Book Banning Efforts Bring on Title Fights

[babylonsister]

Book Banning Efforts Bring on Title Fights
by Stevenson Swanson

NEW YORK - The story seemed like a surefire hit for children. A pair of penguins take care of an egg that isn’t theirs and then raise the baby penguin, after it hatches, as their own.How heartwarming. And who doesn’t love penguins?0930 02

Plenty of parents, it turns out, when both penguin parents are male.

That plot twist earned “And Tango Makes Three” the distinction of being the most challenged book of 2006, according to the Chicago-based American Library Association, which compiles an annual list of titles that have been targeted by efforts to remove them from public and school libraries.

“Tango,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and other controversial titles from the 2006 list, such as two by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and Cecily von Ziegesar’s popular “Gossip Girl” series, will be the center of attention in the coming week at readings and other literary events nationwide as part of Banned Books Week, organized by the library association and other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

In Chicago, the week kicked off Saturday with readings from books on the most-challenged list in Pioneer Court on Michigan Avenue.

Last year the number of challenges — ranging from written complaints to full-blown hearings — jumped to 546, more than 30 percent higher than in 2005. Such annual fluctuations are not unusual, said Judith Krug, head of the library association’s office for intellectual freedom.

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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/30/4211/