Robie Harris knows more than most people about book banning. Her children’s books on sexual health and family life are perennial standards on challenged and banned lists across the country, accused of being everything from age-inappropriate to “obvious child pornography.”…
Category: Education
What Gets a Book Banned in Texas? How Bone & More Were Taken Off The Shelf
Each year, the ACLU of Texas contacts the 1,000+ school districts in the Lone Star State to find out why books are banished from classrooms, library shelves, and reading lists. For 2011-2012, they were excited to find that book challenges…
Honest Teen Life Stories Among Frequently Banned & Challenged
Nothing gets a parent quite so anxious as their child’s teen years. Burgeoning adulthood comes with sexual awakening and an introduction to smoking, drinking, and any number of other vices. For many parents it can seem easier to limit a…
Tereska Torrès, Writer of America’s First Lesbian Pulp Novel, Dies at 92
French writer Tereska Torrès, 92, died at her home in Paris last Thursday. Author of many novels and memoirs, she is best known for her book Women’s Barracks, which was challenged by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials…
Alan Moore, America’s Most Challenged
Alan Moore is a legend of the comic book industry, recognized as one of its best writers. He has won numerous awards for his works, including for his run on Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Batman: The Killing Joke, and The League…
The Incredible True Story of Joe Shuster’s NIGHTS OF HORROR
In 1938, Superman took flight from the drawing board of a teenage boy named Joe Shuster into the pages of Action Comics. However, by 1954 Joe had fallen on hard times: He was no longer drawing Superman; he had lost…
Virtual Read-Out: KING & KING
Here’s another selection from the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out, an officially sponsored YouTube channel that compiles videos of people reading their favorite banned and challenged literature. In this one, college student Rachel reads an excerpt from King & King…
George R.R. Martin Supports CBLDF For Banned Books Week!
George R.R. Martin, the celebrated creator of GAME OF THRONES and WILD CARDS is celebrating Banned Books Week by supporting the important work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! This is his special message about what he’s doing to…
LGBT Graphic Novels Face Frequent Challenges
Regular CBLDF readers are probably already aware that comics and graphic novels are frequently challenged or banned for content that would pass without comment in an all-text novel. Would-be censors, often clinging to the notion that any book with lots…
Virtual Read-Out: AND TANGO MAKES THREE
It’s Banned Books Week, and bookstores, libraries, authors, and readers around the country are celebrating by participating in the Virtual Read-Out, an officially sponsored YouTube channel that compiles videos of people reading their favorite banned and challenged literature. Stephanie Hartwell-Mandella,…