The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 39

In Florence, Italy, between 1497 and 1498, the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola burned a number of works of art and literature, along with musical instruments, scientific tools, cosmetics, and more, which he considered to be objects of vanity. The pious and ascetic Savonarola believed that these objects threatened the morality of Florencians by promoting intellectual and aesthetic amusement in lieu of religious devotion. This thoughtful essay by religious studies scholar David M. Reis, authored as part of his blog that accompanied his Empire and Apocalypse course taught in 2015 at the University of Oregon, explores why Savonarola's ideas gained popularity in the historical, political, and religious context of late-fifteenth century Florence. This essay also includes a short annotated bibliography for those interested in learning more about Savonarola and the bonfire of the vanities. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In mid-seventeenth century Boston, Puritan authorities summoned the town's executioner to burn copies of William Pynchon's The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption, a text they deemed "derogatory, erroneous, unsound, and heretical." Today, the slim quarto book (just 158 pages in length), authored by an early ancestor of Thomas Pynchon, is often considered to be one of the first books banned in the United States. In this essay by Daniel Crown, a freelance writer especially interested in colonial history, visitors can learn more about this text, its condemnation, and what this incident reveals about the relationship between church and state in colonial America. As Crown explains, although "a modern reader need only fear boredom from Pynchon's exegesis on the origins of Grace," the book was controversial because it reflected Pynchon's criticisms of Massachusetts clergy and his support for increased religious tolerance. Crown's essay is accompanied by a number of fascinating illustrations and primary documents, including the original title page to Pynchon's book and a section from a 1937 mural by Umberto Romano that depicts the event. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In the late nineteenth century, Anthony Comstock launched a campaign against "obscenity" that successfully led to the 1893 passage of the Comstock Act for "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use." Comstock's campaign was undergirded by xenophobia and classism, targeting recent immigrant communities. This online exhibit from Google Arts & Culture and the U.S. National Archives provides insight into the history of the campaign against "obscenity" in Philadelphia, through legal documents from five major court cases. As the team behind this site notes, Comstock's crusade was never as popular in Philadelphia as it was in New York due to Philadelphia's relatively low immigrant population. This ambivalence contributed to some successful challenges to obscenity charges. For example, in 1883, Algernon H. Wilcox and Augustus S. Meyers stood trial for circulating a pamphlet that provided advice about how one might find "an article or thing designed and intended for the prevention of conception." The jury, however, refused to convict the two. In contrast, Isiah Gaines, charged in 1889 with "depositing in the U.S. mail an obscene letter," was charged $25 and held at Philadelphia County Prison until he was able to pay the fee. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In the 1940s and 1950s, the publishing industries of the United State and Great Britain were radically altered by the advent of mass market paperback publishers including Pocket Books, Penguin Books, Avon, Bantam, Signet, and others. For two decades, it was not uncommon to see critically acclaimed literature such as Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man or George Orwell's 1984 sold in wire racks alongside books with titles like "Kiss Me, Deadly" or "Exit for a Dame." In this 2015 New Yorker essay, Louis Menand traces the history of the era of mass market paperbacks, or pulp fiction, and reviews English scholar Paula Rabinowitz's book American Pulp: How Paperbacks Brought Modernism to Main Street. In his essay, Menand illustrates how battles to regulate or ban certain pulp fiction titles ultimately changed the views and practices of the publishing industry. In doing so, this thorough essay provides insight into both the history of reading in the twentieth century as well as the history of debates centering on censorship. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Perhaps the most wildly popular books that have been challenged in the past two decades are J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. In 2012, the American Library Association announced the infamous series had topped their annual list of banned books for that year. In June 2017, the series officially turned twenty years old. In honor of the anniversary, The New York Times assembled this extensive collection of teaching resources, articles, and more related to the series, culled from the newspaper's archives. Here, visitors will find discussion questions, an all-Harry Potter themed crossword puzzle, a lesson plan that invites students to write their own ending to one of the Harry Potter books, and the Times's original book reviews of all seven books. In addition, this collection includes some of the Times's most popular articles about the series, including a 1999 article about how the book was being challenged in a number of school districts. This compilation will be of interest not only to those who work with youth, but to Harry Potter fans of all ages interested in the conversations the series has sparked since its 1997 debut. