Banned Books Week 2015 is just around the corner, and your eNotes pals are feeling impish. We handpicked a selection of our favorite and most requested books that continually battle the iron fist of censorship. Win them all here.
The bundle includes the following titles with their censored reasonings found on www.ala.org:
1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence
- The Kite Runner eNotes Summary →
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower eNotes Summary →
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
- Reasons: Gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”
- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood eNotes Summary →
4. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Reasons: Anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian eNotes Summary →
5. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”
- The Bluest Eye eNotes Summary →
6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Reasons: Insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
- Brave New World eNotes Summary →
*The winner will also receive a 1-Year eNotes Subscription to access our library of over 30,000 Literature Study Guides (a $49.99 value)!
Entering is easy: click this link and provide your name and email address, and you’re automatically entered to win the book bundle and eNotes Pass. Get bonus entries for visiting our Facebook page and tweeting about the contest on Twitter (simply follow the instructions on the entry form)! Entries accepted until October 3, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. PST. We will contact the winner on October 5, 2015 via email.
What do you think about censorship, especially literature titles like these, in school? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Questions? Please send us an email at dispatch@enotes.com — we are happy to help. Good luck!