Banned Books

This week is Banned Books Week. I reviewed the list of the 100 most challenged books of 2004 on the American Library Association's website. I've read 90% of the list. Not only that,I read 90% of the list when I was in junior high. Judy Blume's name appears more than once on the list. She was my hero. Who else would have spoken to me so clearly and directly about my body, masturbation and boys.

I would have never survived life in a small town if not for her books and those on the banned book list. These books opened my mind to a world outside of the small town. They reassured me that I was not a freak or a loser. And comforted me in my heartache over dating and sticky fumblings in backseats. They drove me to leave my small town, to become someone and to make a contribution to society. Without these books I would not be the person I am today.

Now go out and read something!

“Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.”—Lyndon Baines Johnson