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In recent years, many of the most frequently challenged books for children are books that feature LGBTQ characters and families. One of these books is Justin Richardson's And Tango Makes Three, a picture book based on a true story of two male penguins at Central Park Zoo who raised a chick together. This collection of lesson plans from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Welcoming Schools project is designed to help young learners explore family diversity via books, community activities, poetry, reflection, and more. These lessons are aimed at learners ranging from kindergarten through sixth grade. One lesson plan, designed for first and second grade students, centers on And Tango Makes Three. Other books featured in this collection include Mary Hoffman's The Great Big Book of Families and Todd Parr's The Family Book. Those who work with upper-elementary and junior high students will also want to check out the Using Literature Circles to Look at Family Diversity section, which features a list of book recommendations for students. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In 1970, the non-profit organization Boston Women's Health Book Collective self-published a 136-page booklet entitled Women and their Bodies, which provided information about women's health issues, body image, reproductive health, gender identity, and a range of other topics. Shortly after the first publication of the book, the organization (and the booklet) changed its name to Our Bodies, Ourselves and went on to publish translations of the book in 30 languages, along with a book dedicated to the topic of pregnancy and childbirth and another dedicated to menopause. Today, almost fifty years after its first publication, "Our Bodies Ourselves" continues to provide information about women's health to individuals around the world. In this 2016 interview, WBUR's Here and Now host Robin Young talks to the organization's co-founder Judy Norsigian and its current executive director Julie Childers about the history and significance of this book. As noted in this interview, the book was banned in numerous libraries, despite its popularity. This interview is accompanied by a series of images of book covers from the book's many international editions. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale recently topped Amazon's bestseller list, over thirty years after its original publication in 1985. The book has also been included on the American Library Association's lists of frequently banned and challenged books numerous times over the past two decades. For literature instructors interested in teaching with this influential book, Suzanne Lider of ReadWriteThink offers a lesson plan designed to facilitate student analysis of the role of language in the novel and in contemporary society. As Lider explains, language is central to Atwood's novel. Throughout the book, "the narrator, Offred, regularly interrupts the narrative flow of the text to contemplate the meaning of certain words and phrases." Designed for high school students, this lesson encourages students to examine neologisms (e.g. "unwomen") and Biblical language in The Handmaid's Tale and evaluate the role this language plays in the text. While designed explicitly for high school students, this lesson plan may also spark good discussion questions for book clubs and readers of all ages. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Banned Books Week was established in 1982 by the Banned Books Weeks Coalition in honor of "a national alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read." These organizations include the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and more. The coalition's official website offers a number of helpful resources for writers, artists, educators, and readers who are concerned about censorship. One highlight of this resource is its list of Banned Books that Shaped America, available under the Censorship tab, which offers descriptions of some of the most famous instances of book challenges in the United States. Another highlight is the Virtual Read-Out, which offers a link to a YouTube channel featuring readers around the country, of all ages, reading out loud from famously banned and challenged books. Finally, the Resources tab offers links to additional websites and organizations that may be of interest. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Part of the Banned Books Week Coalition, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), founded in 1986 by underground comic artist Denis Kitchen, is "a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics medium and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers." Under the Resources tab, the CBLDF offers a wealth of information relating to comics and graphic novels, which remains one of the most frequently challenged book genres. These resources include a detailed History of Comics Censorship, a series of six essays that traces this history back to the 1930s. This series includes a discussion of Dr. Frederic Wertham's famous anti-comic book Seduction of the Innocent: the Influence of Comic Books on Today's Youth, which led to Wertham's involvement in a 1954 Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. Another highlight of the resource collection is the Library and Educator Tools, which includes discussion guides, materials for book clubs, and resources for incorporating specific graphic novels into the classroom. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Banned Books Week is only once a year, but the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) Blog includes posts on topics such as freedom to read, banned and challenged books, censorship, diversity, and other related issues every week of the year. While the blog is published by the ALA OIF, contributors are volunteers, members and staff of the Association who are academic and public librarians, and graduate students. Some recent posts include an account of a successful defense of the picture book This Day in June, that kept it on the shelves of the West Chicago Public Library; Tavern 451, conversations between characters in frequently banned books, Huck Finn, Holden Caulfield, and the Invisible Man, using only words in the texts themselves, created by Britt McGowan, humanities reference librarian and interlibrary loan coordinator at the University of West Florida; and interviews with artist Karen Fiorito (filed under the tag "Trumpocalypse"), and historian Ibram X. Kendi. The OIF Blog is mobile-friendly and well-formatted for reading on a phone, and visitors can subscribe to receive an email when a new post is published. [DS]

