Banned Books (Bourassa & Woodworth)

Your Job

Day One: Research & Analyze

• • Sign up for banned books on the shared spreadsheet when directed to do so

  • Research your challenged books using the resources in this pathfinder

  • Open the class Padlet wall

  • A Block Padlet

  • F Block Padlet

  • Make one note on the Padlet for each book including:

    • Title of the book and your name (first name and last initial)

    • 1-2 well-developed, original sentences summarizing what the book is about

    • 1-2 well-developed, original sentences summarizing why the book was banned or challenged

    • Add the cover of the book (use one if a series)

      • Look it up on Goodreads.com

      • Right click on the cover and select Copy Link Location

      • Click the link icon on your Padlet post and copy it in

  • Cite your sources on the sign-up spreadsheet (or as directed)

Day Two: Synthesize

• • • Answer the "Why Are Books Banned?" prompt in Google Classroom (posted under the Fahrenheit 451 section) and respond to at least two of your classmates

Recommended Books

Check our library catalog for actual challenged and/or banned books, as well as works on the author and other related works. These are a few great surveys of banned book cases:

• • Silenced in America: Banned Books in America (2017) [I'm an e-book!]

  • Books Under Fire: A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children's Books (2015)

• Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries (2002)

• 120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World History (2005)

Recommended Websites

Bibliography of books books challenged, restricted, removed, or banned each year. This list is great for browsing:

• Books Challenged and/or Banned: Archived Editions

Tip: Want to SEARCH this kind of content? Try a domain search on Google, which limits results to specific websites or domains. For example, try this:

"perks of being a wallflower" banned site:ila.org

Search Tips

Use quotation marks to find complete phrases, especially proper names and titles. For example:

"hunger games" or "of mice and men"

Combine keywords to get articles that match each of your important concepts. For example:

vonnegut AND banned

"harry potter" AND challenged

Target your Google search to specific domains. You can limit your Google results to specific websites or domains, such as .gov or .edu.

"perks of being a wallflower" banned site:ala.org

"and tango makes three" challenged site:gov

Play around. Both ala.org and ila.org are great for this assignment.

Check your spelling. If you don't find anything on your topic, sloppy spelling may be to blame!

What's a Banned Book Anyway?

What's the difference between banned and challenged books? Start here:

• About Banned & Challenged Books (ALA)

Learn more about the history of book challenges in this interactive timeline:

• 30 Years of Liberating Literature Timeline

And a breakdown of current trends:

• Censorship by the Numbers

What books have been banned or challenged? Check out some of these lists from the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom:

• Banned/Challenged Classics

• Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books Lists

• 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books by Decade

• Most Frequently Challenged Authors pages of the 21st Century

• Extended List of Books Banned or Challenged

Could it happen here? Of course! These documents outline policy for book challenges and selection in Arlington Public Schools, for your info:

• Procedures for Handling Challenges

• Reconsideration of Instructional Resources

• Materials Selection Policy

Ban Those Books

Putting the name of the book in quotation marks will get you that exact phrase and you'll only get results from www.ila.org, the Illinois Library Association (ILA). Then try the same thing with www.ala.org, since these lists are hosted by both organizations.

Recommended Databases

Reminder: Download database passwords here or get them from library staff.

• • Opposing Viewpoints (Gale)

  • Viewpoints and arguments about book banning and censorship.

    • New!! Check out this collection of viewpoints in our Opposing Viewpoints database for arguments for an against book banning, and other resources.

  • Books and Authors (Gale)

  • Search by title for brief summaries, awards, and reviews. Great source for more popular works, too. Tip: Pay attention to the source of the reviews.

  • Gale Literary Sources (Gale)

  • Literary criticism, reviews and news, and more. Tip: Search by Name of Work under Advanced Search to get fewer, more precise results.

  • General OneFile (Gale)

  • This periodical database is a good place to look for newspapers and magazine articles on possible challenges to your book as well as additional reviews. Tip: Put quotation marks around your title to search for that exact phrase.

Above and Beyond: Boston Public Library

• The Boston Public Library has a large collection of reference e-books that you can access from home through the Gale Virtual Reference Library (requires a BPL eCard number). You can also search for your banned book through Overdrive.

• Under Subjects, click on Literature. Then use the search box at the top right of the screen to search only within literature to get focused results, or browse the available titles.

• Tip: The 35 volumes of Novels for Students offers detailed articles on dozens of frequently taught works, including a critical overview, historical context, and discussion of the novel's themes and significance. Especially if your banned book is a classroom favorite, be sure to check these out!