I LOVE BANNED BOOKS!

Silly me, I've been so caught up in other library things (you all know what I'm talking about), that I completely forgot that it is Banned Books Week! That special time of year when a young reader's fancy turns to those prized novels (and picture books) that scare so many that they feel they have a right to keep perfect strangers from reading it. So I ask all of you to celebrate with me this year. Pick up your favorite banned book and be seen reading it. Let the world know that you will not be curtailed by others fanaticism. To get you started here are the "10 Most Challenged Books of 2006" courtesy of the American Library Association:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
2. Gossip Girls series by Cecily von Ziegesar
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
5. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
6. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
7. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

...silly me, thinking those penguins should take care of that egg rather than letting it die...

All right, I'm off to go pick up one of the Harry Potters and read it again. Supposedly I should be able to actually learn how to do witchcraft just by reading the book. Since I've read them about 30 times all together, why can't I make something float? I have a wand and everything. "Wingardium leviosa" - nothing - my computer monitor is still firmly on my desk, sigh... that would have been so cool.

(I suppose I have to include this disclaimer - these opinions are my own and do not reflect the place I work. If you're offended, take it out on me and no one else.)

"Oh, I am just a student, Sir and I only want to learn.
But it's hard to read through the rising smoke from the books that you'd like to burn"
--Phil Ochs, "I'm Gonna Say it Now"