Books That Suck--LOLOMGWTFWWJD
 

Twilight among "most challenged" books of 2009

Los Angeles: The best-selling vampire themed "Twilight" book series has entered the top 10 list of books that US schools and public libraries were asked to remove from their shelves in 2009.

But the worst offenders were the popular young adult novel series "ttyl" by Lauren Myracle, which are written entirely in the style of instant messages, the American Library Association (ALA) said in a report on Wednesday.

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/re...f-2009_1371682

Good, bad or indifferent?

Wow, To Kill a Mockingbird?

Really?

Yeah, that's blasphemy.

Fail (not you the list)


That just corrupted the list right there. I can understand the other books on the list, but once you include To Kill a Mockingbird, I can't take the list seriously.

One has to be pretty pathetic, ignorant and thoughtless to challenge To Kill a Mockingbird. It's one of the best American books ever written.

The people that want to ban these books are the same that make their children read the Bible, which is one of the most edgy, racy books EVER. Have they read Song of Songs/Solomon?!

The list is of the most challenged books in libraries, not of the "worst" books. It's probably true (not that it's the worst, that it's one of the most challenged). I just find it surprising that people still get their panties all up in a bunch about To Kill a Mockingbird because it's generally accepted as an "American Classic" and was written so long ago.

It was required 9th grade reading when I was in High School.

Yeah I know, still doesn't neglect the fact I can't take it serious.

I mean if "To kill a Mockingbird" is the number 4 most challenged book on this list, it tells me that no matter how controversial, poorly written, etc the other books are the people challenging these books to make this list do not have an understanding of literature.

Thus they fail. Thus civilization is one step closer to an idiocracy. To Kill a Mockingbird should never be lumped in a top five with any of these other books.

It's not a surprise. To Kill a Mockingbird has been on that list since its publication. Normally its usage of the "n-word" is the reason cited for the ban. I believe if the rest of the top ten were published, you'd also see Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn on the list for the same reason.

To Kill a Mockingbird has ALWAYS been on these lists, usually right up there with The Catcher in the Rye.

In my hometown, a HS performance of To Kill a Mockingbird was stopped because the NAACP objected to the use of the N-word, so it's not just conservative Bible-thumpers nutting up. :)

I'm tutoring a 9th grader w/ To Kill A Mockingbird this now, honestly they should teach it younger because the lead character is so young and at 14 these kids just don't want to hear it.

Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" came fourth because of challenges on the grounds of racism and language.
Yes, Pulitzer Prize winners should be removed from the shelves and never be read again once they receive the award to help preserve their place in history.

Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series, which have been turned into a blockbuster film franchise, were fifth on the 2009 list -- their first year in the annual compilation. The books were challenged for being sexually explicit, religious views and being unsuitable for their age group.
You can't read the books but you can watch the movies on your own time. After all, movies are WAY better than books. Why read when there's a movie version?

Book banning doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Maybe it will when I have kids... but not so much now. If you read a lot of different perspectives, even ttyl or whatever, you can leverage all of those varied perspectives to help form your own opinions. Wow, that sounds terrible.

/sarcasm

On the bright side, some schools can do interesting things to get around banned books. Uncle Tom's Cabin was banned (from being required reading) in my district, and the honors English teacher still wanted to read it. They had a book report where students could choose their own books- and what do you know, they all happened to choose the same book! Darn. Since they all HAPPENED to choose the same book, they decided to make classroom discussions more lively by talking about what they had read. But... I can see how that wouldn't fly in all schools, and not all teachers would toe the line like that.

A couple years ago, my county library system got into some serious deep trouble because they were going to stop carrying To Kill a Mockingbird along with some other classics.

The reason? The books hadn't been checked out in over a decade.

Like Munchkin said, TKAM is on there because of the N-bombs. The idiots banning it probably think they're doing the black folk a favor or something. :rolleyes:

I remember certain books in the jr high library being "8th grade & up only!" or "9th grade only!" Go Ask Alice and Are You In The House Alone are two that come to mind.

And I thought they didn't get busy in the Twilight series until after they were married. WTF? How is that "sexually explicit"?

I distinctly remember that in Twilight they broke furniture from gettin' it on so rough.

It was required reading for us in 7th grade, which usually surprises people, but I thought it was especially effective.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is on that list too. :( Still one of my favorite books of all time.

