I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
dc.creator	Angelou, Maya
dc.subject	Autobiography; Blacks–United States; Racism–United States; Statutory rape; Sexually abused children; Motherhood.	LCSH
dc.description	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography about the early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou.
dc.publisher	Random House
dc.date	1969	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Paperback; 304 pages; 5-⅝ x 8-¼ in.
dc.identifier	ISBN: 978-0812980028
dc.source	http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/3924/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-by-maya-angelou/9780812980028/
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; originally published by Random House; New York, 1969.
dc.rights	Maya Angelou

Angelou’s autobiographical work has been challenged in 15 states. It is frequently banned or challenged in high schools and junior high schools. Censors cite its sexually explicit scenes, use of language, and religious depictions.
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/100-most-frequently-challenged-books-1990%E2%80%931999

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

 

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	Invisible Man
dc.creator	Ellison, Ralph
dc.subject	African Americans; Blacks–United States; Racism–United States; America–Race relations.	LCSH
dc.description	Invisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison about an African American man whose color renders him invisible, published by Random House in 1952.
dc.publisher	Random House
dc.date	1952	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Paperback; 581 pages; 5.2 x 0.9 x 7.9 in.
dc.identifier	ISBN: 978-0679732761
dc.source	http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0679732764
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; originally published by Random House; New York: 1952.
dc.rights	Ralph Ellison

Ellison’s first novel, which masterfully recounts the experiences of an unnamed black narrator who navigates life in the South and then in New York City, has been challenged or banned in schools since it’s publication in 1952. The most common reasons cited for banning are: obscene language, sexual content, and violence. An un-cited reason may be Ellison’s honest and unflinching portrayal of racism in America.

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/19/entertainment/la-et-jc-ralph-ellison-invisible-man-banned-north-carolina-20130919

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	Their Eyes Were Watching God
dc.creator	Hurston, Zora Neale, 1891-1960
dc.subject	Racism; Marriage-Fiction; Southern States; African American Women	LCSH
dc.description	An extended flashback as the main character, Janie, tells the story of her life. She goes through marriages to three different men, the last of which was finally a happy one, while dealing with violence and racism as an African-American woman in the early 1900’s South.
dc.publisher	Harper Perennial Modern Classics
dc.contributor	Henry Louis Gates Jr.; Edwidge Danticat
dc.date	05-30-2006	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Paperback book, 219 pages, 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 in.
dc.identifier	ISBN-13 978-0061120060
dc.source	http://www.amazon.com/Their-Eyes-Were-Watching-God/dp/0061120065/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461872392&sr=1-1&keywords=their+eyes+were+watching+god+book
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; originally published by J. B. Lippincott; Philadelphia: September 18, 1937
dc.rights	Zora Neale Hurston

Janie tells a friend the story of her life and struggles throughout her three marriages, beginning when she is sixteen and ending in her forties after losing her third husband. This is generally banned from high schools due to language and sexually explicit content, as well as some violence between Janie and her husbands.

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	Gone With the Wind
dc.creator	Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949
dc.subject	Coming of age- Fiction; Slavery;  Slavery in Literature; United States–History–Civil War, 1861-1865	LCSH
dc.description	In this “epic novel of love and war,” Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled daughter of a plantation owner, must survive on her own and find a way out of poverty in the Civil War South.
dc.publisher	Macmillan
dc.date	1964	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Hardcover book, 833 pages, 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.9 in.
dc.identifier	ISBN-13 978-0025853904
dc.source	http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Wind-Margaret-Mitchell/dp/B000GISOGS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1461871698&sr=8-5&keywords=gone+with+the+wind
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell; originally published by Macmillan Publishers; New York: June 10, 1936
dc.rights	Margaret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind follows the struggles of Scarlett O’Hara during and after the Civil War, as well as her on-again, off-again relationships with Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler. Many people have the opinion that Gone with the Wind should be banned due to racial slurs, as well as the underlying racism in both the way slaves were treated by the characters and portrayed by the narrative.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2011/0928/20-banned-books-that-may-surprise-you/Gone-with-the-Wind-by-Margaret-Mitchell

https://prezi.com/kdkcv_ww67je/why-is-gone-with-the-wind-banned-and-challenged/

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	To Kill a Mockingbird
dc.creator	Lee, Harper, 1926-2016
dc.subject	Racism, Lawyers, Fathers and daughters, Race relations	LCSH
dc.description	A young girl experiences prejudice in the South as her father, a lawyer, defends a black man wrongly accused of a crime.
dc.publisher	Harper Perennial Modern Classics
dc.date	03-01-2004	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Paperback book, 385 pages, 1 x 5.2 x 8.2 in.
dc.identifier	ISBN-13 978-0060935467
dc.source	http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0060935464/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; originally published by Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia: July 11, 1960
dc.rights	Harper Lee

 

To Kill a Mockingbird shows a young girl learning about prejudice and racism for the first time when her father, a lawyer in their small southern town, defends a black man wrongly accused of rape. It has been challenged or banned consistently since it came out for various reasons. The most common are vulgar language and sexual content, racial slurs, and the idea that it promotes institutionalized racism. Almost 60 years after it was first published, To Kill a Mockingbird remains one of the most commonly banned classic novels.

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/to-kill-a-mockingbird-remains-among-top-banned-classical-novels/

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Element	Value	Value Standard
dc.title	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
dc.creator	Twain, Mark, 1835-1910
dc.subject	Runaway children—Fiction; Fugitive slaves—Fiction; Friendship—Fiction; Race relations—Fiction; Mississippi River—Fiction	LCSH
dc.description	Huck Finn, trying to escape his abusive father, teams up with runaway slave Jim as they raft down the Mississippi River together in the 1840s.
dc.publisher	Dover Publications
dc.contributor	Mark Twain
dc.date	05-26-1994	W3CDTF
dc.type	Text	DCMIType
dc.format	Softcover book, 224 pages long, 0.8 x 5.2 x 8.5 in.
dc.identifier	ISBN-13 978-0486280615
dc.source	http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Huckleberry-Finn-Mark-Twain/dp/0486280616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461605489&sr=1-1&keywords=huckleberry+finn
dc.language	en-US	RFC4646
dc.relation	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; originally published by Charles L. Webster and Co., New York: 1885
dc.coverage	1885-1994
dc.rights	All rights reserved

 

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” tells the story of Huck Finn, a white boy who runs away from his abusive father with Jim, a runaway slave. Together, the two travel down the Mississippi River on a raft, encountering racism and attitudes toward slavery and freedom in the American South of the 1840s. Despite its negative attitude toward slavery, the book has been frequently banned for racism and offensive language (Banned Books Week) due to Twain’s unflinching portrayal of 1840s Missouri and the realities of slavery.

 

Works cited: “Banned Books That Shaped America.” Bannedbooksweek.org. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica