Banned Book Book Club

April 24, 2023 5:30 AM

Banned Book Book Club [via mefi projects "Displays information about a book that has been banned in American schools 2021-2022, alongside a readable preview of most books (on desktop only) and a link to buy it. Reload to see another one.]"
posted by Paul Slade (13 comments total)

Insane. I would like to know the purported justification for challenging or banning these books. In my first four reloads, I got books about what it means to be Black, Latina, Asian, and Jewish in America. It's pretty clear to see what these nutjobs have a problem with.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 6:26 AM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

I really wish this were one big cynical marketing ploy to get people to read more books, but unfortunately that's simply not the case and even though it's clear from history that censorship is futile & counterproductive some people are going to keep at it. Fuck those people, I guess. And thanks to projects like this one who facilitate the end run.
posted by chavenet at 6:31 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is both wonderful and, after clicking a half-dozen times, heartbreaking, seeing what these fascists are taking away from kids. Looking for Alaska? Seedfolks? Rain Fish -- a picture book for little kids? Are you serious?

My son was trying to build an online library of banned books here in Florida, but that court ruling against Internet Archive hits right at what he was doing. So I'm glad this exists, at least.

Deleted a rant. Don't want to derail a discussion of the project.
posted by martin q blank at 6:54 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Insane. I would like to know the purported justification for challenging or banning these books

First one I got was a children’s book about Vivaldi, so ???

Second seemed a bit dry and academic but mentioned Black Lives Matter so I think we know there.
posted by Artw at 7:04 AM on April 24, 2023

Most of these are YA stories about coming out as a gay / trans teen.

I did get one that "briefly describes the history of the hundreds of Indian tribes that lived across America before the arrival of Europeans" and another one about Roe v Wade though, Texas is a particularly insane place.
posted by subdee at 7:21 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

My first one was creating a collection for tweens, which is certainly not something on my reading list, but I'm sure it's because the book recommends bunches of the others that came up when I reloaded. My local library often has a banned book display in the middle-grade and teen sections. And while I'm glad that means that these books get more attention, it seems ironic that that visibility is in a place where they weren't under threat to begin with.
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:48 AM on April 24, 2023

What book should everybody read before the age of 21?

“The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank; “Nine Stories,” by J.D. Salinger, to understand what makes a good short story. And choose a few titles from the growing list of banned books.
---Judy Blume
posted by chavenet at 10:11 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm getting blocked from the site on my work laptop. Apparently, open DNS classifies it as malware.

ACType - 0
Block Type - security
Bundle ID - 13445463
Domain Tagging -Host
malware.opendns.com
posted by COD at 12:08 PM on April 24, 2023

I'm sharing this far and wide.
posted by tommasz at 12:19 PM on April 24, 2023

I'm getting blocked from the site on my work laptop. Apparently, open DNS classifies it as malware.

Oof. This is the same server as my blog (hosted on DigitalOcean), so thanks for the heads up!
posted by bwerdmuller at 1:13 PM on April 24, 2023

There's no list of all the books, you just see one at a time, possibly at random. Which is too bad -- first, it's useful to see the extent of how many books are being banned, and in which jurisdiction. And for the kids that are being affected by these decisions, let them choose which books to access based on their own interests.

My third hit was a book called "Picturing Canada: A History of Canadian Children's Illustrated Books and Publishing". The cover features the expected assortment of animals (moose, bear, beaver, elk) associated with the company, in a 1930s style. No explanation why the state of Pennsylvania saw fit to keep this troublemaker out of the curious paws of its younger citizens.
posted by morspin at 1:37 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

No explanation why the state of Pennsylvania saw fit to keep this troublemaker out of the curious paws of its younger citizens.

Someone found out what "bear" means in my neighborhood.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:20 PM on April 24, 2023

morspin, right below "Reload for another banned book" is "Data drawn from PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2021-2022" for the list.
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:14 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]