Today I welcome back YA author J.A. Campbell. J.A. has become one of my favorite authors and we chat on Twitter so I asked her to help with Banned Book Week and she kindly wrote the following post.
J.A. writes fantasy novels. Several are even published (and have been reviewed on here). When she’s not out riding her horse, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer with a cat on her lap and her dog at her side.
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Ban my book. I dare you.
I have a confession to make. I hope that one day I have a book on the banned books list. Why? The company I would be keeping is excellent. Amazing books have been banned or challenged over the years. Books such as Of Mice and Men, Harry Potter, The Bible, The Golden Compass, The catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Flies, and 1984 to name a few. Some of these books, The Lord of the Flies in this list, I even read for class.
To me it seems like a lot of the books that get challenged are challenged because they actually make people think and feel, and get people to want to read more. What’s so bad about people thinking and reading? It might give them ideas? Oooh, that’s scary too.
On the other hand, the banned book list makes for some great reading. I guess if people want to continue challenging good literature and bringing it to the attention of people who might never read it otherwise, that’s okay. I do like how people the world over have taken a huge negative, banned books, and turned it into a positive – essentially making the idea of banned books as public as possible so that more people have access to them.
Please, go out and read a banned book, or three… all the ones I’ve read are really good.
Great post Julie, its a wonder how many you have read when you look at the list, how many are considered classics now.
ReplyDeleteI really feel sorry for those who will never have the opportunity to enjoy some of them, plus look at the ratio of banned books to films. Now thats an eye opener. LOL
Thanks! I agree, it's a shame that some people will never have a chance to read some of these books.
ReplyDeleteBea, thanks for having me here!
Julie