Aadvika’s articles

Aadvika Yatagiri

You. You. You. I’m just gonna straight up guess, you like reading, you don’t, you like reading, you don’t. (say based on how many people are there if not start on “I’m going to straight up guess”) well, if you love reading, like me, or are part of the heartwarming bookworms club, this info is just for you! if you don’t, woah, you just offended me in so many different ways, But Now, I want you to participate in my info! I want you to hold out your hands, close your eyes and imagine your favorite book. After a few seconds… POOF it disappears. Worried, you open your eyes and search up on the great, glorious search engine google and type up what happened to your favorite book. When you see the results… DUN DUN DUN, it’s banned. How would you feel? You would probably feel the itch to read even more. But the real question is, how did book banning start? Great question. It all started way back in the 1600’s. According to National Geographic, “In 1650, prominent Massachusetts Bay colonist William Pynchon published The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption, a pamphlet that argued that anyone who was obedient to God and followed Christian teachings on Earth could get into heaven. This flew in the face of Puritan Calvinist beliefs that only a special few were predestined for God’s favor.

Outraged, Pynchon’s fellow colonists denounced him as a heretic, burned his pamphlet, and banned it—the first event of its kind in what would later become the U.S. Only four copies of his controversial tract survive today” That was how the first book was banned.

To dig deeper into this topic, we will, first once upon a time see the past of book banning. Second, We’ll flip the page to examine book banning in our world. And finally, we’ll close our books, and look out to the programs that save the stories we love. 

Now, during the time of slavery and civil war, or by the year  1850,  enslavement happened all over the south, and some states made a book banned or illegal, due to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe was an abolitionist that made a book called Uncle Tim’s Cabin that revealed the evil ways of slavery.  This book meant to show people what a day in a life of a slave was.  Whites criticized his book who thought the black characters were too positive & uplifting! black critists who believed this book was oversimplified and stereotypical.  This anti-slavery message “ruffled a few feathers” of Southern states, as we all know where the horrendous criticism of slavery happened. Stowe received many threatening letters home about his book. Now, If I was living in this time period, I would just straight up snatch a copy of the book but later then did Black minister Sam Green got sentenced FOR LIFE for owning a copy of the book, since it got banned and burned by Claire Parfait, a historian. 

In 1873, people weren’t allowed to mail books about birth control or sexuality. Margaret Sanger’s pamphlet got banned, due to a discussion of sexuality. Boston’s first book was also being banned by Britain. This was banned due to promoting obscenity and was criticized for not fitting into the British model of poetry.  Britain took control and sued booksellers, as well as enforcement. The book that has been banned was by an author named, Walt Whitman’s, and his book Leaves of Grass.

Second, We’ll flip the page to examine book banning in our world.

Schools are banning various books of different genres. Some of these banned books are my favorite! I had the same shocked face when I found out at 6 years old that Wells Fargo wasn’t an ice cream shop :/! but today, let’s take a look at 3 surprising books that are banned.

Published in 1952, written by E.B White and illustrated by Garth Williams, Charlotte’s Web, written in 23  languages and banned mostly in Kansas, Florida and Alabama, just because there is death and parents think that only humans have the right to talk. The group of parents think that only god gave a voice to humans and not to all animals. They also said that humans were the highest creation of life and that talking animals were unnatural and blasphemous. Parents also agreed that Passages of Charlotte’s Death were an inappropriate matter in a children’s book. 

  Our second book is A Wrinkle in Time. Published in 1962, written by Madeleine L’engle. A Wrinkle In Time was banned due to promoting witchcraft and was criticized for undermining religious beliefs. This book also got banned due to a scene, where they put Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha, and Einstein against the evil forces, that made people wonder saying that Christianity is not the most important religion. L’Engle reacted to this, saying that Buddha or Mohammed aren’t more or less equal to Jesus! According to the Banned Book Project (BBP) at Carnegie Mellon University. “A Wrinkle in Time has faced several challenges and attempted bans. It was ranked #23 on the American Library Association’s (ALA) 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990-1999, and #90 on the ALA’s list from 2000-2009.”

Now, last but not least, Harry Potter, with over 500 million copies sold and  converted into 46 languages GOT BANNED and was one of the most challenged books of 1990-2009. According to toledolibrary.org, “Reasons for challenging the book included: glorifying witchcraft, promoting the occult, tones of death, lack of respect and sheer evil, confusing children, and leading them astray.”

 And finally we’ll look out for programs that save the stories we love.

Of course there is a downside to this, and these are the people who ban books. These people are conservative-leaning groups. Now, you might be asking, what does that mean? Conservative-leaning groups are like the government, but smaller and into groups. According to abc news, “Books targeted by conservative groups were overwhelmingly written by or about people of color and LGBTQ people, according to anti-censorship researchers. According to PEN American and the ALA, many of the challenges reference the sexual content or inherent messaging in the books.” Conservative leaning groups don’t want kids to learn about LGBTQIA even though Gen Z so far is the most diverse generation of all times, and currently already 15-20% of kids identify themselves as LGBTQ, said by Author George M. His book, All Boys Aren’t Blue, which is the top 3 most challenged in America. 

 Thankfully, there’s also an upside. There’s an organization called PEN america who track books that libraries banned, and are making a federal file to ban unbanned books. The first amendment also plays in this role! As people should know, Book banning is a type of censorship that shouldn’t pass the first amendment, but the law was passed. ALA and PEN America are against censorship, saying that book banning is censorship! I mean look at me, I’m no politician or president! I’m just a 12 year old! How can you, as a parent, teenager or a kid help against book banning? You can join organizations, like ALA, PEN America and watch ABC News on their banned book weeks! Now we talked about the history of books, books that are being banned, and how the future will be impacted. Now some books get banned for silly reasons! So, will you be the person who helps ban a book just because you don’t like it? Or will you, put it aside and not raise awareness to ban the book, that ruins education for all. I hope you do the right thing and not make a book banned (skip from so to not make a book banned if not enough time) . Books are not just a bundle of paper, well they might be, but they have life lessons, stories, myths and legends we follow every single day.  

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