocent for the crazy world she was living in. Her story was challenged because: explicit sexuality and homosexuality.
- Maya from I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This girl is smart and will not give up even if the stakes are high. She is quite the inspiration, and like all the other guests has endured more hardships than any girl should know, Her story was challenged because: sexually explicit.
As you may have noticed not all of these characters are fictional, but the ones that aren't have since parted from this world. In my opinion the fact that some of these guests were real people telling their real stories, makes it much more ridiculous to ban these books! I mean, do you want your children to grow up not knowing about all the hardships and stuff that's going on outside their comfortable world?
I mean, thank God they are comfortable, and that is great! But they need to learn about this stuff because they are real. And learning about them through books is a healthy way and we still get the opportunity to grow a little.
Subjects like bullying, racism, genocide and sexual abuse are atrocious, but they are out there and we need to educate ourselves about it. If we don't, how will we ever be able to prevent it or deal with it?
Share Your Madness:
What's your opinion on banning books? Have you read any of this? Which others would you recommend?