Comment on or rate this resource

Each year, the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) releases its list of the most frequently challenged books. To compile this list, the ALA relies on librarians, readers, educators, and others across the country to report instances of challenges and censorship. However, a March 2011 survey indicates that roughly only 20% of cases of book challenges were reported to ALA. In January 2017, the OIF released this helpful webinar that provides a practical how-to guide for filing such reports, along with an explanation of the importance of reporting. Included in this webinar are clear definitions of "banned" "challenged" and "intellectual freedom" accompanied by helpful examples. In addition to collecting data on challenged books and material, the OIF also collects information about hate crimes in libraries. This webinar covers what kind of actions qualify as hate crimes and how to thoroughly report these incidents. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

In 2014, young adult fiction writer Malinda Lo penned an essay called "Book Challenges Suppress Diversity." Drawing on the ALA's annual list of the most frequently challenged books, Lo demonstrated that "over half of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books from 2000-2009 addressed issues about race, sexuality and/or disability; or were about non-white, LGBTQ and/or disabled characters." We Need Diverse Books, part of the Banned Books Week Coalition, is a grassroots organization that aims to promote diversity and representation in young adult literature. The group defines diversity as "including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities." The organization's tumblr, which collects articles and reviews from around the web, provides an excellent way for readers, educators, librarians, youth workers, and caretakers to find books that are by diverse authors or feature diverse characters and topics. Recent posts include a profile of author Linda Sue Park for Kirkus Reviews; a story about the the first ever Well-Read Black Girl Festival that originally appeared in Electric Lit, and a story from Indian Country Today about Kinsale Hueston, a Navajo high school student who was recently named one of five National Student Poets. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Jen Bigheart in the Public Relations director for Westbank Community Libraries of Austin, Texas who is also involved in the Texas Teen Book Festival and a co-founder of the group Literary Lonestars. On her blog I Read Banned Books, Bigheart reviews a number of Young Adult and middle grade fiction titles with an eye toward intellectual freedom. Books are tagged by title, author, and topics for easy browsing. Tagged topics include LGBT, middle grade, Texas author, books to movie, and more. This blog may especially be of interest to those looking for titles to engage reluctant young readers, as Bigheart reviews a wide diversity of genres, including romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and more. In addition, some of Bigheart's posts discuss banned/challenged YA literature. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Many of the books that have been banned or challenged over the years are also considered literary classics. In honor of a previous Banned Book Week, Google Books created Explore Banned Books, which allows visitors to browse dozens of such classic texts that have been scrutinized throughout history. Readers are able to read small preview snippets of many of these books and check out titles of literary criticism authored about featured books. This tool may be especially useful for literature teachers and students interested in researching and analyzing specific texts. Classic books featured in the Explore Banned Books collection include Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, to name just a few. [MMB]

Comment on or rate this resource