Mundie Moms

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Mundie Moms Supports Banned Books Week


Mundie Moms is celebrating Banned Book Week all month long. But what is Banned Book Week?

"Held during the last week of September since 1982, Banned Books Week not only encourages readers to examine challenged literary works, but also promotes intellectual freedom in libraries, schools, and bookstores. Its goal is "to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society." (quoted from here http://tinyurl.com/296zdu8)

It's not just graphic words that get books banned, it's also the topic of race, sexuality, religious beliefs and so on. Books are an outlet. A place to expand our imaginations or to get lost in. They can also be a great source of help when we're going through a difficult time. Sometimes we read books to gain a better understand of a subject matter, or read them to escape reality. Books reflect both imagination and reality.

Banning a book is a form of censorship I don't agree with. Yes, I understand that sometimes certain books don't belong in schools, and that topic *might* be discussed in a different post. I am against someone banning a book, because they don't feel my child should read it. As a parent, I feel that it's up to me, and only me on whether or not my child should read the book. What may be too graphic for my child, may be a book the next child can completely relate to.

I've done a lot of research into banned books and I've been completely shocked at books I found on the list. These were books I read in middle school and high school. Some of them challenged me to think outside of the box and others sparked class room discussions. They made us, as young adults think for ourselves, share our views and thoughts on what we read and also the world around us.

In my research for banned book lists, I read from state lists and as well as the American Library Association's list. Here's just a few examples of banned books and one or more reasons on why it was banned:

The Grapes of Wrath was banned because of the way it portrayed America.

The Diary of Anne Frank- Seriously!? It's a diary of a young girl during WWII and what it was like for her. In researching this more, it looks like the original version of the book had more sexually explicit material in it, as Anne wrote about her growing and changing body. I'll refrain from commenting further...

The Harry Potter Series- Not only has Harry Potter been banned in schools in the US and UK, but it's also been banned in libraries. The three major reasons for it's banning 1) they promote witch craft 2) they set bad examples 3) they're too dark. When is the war with good vs evil ever light?

The Twilight Series- for being sexually explicit... REALLY!?!

Speak- For talking about rape. Okay, I just want to throw this out there that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their life time and college women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted (quoted from RAINN's site).

Tom Swayer & The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Banned for racism.

AND my favorite-

The Dictionary -was banned in a school district in California because it has a sexually explicit word in it... I'll let you read the rest here-http://tinyurl.com/2cfpvhg. That floors me that The Dictionary was banned over one word (even though the banned has sense been reversed).

Others include: To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Call Of The Wild, The BFG, The Giving Tree, Harriet The Spy, Indian In The Cupboard, Little House On The Prairie, Roll of Thunder Here My Cry, The Merchant of Venice, Canterbury Tales, The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and A Wrinkle In Time to name a few.

Here's a list of banned books from the American Library Association-

20th Century top 100 Banned/Censored Novels:

100 most censored/banned books from 2000-2009:

All month long we're going to be talking about banned books and we're looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. Be sure to join us the week of September 25th-October 2nd for Banned Book Week, as we'll be having a variety of authors sharing their thoughts with us about censorship and banned books.

Meet Personal Demon's Luc

We met Gabe earlier and now we meet...Luc. Or as I like to refer to him -- the little devil himself. And he's captured perfectly by Vania of VLC Productions.

Remember Mundie Moms, Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers comes out on September 14th. Be sure to pre-order a copy now and get ready to choose...will it be Gabe or Luc??

I'm casting my vote for Luc.


Mockingjay District 11 Giveaway Winners!

















WOW! We had over 850 entries for our Mockingjay Water Bottle Giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered and CONGRATULATIONS to the following winners:

#295- Erica Andrews
#307- Amanda Wilson
#184- Faith Mason
#580- Rachel Williams
#690- Jocelyn Baldwin
#289- Kellie Abrahamson
#528- Katyana Sacro
#388- Sara Grundel
#279- Lucy Zhang
#548- Christina Molloy
#148- Kristy Potts
#189- Sayna Sheinfeld
#72- Tricia Turner
#265- Deanne Dekle
#642- Elizabeth G. Horton
#356- Devan Bridget
#56- Caitlin Leyden
#31- Kelly Jensen
#408- Megan Friar
#695- Tayler Wright
#131- Calvin Huffer
#155- Rachel Crozier
#716- Allison Chou
#4- Autumn Crochet
#657- Julie Goodrich

All of our winners have been notified via email. I do apologize if I mis-spelled any names, I'm trying to quickly get the post up before I run out the door.

THANK YOU so much to Scholastic for sponsoring the Mockingjay blog tour and giveaway!

Waiting on Wednesday- Spy Glass

By Maria Snyder
Published by Mira Books
Release Date- September 1st, 2010 TODAY!

An undercover mission leads to danger, adventure and an impossible choice. After siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, Opal Cowan has lost her powers. She can no longer create glass magic. More, she's immune to the effects of magic. Opal is now an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had, powers that make a difference in the world. Until spying through the glass becomes her new power. Suddenly, the beautiful pieces she makes flash in the presence of magic. And then she discovers that someone has stolen some of her blood - and that finding it might let her regain her powers. Or know it could be they are lost forever.

I am so excited to have Spy Glass in my hands! I've been eagerly awaiting it's release, as I have to know what happens with Opal and what path she'll choose. I have really enjoyed the world in which Maria has created, it's full of magic, romance, action and danger.

To find out more about Maria and her series, visit her *new* blog here:

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted Jill at Breaking the Spine,that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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