Had a chat with my mom that made me rethink banning books altogether

So I was telling my mom about how I joined this community, and she kinda froze up. She said when she was in 9th grade in 1982 her school library quietly removed "The Color Purple" from the shelves. She never got to read it until she was 25 because nobody told her why it was gone. I guess I never thought about how bans can just erase access without any conversation or warning. Has anyone else had a family member share a personal story about a book they missed out on because of a ban?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan31610d ago

Heard similar stories about "Forever" by Judy Blume getting pulled from school libraries back then.

cole_davis4710d ago

Messed up story about your mom - reminds me of when I was in high school and they banned "Animal Farm" because some parents thought it was literally about farming. Joke's on them, half the kids just found photocopies anyway. Your mileage may vary but silence from the adults usually makes kids more curious, not less.