Amph America's most banned books. 1 - Huh?

I can't say I've ever *heard* of this book, and I always avoided Newberry Medal books on the grounds that if was good for me I wouldn't want to read it, a very reliable yardstick, by the way.

But it sounds rather intriguing.

 

I didn't ever really know anything about this book, but I always kind of wanted to read it just based on that great title.

 

23. Little Red Riding Hood - The Brothers Grimm

It is about a girl called Little Red Riding Hood, after the red hooded cape or cloak she wears. The girl walks through the woods to deliver food to her sick grandmother.

A wolf wants to eat the girl but is afraid to do so in public. He approaches the girl, and she naïvely tells him where she is going. He suggests the girl pick some flowers, which she does. In the meantime, he goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be the girl. He swallows the grandmother whole, and waits for the girl, disguised as the grandmother.

When the girl arrives, she notices he looks very strange to be her grandma. In most retellings, this eventually culminates with Little Red Riding Hood saying, "My, what big teeth you have!"
To which the wolf replies, "The better to eat you with," and swallows her whole, too.

A hunter, however, comes to the rescue and cuts the wolf open. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge unharmed. They fill the wolf's body with heavy stones, which drown him when he falls into a well. Other versions of the story have had the grandmother shut in the closet instead of eaten, and some have Little Red Riding Hood saved by the hunter as the wolf advances on her rather than after she is eaten.

The tale makes the clearest contrast between the safe world of the village and the dangers of the forest, conventional antitheses that are essentially medieval, though no written versions are as old as that.


Little Red Riding Hood???????????????? Come on!!!!

 

I know what you mean; especially considering this is the GRIMM's version (which is heavily bowdlerised compared to the original tales):

The Origins of Little Red Riding Hood - A Mixture of Myth and Morality

 

Clearly it's subtle pro-communist propaganda - the main character represents the Marxism movement, the wolf represents the vicious, predatory bourgeois state, and the hunter represents the proletariat revolt. That's why it's banned.

 

I'd like to see Tarantino's take on Little Red Riding Hood. With Jessica Alba in the title role and Hugh Jackman as the wolf. Rosemary Harris (Aunt May from Spiderman) could be the grandmother.

And it has to be in 3 D.

 

Little Red Riding Hood banned? It's a classis and teaches a good moral lesson.

 

The Freudians have a field day. It's an allegory of sexual predation and/or repression. Is the wolf the figure of sexual power or is it the hunter? Isn't it ultimately about the subsuming of the feminine? I've even heard it read as a 'fear of menstruation' allegory; an awful lot of red and a very young girl, you know.

Most likely, it was just a standard boogieman tale, used to keep kids out of the woods. But, yeah, some of those stories could be pretty gruesome.

My personal favorite take on the story? The Looney Tunes take, Red Hot Riding Hood, which reimagines Red as a curvaceous nightclub entertainer and the wolf as a lustful, aroused audience member. Take that, Freudians!

 

Next it's going to be Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Kids shouldn't break into people's houses, eat their food and sleep in their bed, especially if they're not of the same species.

 

This is so bizarre.

 

and next is...

 

Except that's not Loony Tunes, that's Tex Avery.

 

22. The New Teenage Body Book- Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman

THE TEENAGE BODY BOOK CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: Welcome to a New Century and a Special Generation!

CHAPTER ONE: AM I NORMAL? This chapter discusses the most common question we get from teens. Young people ask it in a variety of ways. They wonder if their growth and development are normal? If their changing bodies are normal or if their feelings are normal. Maybe you've had questions like this, too. This reassuring chapter lets you know that, in adolescence, it's normal to be changing in all ways!

CHAPTER TWO: A WOMAN'S BODY This chapter covers female anatomy and physical development. There is a detailed discussion about breast development, menstruation (and which sanitary protection products are safe), and vaginal health and infections.

CHAPTER THREE: A MAN'S BODY This chapter not only covers male anatomy and physical development but also looks at special problems like gynecomastia, short stature, prostatitis. undescended testicles and testicular cancer, benign scrotal masses, foreskin problems, pain in the groin and ejaculation problems.

CHAPTER FOUR: FEELINGS This comprehensive chapter covers feelings about self and others, love, anger, shyness, boredom, stress, self-defeating behavior, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, date rape, depression, suicidal feelings and the impact that feelings-- both positive and negative -- can have on your overall health.

CHAPTER FIVE: EATING FOR GOOD HEALTH In this chapter the reader discovers how to improve eating habits painlessly (well, almost...), and how to reach and maintain an ideal weight.

