What if your favorite book were outlawed?
It’s not that far-fetched an idea. All around the world, and even in the United States, authoritarian bodies suppress books for their content—be it political, sexual, or religious. And sometimes, as in the case of Duke University freshmen rejecting the inclusion of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home on their summer syllabus, readers themselves shut out certain voices.
That’s why Banned Books Week (Sept. 27 to Oct. 3) is so crucial: It allows bookworms across the country take notice of censorship in their own communities and, even better, gives them a chance to suggest other books that ought to be banned before they can do more damage. With this sacred duty in mind, we humbly nominate the following books for prohibition.
1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Glamorizes orphanhood and wizardry, which could be offensive to Muggle children with parents.
Grabing Harry Potter And The Socerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone cause it feels like such a long day today.. pic.twitter.com/70aquC46IP
— Queen Lynn (@JustLynnYo) October 30, 2014
2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Thoughtlessly demonizes snakes on almost every page! #NotAllSnakes.
https://twitter.com/imhiyaa/status/647424496354222081
3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Whitewashes the prison-industrial complex. Unacceptable.
http://t.co/kOZLmufFhr Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, Book 3)
— EBooks Online (@EBooks099) September 21, 2015
Harry Potter and the Pris… pic.twitter.com/2keXEv6rgp
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
This one is all about sports—which are, by their very nature, exclusionary and problematic. Get rid of it.
https://twitter.com/KdlAzUS/status/649353241814110208
5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Puberty and emotional depth? Keep that the hell away from my kids!
The Harry Potter Reread: The Half-Blood Prince, Chapters 5 and 6 http://t.co/8hKZD5FS6H http://t.co/4HzfkZ4snt pic.twitter.com/JL06fNFJdt
— seriouslybooks (@seriouslybooks) September 24, 2015
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Would be fine, except for that horrible epilogue. BANNED.
Howling Geek Podcast Episode 35: Looking Back on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Pt. 1 http://t.co/HQvyFTlrdm pic.twitter.com/k9GC58PDvu
— HowlingGeek (@HowlingGeek) September 26, 2015
8) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Promotes unsupervised river rafting.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: We give it 5 stars for tweens age 12+: http://t.co/DREqMVsql7 #BannedBookWeek pic.twitter.com/gfP9W6r4ye
— Common Sense Media (@CommonSense) September 30, 2015
Photo via Les Chatfield/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
