I'M WITH THE BANNED

E. B. White’s CHARLOTTE’S WEB captured the Newbery Honor Award along with Recognition of Merit from the George C. Stone Center for Children’s books. An estimated 45 million copies have been sold worldwide since its publication in 1952. Publishers Weekly labeled it the biggest-selling children's paperback ever. (The book has also been banned because “the notion of talking animals is deemed blasphemous and unnatural.”)

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee was translated into 40 different languages, voted America’s best-loved novel, and notched a Pulitzer Prize for the author. More than 40 million copies have sold since it was published in 1960. (The book also ranks seventh on a list of the most frequently banned books in America today.)

J. D. Salinger’s THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is recognized as one of the best novels of the 20th Century. Nominated as Fiction Finalist for the National Book Award, more than 1 million copies sell each year. (The book was also banned in 1989 from classrooms in Boron High School in California for profanity. More specifically, it has been one of the most banned books in America since its publication in 1952. 

George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984, received the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in, appropriately, 1984. Recent figures reveal that Orwell's most successful novel has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.  (It also ranks #1 as the “most banned book of all time” in America.)

Maya Angelou’s I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS was on the best seller list for two years. It won the 2013 Literarian Award, and Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work. The book has sold more than 2 million copies. (It has also been banned in many states due to its depiction of sexually explicit scenes. It’s been challenged for being “anti-white” and for encouraging homosexuality.)

J.K. Rowling’s HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE was named Best Book of 1998 by Publishers Weekly and Book of the Year by British Book Awards for Children’s Books. More than 120 million copies have been sold. (It has also been banned and challenged because of “its occult themes, otherwise seen as promoting Satanism.”)

THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini includes themes of redemption courage, fear, silence, friendship, family, love, pride. Set in Kabul, Afghanistan, it won the 2003 Borders Original Voices Award and was named Best Book of 2003 by Entertainment Weekly. Translated into 35 languages, book sales top 10 million copies worldwide. (THE KITE RUNNER also appeared in the top ten of the American Library Association's list of frequently challenged books in 2008. The main concerns about using the novel in high schools included its sexually explicit content, offensive language, and age inappropriateness.)

A recent report by PEN America found 3362 instances of books banned across the nation in the 2022-23 school year, up 33% from the previous year. Some of those banned books include Anne Frank’s DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, Alice Walker’s THE COLOR PURPLE, LAURA INGALLS WILDER COUNTRY: THE PEOPLE AND PLACES IN LAURA INGALLS WILDER’S LIFE AND BOOKS.

Personal note: My mother was an avid reader. I still recall the day — decades ago —- when she found my sister, brothers and I lying around the living room reading comic books. She looked at us and said, “I might prefer you’d read something more serious. But truly, I don’t care WHAT you read. Just read!”

I’m proud to say: I’M WITH THE BANNED.