Book banning always reminds me of the scene in "Field of Dreams" when Annie is in the PTA meeting and yells "At least he's not a book burner, you nazi cow." That scene cracks me up every time.

They didn't, and it isn't. They barely kiss ever. Whoever is making these statements isn't reading these books. They don't even know what is in them. I think they assume that if kids like them, there must be bad stuff in them.

My daughter had to read TKAM for 8th grade English and AGAIN in 10th grade. I don't know if they changed the curriculum in between or what, but I don't think a kid needs to read the same book twice for school.

My daughter has read some books with some pretty adult subject matter. She's a pretty mature kid and we have good, open communication. We frequently discuss topics from them when she's done reading.

On the one hand, I'm very VERY glad this isn't a thread about people talking about books they hate, because it generally turns into a "classics I didn't understand" contest. Then the Ayn Rand or Bronte Sisters a-holes show up and I just want to punch myself in the dick.

On the other hand, the Twilight novels should be banned for awkwardly pushing of pro-Mormon weirdness and generally douchey one-sided estrogen fantasy. So understandably, I'm torn.

As a young English teacher in rural Missouri, I taught The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier to my freshmen classes. I gave the choice of 4 books and warned them that if they read The Chocolate War to be prepared for some rough language and renegade thinking. (the novel takes place in a Catholic boys' school and one of the main character says, "Jesus was just a guy with a good PR man."

Anywho, everyone settles in...until the night before the test. Evidently, a local preacher's daughter was panicking the night before and cramming to get it all read. I am not sure exactly what went down between father and daughter (did she find it timely to complain about the novel as she was getting in trouble for being behind in her studies? who knows?)

But, the next morning the father was waiting at the office with the book. He had stayed up late and underlined the objectionable parts throughout the entire book (he could have taken the test) and she was excused from taking the test. He demanded the book be pulled from the classroom.

But here's the kicker: My principal totally backed the parent. He questioned the validity of the book, had me pull it from my shelves, forbid me to ever teach it again,etc. When I showed him it was on all national book lists, had won awards, his response was, "Those lists are made by people in New York. They don't have the same values as we do."

I brought the teacher's guide and pointed out all of the thematic points of the novel. I argued that certainly a parent should be allowed to censor what their child reads, but not keep a book out of the hands of every other student.

The discussion was heated. We went to the library and I pointed out the word "bastard" in Of Mice and Men. His response, "That's a classic. It doesn't count." I even pointed out the school board policy that stated nothing can be taken out of the curriculum without board approval. His response, "I have the power and the board will support me unconditionally."

So, I was in real quandry. Did I take it to the newspaper? Yell "Censorship" and get all sorts of headlines? It was really a tough situation. It was a tiny town, and we were young. My husband's career was very visible and having a rabble rouser for a wife was not going to be helpful.

So, I kept quiet. ( I know, I was a coward) But I did put it on my classroom library shelf and continued to let kids check it out individually because that felt like a small victory.

I still get worked up when I think about it today...oh, and the principal never read the book. He made his decision based on that one man's opinion and would never back off. It was a real shame because so many young boys really related to that novel and finding books that appealed to 14 year old boys was tough.

Teenagers in earlier generations got through First Love from Silhouette and Sweet Valley High...not to mention some of those hideously drecky things from the 1950s...so I think they will all survive Twilight. It's the 30-40something women getting psychotically excited over these books/movies that concern me. I watched the movie at a friend's house, and we were both like "THAT was it?"

They most definitely do have sex in the book (and they kiss.... A LOT). It doesn't go as graphic as "and he stuck ___ into ___" but they do speak a lot about Bella/Edward sex and Rosalie/Emmett sex.

I wouldn't call it "sexually explicit" but for a book geared towards tweens, it is a little much.

You gotta love how a PICTURE BOOK, a picture book, is being challenged.

Oh but wait, it is being challenged by all the homophobic people who live in the United States. :rolleyes:

Since I'm such a rebel rouser, I should totally read that book to my students.

Not until after they are married though. The kissing in Twilight is very tentative because Edward isn't sure he can kiss Bella and maintain control. If anything, the book is quite violent!

If To Kill A Mockingbird was banned we'd have a lot less people in law school claiming that is what inspired them to be lawyers...

