Each year, the National Coalition Against Censorship sponsors the Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest. This week, NCAC released the videos for the 10 semifinalists, which run a gamut of film styles but all make powerful statements against censorship of…
Category: Education
Community Divided Over The House of the Spirits as Final Banning Decision Draws Near
Back in November, CBLDF co-signed a letter defending Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits after an outraged parent filed complains against the book being taught in her son’s honors English class. After months of review, the Watauga county school…
CBLDF Joins Coalition Defending The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (Again)
It’s a miracle if a week goes by without a challenge to Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Unfortunately, the novel has been challenged once again, this time in Sweet Home, Oregon. CBLDF has joined the…
The Lost Comics Code of Australia
The Comics Code Authority highlights one of the darkest periods of comic book history. As a direct result of criticism from the Senate, the Code was implemented by the comics industry, leading to years of self-censorship in an attempt to…
Death Note Mixed Up in Concerns Over Troubled Arizona Teen
An eighth grade student at Florence Elementary School in Florence, AZ was removed from school after showing signs of depression and sending suicidal text messages post break-up with his girlfriend. What the local media chose to focus on was a…
Using Graphic Novels in Education: March: Book One
Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including…
Should Graphic Novels Be Required Reading? We Say Yes!
It’s no secret that graphic novels are influential through all forms of media—just look at TV lineups and summer movie blockbusters. Recently, i09 hosted an open channel asking what graphic novels their commenters thought should be required reading in high…
Students Protest Draconian Classroom Library Policy in Pennsylvania
Recently, CBLDF joined a Kids’ Right to Read Project-led coalition protesting a proposed policy in the Muhlenberg School District in Pennsylvania that would require teachers to read every book in their classrooms and label or remove mature, sexual, violent or…
Graphic Novels, Challenged Books Score Big in ALA Awards
The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards for 2014 were presented at the organization’s Midwinter Conference yesterday, and we were pleased to see challenged books and graphic novels figuring prominently among them! The complete roundup of winners and runners-up (Honor…
Using Graphic Novels in Education: SideScrollers
Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including…