Read Banned Books: They're Your Ticket to Freedom

The St. Charles Public Library DOES NOT BAN these books or any others.

Banned Books Week 2006 is the twenty-fifth annual celebration of the freedom to read and  It's Perfectly Normal tops the 2005 list of most challenged books according to the American Library Association (ALA).  The book was written by one of the most frequently challenged authors of the past decade, Robie H. Harris. 

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 405 challenges last year.  A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.  The majority of challenges are reported by public libraries, schools and school libraries. 

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2005” reflect a range of themes.  The books are:

	It's Perfectly Normal for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group
	Forever by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language
	The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group
	The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language
	Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language
	Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content
	What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group
	Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence
	Crazy Lady! by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language
	It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content

See The Illinois Library Association's BOOKS CHALLENGED OR BANNED IN 2005–2006

Created by the St. Charles Public Library 9/06