I'd like anything by Nicholas Sparks to disappear, and the movies. I'm biased like that and admit it.

I swore by Sweet Valley High. It was right up there with "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret." I swear!

I have been trying to watch Twilight for the past month or so on HBO OnDemand. I can't get past the first 30 minutes. Then I tried to watch the sequel or whatever and got disinterested early on, as well. I'll just take everyone's word for it as it pertains to the novels and the movies.

I went to a conservative Southern private school, and let's just say the library was "limited," and leave it at that.

That said, our teacher read our fifth grade class To Kill a Mockingbird (at least I think it was fifth—it was definitely a grade where we could understand what was going on, but still young enough to be read to as a class). Reading the book later, I realized she'd skipped some pretty key parts.

I wonder if they're just after Twilight because it's so popular? I wonder if House of Night/Vampire Academy/Dark Visions are still on the shelf, because those were MUCH worse in terms of language (f-bombs like crazy), violence, and explicity. They are still, by no means, the same as an adult romance novel, but I don't think I would let a highschooler read them (maybe a senior).

The music director at my church, who is about as uber-religious as they come for Lutherans, LOVES Twilight. AGDee is right - the kissing isn't usually anything more than kissing until after they're married. And the first time they have sex, it takes you two paragraphs to determine whether it really happened or not, because there's no ACTUAL mention of it.

I thought this was going to be a "book that sucked" thread and I was going to nominate "Beloved" by Toni Morrison. Guess I just did.;) Wonder why "Huckleberry Finn" wasn't on the list as it has the n-word all through it?

I'm with you on that one. Books and movies.

I thought the same thing and was going to nominate Mercy by Jodi Picoult. I'm a bit reluctant, though. Mercy was so bad I couldn't finish it. So, maybe once you get past the crap (I gave up around 75% into it) it gets better. I woudn't know.

I read Beloved in college, and man, that was tough to get through.

I'd like to nominate Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway, in the "Books that Really Suck" category.

This thread is about whatever you all want it to be about. :D

Books that suck - The English Patient

How about anything by John Grisham after "A Time TO Kill". How many times can one write the same book? Well "A Painted House" was different but it still sucked.

^^^ I hear that. The Appeal was terrible (IMO).
I did like Bleachers, though.

I've mentioned before that GC needs a book club. If not a club, it'd be nice to have a couple threads that would at least steer us in the right direction.

If I could wipe my behind with a book, Beloved would be it.

Bwhahahahaha.

I thought GC had a book club thread. Maybe that was another board.

There is a "What are you reading?" type thread with lots of recommendations, etc. I can't find it though, I'm too tired.


Ok, I'm not THAT tired: http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...hlight=reading

umm, heck yes! my sister put me on to this book. young adult fiction has come a LONG way.

Maybe not for school, but if it's helpful for preschoolers to read a book multiple times (in developing their language and literacy skills), i can only think its as helpful for older children (and adults) to reread books. I know when i read a book for the 2nd or 3rd time (often years later), i get a WHOLE different understanding and comprehension of its content. I'm sure if i read TKAM now (and i havent read it since... id say 10th grade) i'd pull something more out of it.

I had to re-read "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Streetcar Named Desire" in college and it was NOT the same as in high school.

As a fellow New Yorker, this book wins at LIFE. We also read it freshman year, read the book AND watched the movie. Good times. And i totally agree with you on "finding books that 14 year old boys can relate and enjoy" because that was one of the few titles the ENTIRE class could enjoy and discuss.

Took the words out of my mouth. It's usually on the Top Ten of any Banned Books, as is To Kill A Mockingbird. People forget the concept of context.

Extremely random, but this reminded me of the times when we read these books in middle (HF) and high (TKAM) school.

I lived in Bel Air, MD during middle school, and I was one of like 4 black people in this 1,400+ student school. When we started reading Huck Finn, the teacher gave this huge disclaimer about the word's usage ("k_s, I'm SO sorry you have to hear this word, but..."). When students would read out loud, they usually paused and wanted me to say the word lol

In high school, we read TKAM individually and then watched the movie as a group. My 9th grade center was lot more diverse, but there weren't many black folks in my English class. Every time "colored" or any other similar word was dropped, everyone turned to look at me to make sure I was OK.

I agree that folks should recognize that context is important.

/random