Banned Book Week: A Few More Favorites

Continuing my brief reflections on some of those books that made the 100 most banned/challenged books in 2000-2009:

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

This one, especially, I always found ironic (as have many).  A book about censorship, being subjected to censorship…

I fell in love with this book, perhaps because it was one of the first books I read that horrified me.  I love books, and to have people whose job it was to burn books…. to me that was the utmost evil thing someone could do.   This was another one of those books that I read when I was in school (middle school I think), that I carried with me for a long time.  I had intended to re-read it for this week, but time was not on my side, so it remains on my To Be (Re)Read list.

What I remember about reading this book in school was how many great conversations came up around it.  It was the first that some of the kids in the class had really thought about the issue of censorship, and it led to some real thinking and reflection.

The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss

This book… this one making the list surprises me so thoroughly.  As I mentioned before, the Holocaust was a subject of early interest for me, and I ran through every book that the library had on the topic that was deemed “age-appropriate,” and then moved on to others.  I own many Holocaust books, memoirs and fiction, YA, Children and Adult categories, Analytic and personal.  Part of my undergrad degree ended up being about children’s experiences during the holocaust and I seriously considered doing graduate level work on the topic.  That is to say, I’ve read a fair amount of Holocaust literature, and The Upstairs Room was perhaps one of the most gentle of them.  So to see it on the list just, confuses me.

It is the story of sisters who are hidden in an attic room by a family during the Holocaust.  It’s been a few years since I’ve re-read it, but I recall the story not shying away from the fear that the main character felt, but also trying to portray it from her vantage point, the view of a girl who is being relatively sheltered from the very real dangers that they face.

Just a few more that I see on the list and am surprised by.  But, honestly, I think any books on a list would surprise me.

I’ve been re-blogging many posts this week about Banned Book week — be sure to check out the “Banned Book Week” link in the menu bar to see them all!

 

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