Thursday, April 15, 2010

ALA most frequently challenged books of 2009

The American Library Association (ALA) has just posted it's top ten list of most frequently challenged books in 2009 and this year it's topped by Lauren Myracle’s ttyl series (written in instant messaging format).

Oh and there are two new books books added to the list this year: the Twilight series (really!) My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

And here's the list:

1. ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle

2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky

4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee

5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer

6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger

7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult

8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler

9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker

10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier

Seven titles were dropped from the list this year:
His Dark Materials Trilogy (Series) by Philip Pullman
Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Gossip Girl (Series) by Cecily von Ziegesar
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper

Also new this year is an updated list of the top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the Decade (2000 – 2009). Topping the list is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. A complete listing can be found at http://tinyurl.com/top100fcb.

I'm happy to say that I've read most of the top ten challenged books this year and will certainly read the two others. What about you?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

You have to wonder if the people complaining about the books actually read them. Twilight - seriously?

JESSJORDAN said...

I so do not understand. What, exactly, are people challenges in books like Harry Potter? And how in the world did My Sister's Keeper end up on this list, but Gossip Girl got let off the hook? And To Kill A Mockingbird? Really? They had us reading and watching that in like, 8th grade.

I do not understand people. Whatever, book challengers. Go ahead. Raise kids' awareness about all the books you don't want them to read, so they'll go out and eat them up.

Anonymous said...

I can see why some people would object to Twilight and ttyl and etc. I personally didn't like Twilight it was very monotonous and Bella kept on repeating "Edward is so strong beautiful, gorgeous, and totally h4t...". And some religious groups might condemn the book for being unholy with the the vampires and all. ttyl is a bit of a mystery to me I've tried reading it but couldn't really understand IM-ing language.