Banned

I find the following disturbing, because literature is such an important influence over my own artwork.

A North Carolina school district has banned the much-lauded Cassell Dictionary of Slang, claiming that the book, which includes some 87,000 entries, is somehow inappropriate for children. Not surprisingly, the impetus for the ban came from a Christian fundamentalist group, which is also seeking to ban many other books, including Maurice Sendak's "Mickey In The Night Kitchen" and Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War." The Guardian (UK) 06/24/06

I remember reading “The Chocolate War” around eighth grade. The above article made me wonder what other books were commonly banned throughout history. These are some highlights from the list:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Brave New World
How to Eat Fried Worms
Call of the Wild
Heart of Darkness
Catch-22
A Day No Pigs Would Die
Leaves of Grass

… and my personal favorite…

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Copies used in school literature classes were edited to omit the words "hell," "damn," and "abortion," which is ironic because the central theme is censorship.) – Wikipedia

To read the complete list at Wikipedia, click here.