When I was younger I struggled pretty badly when it came to reading. It took me up until the end of second grade for me to be able to fluently read books suited for my age group. When I was in first grade my teacher noticed I was struggling to read so I was then sent to a special reading class. Throughout those two years in the class, I became better at reading. I was proud of myself and I ended up not needing to go to the class anymore. One of the first chapter books I read that made a difference in my reading was The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. My Mom used to read a chapter to me every night when I was little and I strived to one day read it by myself. Eventually, I was finally a good enough reader to read The Boxcar Children by myself, I was so excited. I felt proud of myself and, for the first time truly connected with and understood a chapter book in my life. Reading eventually became one of my favorite hobbies to do in my free time and a way to express myself.

As I got older I started liking books that had great detail and more serious topics. I was afraid my mom wouldn’t approve of the books because they were for an older age group. I had finally connected with these characters because they dealt with real life and serious problems. The more real the books seemed to be the more interesting they were. In the end, my mom didn’t care that I was reading a book that might have been too old for me. She was just happy that I was enjoying reading and connecting with something important to me. Also, she thought that it was good that I got to read more about how the real world actually works This why I feel adults shouldn’t be able to restrict what books are available to students in schools. There are some important things when it comes to banning books. Why books are banned in the first place and what books have been banned. Then, what is the difference between books being banning and challenging, along with some history behind it. Also, learning about some more influential books that have been challenged and banned.

One of the biggest reasons why books are being challenged or banned is due to LGBTQ content according to Betsy Gomez the author of Ten Reasons Books are Challenged and Banned,  from the website, Banned Books Week on September 26, 2018. A picture book called I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jenning has been challenged because of gender identity issues. I get that parents want to keep their kids safe and don’t want them to be exposed to certain concepts. I personally feel that this is a great book for kids of all ages to read and will help them understand society as it is today a little bit better. Another big reason books are being challenged is because they are sexually explicit. Now I understand where parents are coming from on this point of view. I wouldn’t want a younger child to be reading about sexual situations. However, if teens want to read a book dealing with tougher subjects like rape they should be free to do so because the topic has made a huge impact lately. I feel like teens should be able to read about this topic because they might be able to understand or help someone they know that might have gone through this. Another reason for banning books is vulgar language. One of my favorite books, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell uses stronger language to express how difficult the characters home life and school environment is, according to an article called The Big Five: Why Books are Banned by Powell from September 10, 2018. I hardly even notice the language because of the other great aspects of the book, I mean in some books it can make a great impact and give the story more meaning. I don’t think that the use of strong language is bad unless it comes across as unnecessary or harmful to others. Overall I feel that some of these books are being overly criticized. Any book could be challenged or banned, it really comes down to the reason why.

Next, there were some pretty popular books challenged and banned in 2017. The topmost challenged book was Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, which has now been turned into a Netflix original series. By getting the series on Netflix the book’s fanbase has skyrocketed. I will admit the only reason why I read this book in the first place was that it was about to become a show on Netflix. Now, I actually never ended up watching the show, because I heard it was nothing like the book. With the book becoming more popular it was criticized by parents and teachers because of the fragile topics the book talks about. Adults say that it was more likely to make teens prone to suicide than try to seek help from someone. I can see why parents or teachers might want to ban or challenge the book. On the other hand, this can be a great book to help teens see what might be happening in other schools, if not their own. Drama by Raina Telgemeier is another frequently challenged book. According to the American Library Association Drama is third on the most challenged books of 2017. Drama has been challenged because of its LGBTQ content and it has been considered confusing to its readers. I find this absurd that people could possibly judge this book for those specific reasons. Especially because this was one of the more popular challenged books. Today people are freer to express themselves and be who they want to be. I feel with banning books like this one, it just takes us back two steps from where we are now.

A little lower on the list is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. This book is number eight on the list and has been challenged because of its use of profanity. During Banned Books Week in 2018, Angie Thomas did an interview with Entertainment Weekly about her book and people talking negatively about it. “In regard to the language: ‘There are books with way more curse words in them, for one. And two, there are 89 F-bombs in The Hate U Give. But there were 800 people killed by police officers last year alone.” this quote from Angie Thomas is from an article published on September 26, 2018, called The Hate U Give author Angie Thomas on why it's wrong to ban her Black Lives Matter novel, by David Canfield from Entertainment Weekly. The quote really shows what people care about today, that parents are too worried about how much profanity is in a new book, rather than worrying about the everyday tragedies in people lives. This book really makes people think of their outlook on life and what is truly important in life. These are some of the most influential books for teens right now and I don’t think any teen should be deprived of these books.

Now, there is a difference for books being challenged compared to banned. Before anyone can ban a book, they must challenge it first. “Challenging is materials that someone has attempted to remove or restrict from a curriculum or library collection.” this is according to an article from Syracuse University about Banned Books Week from November 13, 2018. After someone sends in their challenge a committee or board will decide the books fate, but sometimes they can’t always decide so the challenge can get to a court where a judge will decide. An article from FindLaw called Banning Books and the Law says that the Supreme Court set rules for banning books in 1982, from the Island Trees School District v. Pico. In the case, the school was trying to ban multiple books describing some of them as just plain filthy. The Justices were unable to come to a majority agreement, so they signed three different opinions about the outcome of the challenges. They finally came to the opinion that school officials can’t remove books just because they don’t like them, but remove the books if inappropriate for the children in the school. The term Book Censorship talks about when the government or some other authority takes away books or certain parts of them. Book censorship can be a touchy subject, there are multiple organizations out there that are trying to prevent it. I feel that challenging or banning books should be a little harder then it is now. Maybe a more in-depth paper should be written when it comes to challenging books because today there are too many books being banned in schools.

In 2017, 416 books were banned or challenged and about eighty to ninety percent go unreported, this is from an article called By the Numbers by Jordan Sarti that was published on American Library magazine on September 25, 2018. This is almost a hundred more challenges compared to last year. There are so many great older books being banned or challenged because of their contents. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great classic that is being banned from many schools because of violence and use of vulgar language. However, it is an important book because it brought awareness to issues with gender and race differences around the time the civil rights movement was taking off. This book doesn’t just help teens relate with the past but also connects certain elements from the book to the world we live in today. I do however understand that teens might feel uncomfortable reading this book because of its contents. In the future, I do hope to read this book, whether it is for a class or in my own personal free time. A book series I do have mixed opinions on is Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It has terrible depictions of Native Americans in the book. The harshest is when characters say “ The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” This is terrible and disgusting, no young child should have to read this. Although we can’t just ignore this topic, we should point out what's wrong with it and talk about how can we treat the topic now. Its history, and though it’s horrible, we can’t forget or it might just turn into something worse. According to an article by Meagan Flynn from The Washington Post called Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name stripped from children’s book award, says “after years of complaints, the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, says it voted Saturday to strip Wilder’s name from the award.” I feel sad that one of my childhood favorites could actually be this terrible. However, I was at a young age when I read them, not completely understanding the harsh words used in the book. I understand why they would take this award away. However, with books like To Kill a Mockingbird, I hope that book is kept around just a little longer in schools.

In conclusion, books can be challenged for many reasons including LGBTQ topics, sexually explicit content, and vulgar language. With some of these, I can understand parents not wanting their children to read, others not so much. Thirteen Reasons Why, Drama, and The Hate U Give happened to be some of the most challenged books of 2017. These are just some of the 416 books banned or challenged in 2017. This challenging process is becoming way too easy and people are banning books for ridiculous reasons. We also have to fight to keep some of the best classics around even if they push the limits, but also saying goodbye to others. Overall, this can be a tough subject, and I understand where parents are coming from in some aspects. When I have children I wouldn't want them to read about some of these topics. The issues represented in books today can be powerful and everybody deserves to be educated about them. Reading took me a while to grasp until I read one book and it clicked. Meanwhile, some teens or kids might never be able to connect with reading because they can’t find the right book, because of banning and censorship. I love reading and I would hate to see someone being deprived of a book that might just change their life because the book is considered “confusing”. I hope one-day books won’t be banned because people are scared about a topic or nervous that it might ruin their child. Every book is written for a reason, they all have an important message to give someone.  And that message might just change someone's life.