Wow, what a week! CBLDF trekked across the country to celebrate the freedom to read and our board members and BBW co-sponsors — the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; the Freedom to Read Foundation; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Council of Teachers of English; National Association of College Stores; PEN American Center and and Project Censored — were no less busy! Let’s take a look at CBLDF and Banned Books Week in the news:
BANNED BOOKS WEEK: No ‘Bone’ or ‘Neverwhere’? Here’s why we can’t afford to shelve the debate: Michael Cavna examines the challenges to Bone and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in an in-depth article for The Washington Post.
Banning Bone: Inspiration and Book Banning Do Not Go Together: Jeff Smith got Banned Books Week off to a roaring start as he pulled no punches in the blog he wrote for Reading Rainbow.
Morning Edition: Smith paid a visit to NPR’s Morning Edition, where he joined Banned Books Week Chair Judith Platt and fellow most-challenged “honoree” Dav Pilkey, the creator of Captain Underpants. From NPR:
Comics on the Most Banned List?: Bone creator Jeff Smith writes about the inclusion of his bestselling series on ALA’s most challenged comics list and the right to read at Huffington Post.
Speaking Out For Banned Books Week: Banned Books Week has been running for the past 32 years, but this year is the first time it takes special focus on comics and graphic novels. Jeff Smith took time last week to talk to Alison Flood at The Guardian about Banned Books Week and how its focus on comics is a big deal.
Be a Hero: Jenni Holm, multiple Newbery winner and the writer of the popular series Babymouse and Squish, advocated for letting kids have the freedom to choose their own books at the Reading Rainbow blog.
Banned Books Week: Comic Books and Literary Censorship: CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein sat down with ReasonTV’s Tracy Oppenheimer to talk about banned comics.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Tells a Tale of Censorship: CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein talks to Nick A. Zaino III about the challenges that put Bone on ALA’s list. Read all about it at Kirkus.
Banned Books Week and the “Dangers” of the Comic Book: Casey Gilly examines the history of comics censorship from the Wertham era to contemporary attacks on comics for CBR.
In Defense of Banned Comics: 10 of Our Favorite Challenged Works: Paste Magazine manages to whittle our 22 Banned and Challenged Comics list down to their 10 favorite titles.
Cover up: 10 essential banned and challenged graphic novels: Entertainment Weekly also identifies 10 essential comics, but their favorite books are not the same as Paste‘s! Check out the list here.
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