By Kari, guest blogger

Affiliate links are included so you can purchase these banned books. Read the Disclaimer to learn more.

In Tennessee in 2021, parents affiliated with “Moms for Liberty” (liberty apparently not including the freedom to read and access historical information) criticized the book, Ruby Bridges Goes to School.

We all know that Ruby Bridges, who was six years old, had to be protected by federal marshals as she went to school, as people shouted at her and threw things. But the Moms for Liberty believe this book is not sufficiently redemptive of the white people who did these things.

This is madness. If we cannot tell the truth about who we are and what we have done, we will never have the opportunity to grow.

Before 2020, we saw challenges to books like The Hate U Give, which was challenged for being anti-cop and for the language within, both things that were realistic for the time and place of the characters. Since 2020, books that try to address our racial history in any meaningful way are being challenged and banned all over the country for being “woke” or teaching “critical race theory.”

Books are windows and mirrors

Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop taught us that books should be both windows and mirrors. We should all have the opportunity to have books as mirrors, to see ourselves as heroes in books, people who look like us and help us feel understood. And we should all have the opportunity to use books as windows, to peer into another person’s life and understand them better. Banning books that reflect the Black experience in this country harms all children.

“Critical race theory” is not being taught in our local school system. Learning about our history from different perspectives makes for a more thoughtful society.

We must stand against people who want to keep our children from knowing the truth.

What banned books are your children reading these days? Share your list below or on Facebook at MothersRest.

About the guest blogger:
Kari is a librarian and a divinity school student who loves Jesus, science, and books. You can read her powerful message about Christianity and abortion in this blog post.

Photo credit, featured image: by MI PHAM on Unsplash

Editor’s note
Here’s a sampling of the banned or challenged books that I’ve read – what about you?

All the Skippyjon Jones books by Judith Schachner (My boys and I read these ON REPEAT!!)

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (My boys and I actually prefer his Dog Man books, but you do you!)

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (My oldest son’s FAVORITE book)

Bunnicula by James Howe (My boys and I love all the books about this adorable little vampire bunny)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

All the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

Forever… by Judy Blume (I checked this one out of the school library when I was in 8th grade – it offers quite the education!)

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (To be honest, I only managed to get halfway through this – IT. IS. SO. LONG.)

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (I’ve read this book THREE TIMES!)

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Beloved by Toni Morrison (I’ve read it TWICE!)

Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Giver by Lois Lowry

1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence (This book is very sexy)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman