In June 2010, about eight months before the Tahrir Square uprising, a 28-year-old Egyptian blogger named Khaled Said was arrested and beaten to death after he posted a damning video that allegedly showed police helping themselves to the spoils of…
Author: Maren Williams
Adding Drama to Your Library or Classroom Collection
In 2014, Raina Telgemeier’s Drama made the American Library Association’s top 10 list of frequently challenged books due to a ban at Chapel Hill Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, Texas. The specific reason for the ban has not been publicly confirmed,…
Connecticut Middle Schooler Investigated by State Police for “Death Note” List
A seventh grader in Griswold, Connecticut is suspended from school and under investigation by state police after he was found to have compiled a list of classmates in a “death note” booklet inspired by the manga and anime series. Although…
Atena Farghadani’s Lawyer Also Under Arrest in Iran
Just a few weeks after Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for drawing a cartoon of her country’s lawmakers, her defense lawyer Mohammad Moghimi has now been arrested as well. The alleged…
Crafton Hills College Stands By Graphic Novel Course
Facing the wrath of the Internet, Crafton Hills College affirmed yesterday that it will not be “eradicating” any graphic novels from its English 250 course as 20-year-old student Tara Shultz and her parents demanded last week. The Shultz family disagrees…
CBLDF Joins Coalition Defending The Kite Runner in North Carolina School District
As a Buncombe County, North Carolina school district review committee prepares to make a recommendation to the school board on a challenge to The Kite Runner this week, CBLDF has joined the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Kids’ Right to Read…
College Student Wants Four Graphic Novels “Eradicated from the System”
A 20-year-old college student in Yucaipa, California is protesting the inclusion of four landmark graphic novels in an English class that she took during the recently-finished Spring 2015 semester at Crafton Hills College. According to the Redlands Daily Facts newspaper,…
High School Student Fights to Display Work on Body Shaming and Censorship
A high school senior in Glastonbury, Connecticut nearly saw her semester-long art project about body shaming and censorship of women’s bodies censored by school officials last week. But instead of giving up, she decided to fight for her creation–and won.…
Parent Group Pressures Florida School District to Ban Four Books
A parents’ group in Collier County, Florida is taking aim at four books in school libraries that they describe as “highly inappropriate [and] essentially pornographic.” Members of the organization known as Parents ROCK want Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and…
Fun Home Continues Winning Streak With Five Tony Awards
The Broadway musical based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel Fun Home won five Tony Awards including Best Musical on Sunday night, continuing a string of successes that contradict the opposition the book has met in some quarters such as the…