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Ban My Book—Please!

Do Jews no longer push cultural buttons?

by
Dan Klein
September 29, 2010
(Amazon.com)
(Amazon.com)

Banned Book Week has come around once again, and the American Library Association has released its list of the ten most banned/challenged books of the decade. In the 1990s, Jews dominated the list: Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories series (#1), Judy Blume’s Forever (#7), Lesléa Newman’s Heather Has Two Mommies (#9), and J.D. Salinger’s Overrated in the Rye (#10). Now, Schwartz, who died in 1992, has dropped to #7, and the rest of the list is Judenfrei.

This brings about mixed emotions. I don’t like censorship. Censorship is bad. But on the other hand, the Tribe’s ability to push buttons fills me with counter-cultural pride. Apparently, Jews don’t do this anymore. Ouch.

The new list, after the jump.

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky