Summit High School Banned Book Week

We wanted to create an interactive experience for the students at Summit during Banned Book Week. We decided on a select few challenged books, and decided to create an open discussion forum setting for a lunchtime discussion.

Book selection focused on titles we thought the students would already be familiar with. We thought the invitation of participating in a "banned book" discussion would seem intriguing to the rebellious nature of the targeted age group. Our layout for the week included the following:

Monday
Featured Author: J.K. Rowling
Featured Books: The Harry Potter Series
Biggest Reason Banned: They promote witchcraft, they set bad examples, they're too dark

Tuesday
Featured Author: Maurice Sendak
Featured Books: Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen
Biggest Reason Banned: Monsters, disobedience in the former, nudity (animated) in the latter

Wednesday
Featured Author: Shel Silverstein
Featured Book: A Light in the Attic
Biggest Reason Banned: Promoting themes of disobedience, suicide, violence, cannibalism, and drug use

Thursday
Featured Authors: Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, Harper Lee
Featured Books: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird
Biggest Reason Banned: Themes of racism; languaged, premarital sex, alcoholism, and prostitution; racial slurs, profanity, and discussion of rape

Friday
Featured Author: Chris Crutcher, Judy Blume
Featured Books: Just about every title from each author
Biggest Reason Banned: Discussing abusive parents, racial and religious prejudice, poverty, language and homosexuality; discussing topics of puberty, masturbation, menstruation, and ruining Christmas

The week has been a success. Because we focused topics on contemporary issues directed towards the high school audience, the students have been attending and are mostly interested in learning why the books they are required to study in their classrooms are considered banned books.

All students in attendance were very respectful and were able to discuss censorship topics with an open mind. Banned books have been checked out at a much higher rate than ever before!

Below: Mrs. Overcash reading Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.