CHAPTER SIX: EXERCISING FOR GOOD HEALTH Among the topics covered in this chapter are how to create an exercise plan that works for you, how to avoid sports injuries and how to start exercising when you've been a total couch potato.

CHAPTER SEVEN: GOOD HEALTH AND GOOD LOOKS This major chapter covers skin care, including what to do if you have acne, eczema, psoriasis, warts or moles and how to protect your healthy skin; care of feet, nails and hair; how to keep your eyes in good health (including info about contacts and eye surgery); how to improve your dental health; and some pertinent stuff we get lots of questions about -- like piercings and tattoos, waxing and cosmetic surgery.

CHAPTER EIGHT: DRUGS, DRINKING AND SMOKING This chapter discusses why saying No to these choices is vital to your health, the real dangers of problem substances, how not to start a harmful habit and how to stop a health-challenging habit. There is a whole new part of this chapter covering prescription drug use and abuse. Think these are safer than illegal drugs? Think again! We'll tell you why.

CHAPTER NINE: MIND OVER BODY Here we talk about stress and its impact on your health -- the connection stress might have to headaches, gastrointestinal problems, eating disorders and blood pressure and how to help yourself. We include traditional and alternative treatments as well as information to help you make sense of the mind/body connection.

CHAPTER TEN: YOUR SPECIAL MEDICAL NEEDS. This chapter has special information for teens suffering from allergies, anemia, asthma, bed-wetting, diabetes, epilepsy, infectious mononucleosis, Osgood-Schlatter Disease, scoliosis, and urinary tract infections. There is a special section on the emotional aspects of living with a chronic medical condition.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: YOU AND YOUR SEXUALITY This includes information on sexuality as a part of your life, your sexual orientation, sex education, how to make wise sexual choices, relating to others and masturbation as well as a discussion of sex vs. intimacy.

CHAPTER TWELVE: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES This chapter talks about everything from AIDS to Chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, and a whole host of other sexually transmitted diseases you really don't want to get --ever! In that spirit, the chapter also talks about safe sex and what you need to know.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BIRTH CONTROL Here you'll read about 5 Lame Excuses for Not Using Bir

 

Well, my philosophy has always been total information blackout during puberty. Keep those kids horrified by their own bodies and completely socially alienated by their feelings. It's really the only safe choice.

 

Not to mention by not teaching them about sex, surely they won't learn about it at all. It's not like people talk, or that they might get the wrong information from their peers. That'd be ridiculous.

 

ahh censorship.. one of the few things i can honestly say i hate. when 'the powers that be' ban books i make it a point to acquire and read them, even if they dont particularly interest me. Its the principle of the thing.

 

Hmmm... Sounds like a great book for a parent of a 10-18 year old to read. I'll have to see if it's still around in about 9-12 years. Probably even be a good book to read together.

I would prefer to be the one teaching my kids about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. Well, sex and drugs anyway. They'll get enough exposure to rock 'n roll from now until they move out, just because I enjoy it.

Contrary to popular belief, you can broach these subjects with your kids. They may do this: at first, but they'll appreciate it. My parents talked about this stuff with me and I was very glad they did. It built our level of trust to a higher level. I actually felt like I could talk with them about anything (for which they were very glad).

 

My parents and I read a couple of books together as a family, the three of us. They treated sex like it was something I should learn about and understand and not be afraid of. They made me understand that it was a big deal, but also not the big deal some people think it is.

I've turned out fairly normally, I think, with my priorities all in the right places. It's when you try to cover kids in a protective blanket that you turn it into a big deal. Once your parents have talked with you about anyhing, be it sex or drugs or whatever, it automatically loses much of its psychological pull for you. In my opinion at least. Cause most kids try things just because they want to find out about it and no one's explained anything really.

 

21. Fallen Angels - Walter Myers

A coming of age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, Fallen Angels is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren't the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is there at all.

 

So...why is this banned, again?

 

Probably some racist comments

 

Probably for putting forth the absurd ideas that blacks are as good as whites, that the Vietnam War was somewhat not well thought through and that war kind of sucks a little.

 

Careful Rogue. As a mod, you should know better than to make such scurrilous posts.

 

If I can remember to place this on my list of books to read, I want to read this book.

Published in 1988 when Vietnam Vets were still treated badly. That could be part of why it was banned. I always thought that First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone was an interesting way to raise the public awarness of the plight of Vietnam Vets. Though, that's a little off topic.

Wikipedia says it was banned for language and "mature themes involving war" (for whatever Wikipedia is worth).

 

20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 17. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.


Anyone want to guess which states this was banned in?