Banned Book Club Overview

Reading and Writing Inquiry: Should particular texts be taken out of our middle school classroom and school libraries because of objectionable content?

There is a lot of controversy over who should have access to certain texts. Throughout the country and the world, authors and texts get censored, their texts get banned from school and library book shelves. In some countries, writers get persecuted and exiled because their work is seen as a threat to the government.

In the 6th-8th grade ELA classrooms at MS 51, there are many books that parents and teachers have questioned and challenged regarding their appropriateness. According to the ALA website, "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials.  Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."

For the next month, we will be exploring this issue by reading nonfiction texts along with fiction. We will be focusing on the overall inquiry question: Should a particular text be taken out of the middle school library because of objectionable content?

I would like you to form reading inquiry groups (book clubs) of 2-4 people.  You will read a book that may be deemed inappropriate for the middle school library. You can decide to read the same or different books that fit into the overall question we are exploring. Together, you will also be doing research and reading outside sources together and coming up with arguments that support and counter your overall claim/assertion. Ultimately, you will independently write an argument essay in the form of a letter to Ms. Berner explaining whether the book you are reading should or should not be taken out of our classroom and school library.

Book Club Choices (choose at least 1 of these books which has been challenged and/or banned):

·         Graphic novels: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi,

·         Classics: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Of Mice and Men or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; 1984 by George Orwell; Animal Farm by George Orwell, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey; The Call of the Wild by Jack London; In Cold Blood by Truman Capote; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain;

·         Author studies: Ellen Hopkins, Sarah Dessen, Jay Asher, John Green;

·         Horror/Monsters/Vampires: City of Ashes series by Cassandra Clare; Stephen King books

·         Fantasy: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle; The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

·         Dystopia/apocalypse: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Divergent by Veronica Roth; The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

·         War/International Problems/History: Sold by Patricia McCormick; A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

·         Realistic/YA fiction: Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; Looking for Alaska by John Green; The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Book Club Proposal:

1.       What text do you want to read for this project? Do research then list 1st-3rd choices.

2.       List students in your group. If you have issues or comments about your current group and would like to request changes, explain here.

Due Dates:

• Submit proposal on:

• Obtain your book by and get into book clubs on:

• Begin reading and annotating based on the inquiry questions.

• Based on the question and notes, create a synthesis page for your book; due:

• You will meet in your groups at least once a week for the next three weeks.

• Finish reading and taking notes on your book by:

• Final project/presentation on:

Inquiry Questions:

As you read, take notes on difficult issues and objectionable content. Here are some inquiry questions to focus your reading on:

• How are young people portrayed in the text? In what ways are they accurately or inaccurately portrayed?
• Why might parents, teachers, and/or schools try to ban or purposefully exclude the text from their bookshelves? Think about language, immoral acts, mature topics such as drugs, abuse, rape,
• How do you find yourself resisting or objecting to certain characters, issues, conflicts, events, etc.? Give specific examples.  
• Who is the appropriate audience for this text? Explain what particular groups or ages should or should not read the book and why.
• What are some questionable or unclear messages in the text?
• How does the book deal with controversial issues? Does it oversimplify or overly-dramatize? Does it condone or encourage particular behavior? Explain.

Dear Parents: Because your child will be reading a book with potentially objectionable content, please be prepared to discuss it with him/her. If you have any questions, please email me at denise.galang@gmail.com. Thank you for your understanding.  –Ms. Galang Student’s Name: _______________________________________________________ Title/author of book: ____________________________________________________ Definite inquiry group members: ___________________________________________ Parents’ Permission: We understand the nature of this project and give our child permission to read this book.   Parent’s signature: _______________________________________________ Comments/questions: