CHALLENGED: Wendy and Lucy, maybe for being too sad?
  • Oscilloscope Laboratories
  • CHALLENGED: Wendy and Lucy, maybe for being too sad?

Welcome to the one time of the year you can feel like a real badass just by reading a book*—that's right, it's Banned Books Week! This is the week when library advocacy groups nationwide encourage anyone who likes to read to throw down for books that school boards, Concerned Citizens™, and people who hate witchcraft (KILLJOYS!) don't want you to read.

It's also the time of year the ACLU of Oregon publishes a comprehensive list of books in Oregon that have been challenged or banned over the past year, plus a second, gigantic list of every banned or challenged book since 1979, both culled from reports made by the American Library Association and the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse. Here are the library materials Oregonians wanted pulled from shelves this time around:

CHALLENGED MATERIALS IN OREGON 2013 - 2014

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part‐Time Indian**, challenged in a middle school classroom in 2014. Retained for 8th graders.

Ragged Dick OR, Street Life in New York with Boot Blacks, challenged in a public library in 2013. Retained

The Story of Little Black Sambo, challenged in a public library in 2013. Relocated from children's collection to children's reference collection.

Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars, challenged in a public library in 2013. Retained.

Cosmopolitan Magazine, challenged in a public library in 2014. Retained.

Horowitz Horror: Stories You'll Wish You'd Never Read, Challenged by a parent in a elementary school library. Retained.

In Between the Sheets and other Stories, challenged in a public library in 2014. Weeded due to lack of circulation.

A Day No Pigs Would Die, challenged in a middle school library in 2013. Retained.

Wendy and Lucy (video), challenged in a public library in 2013. Retained.

Paradise Trilogy, Vol.3: Faith (video): Challenged in a public library in 2014. Retained.

Saga. Volume 1 (Image Comics), challenged in a public library in 2013. Retained.

Compliance (video), challenged in a public library in 2014. Retained.

*DISCLAIMER: TBH, though, for me, that's every day.

**This book seems to get banned all the damn time, I think because it accurately portrays what it's like to be an adolescent. Buy it for every 13-year-old you know!

In the case of Wendy and Lucy, it's interesting to note that the patron actually held onto a copy of the DVD (vigilante ban?), and didn't try to get the library to ban it through official channels until after being assessed a missing/damage fee. The patron cited concerns that Wendy and Lucy was "anti-family" and contained "offensive language," which only makes sense if by offensive you mean "really fucking depressing."

The big list is worth a look too. Spoiler alert! The word "witch" appears on it 76 times—unsurprising, given the frequency with which (!) accusations of witchcraft are cited as a reason for banning books.

Anyway, if you've been needing an excuse to read a controversial book or join a coven, now's the time!