Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Celebrating Banned Book Week

It's that time of year again: where authors, publishers, agents, librarians, teachers, students, journalists, and anyone who enjoys the freedom of censorship come together and celebrate. That's right, you guessed it. It's Banned Book Week.

From Sept. 30- Oct. 6, all readers unite to honor the books that have been banned or attempted to be banned from libraries, school's, etc. At least once in your lifetime, you've probably read a banned book. For example, the famous Harry Potter Series. Can you imagine a world without Hogwarts? I know I can't.

As writers and/or readers it's very important that we have the freedom to express ourselves. A lot of Young Adult books are frowned upon by parents because they paint a harsh reality that they don't think their kids can handle. Some explicit material incl., drugs and sex. Please someone find me a teenager who doesn't get asked to use drugs or the chance to have sex because I'm hard pressed to believe that most teens don't experience this. Books don't put these ideas in teenagers' minds, they're already there in their every day lives. Books do, however, give teenagers an escape. A way to let them know they aren't alone.

If you would like to join the celebration, go read a banned book. More information on Banned Book Week can be found here.

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