{"id":2803,"date":"2020-10-16T00:58:01","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T00:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=2803"},"modified":"2021-10-06T15:59:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T15:59:30","slug":"banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned Books Week 2020: Banned Bestsellers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/351foUn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2819\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/248\/2020\/10\/kite-runner-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini\" width=\"159\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/248\/2020\/10\/kite-runner-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/248\/2020\/10\/kite-runner.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 159px) 100vw, 159px\" \/><\/a>This semester, I just so happen to be taking a course dedicated to young adult (YA) literature taught by Banned Books Week read-in speaker Dr. Aronson. In our class, we critically analyze books and the effect they have on a young reader. We have already read quite a few banned or challenged books. As we can see from <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ala.org\/advocacy\/bbooks\/frequentlychallengedbooks\/decade2019\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ALA\u2019s list of the most frequently challenged books<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the decade, a large number of banned or challenged books fall into the genre of children\u2019s or young adult fiction. Many of these books received critical acclaim and became bestselling novels, such as Suzanne Collins&#8217; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/2ICS4oB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hunger Games<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Jay Asher\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3lQYnmu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thirteen Reasons Why<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Khaled Hosseini\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/351foUn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Kite Runner<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and Angie Thomas\u2019 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/2NYx63p\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hate U Give<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. These books are frequently banned or challenged because they deal with difficult topics. However, they also become bestselling books because they resonate with their audience.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Books are challenged when they do harm. Some might suggest that young adults are not ready to deal with certain topics such as mental health, violence, or racism. It is a natural instinct to shield young adults from topics such as these, topics which might cause them emotional distress. But banning these books doesn\u2019t erase these problems from existence. Many young adults will have to deal with these issues at one point or another, or it may already be a part of their daily lives. These books can serve as a form of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ala.org\/tools\/atoz\/bibliotherapy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">bibliotherapy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. They provide readers with the tools to see their own problem in context, offering catharsis and insight into a solution. For this reason, it is best to have these books on-hand for when a young reader comes searching for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you looking for a new read? Check out ALA\u2019s list of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ala.org\/advocacy\/bbooks\/frequentlychallengedbooks\/YAbooks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">frequently challenged YA books<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This list includes <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3m8RrSH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Flowers for Algernon<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the novelization of a short story by the same name <a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.rutgers.edu\/c.php?g=1077946&amp;p=7853508\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tales We Read will discuss in late October<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This semester, I just so happen to be taking a course dedicated to young adult (YA) literature taught by Banned Books Week read-in speaker Dr. Aronson. In our class, we &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/\" class=\"\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,33,27,6,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-banned-books","category-cookreads","category-little-free-library","category-news","category-rugrat","post_format-post-format-image"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Banned Books Week 2020: Banned Bestsellers - Books We Read<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Banned Books Week 2020: Banned Bestsellers - Books We Read\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This semester, I just so happen to be taking a course dedicated to young adult (YA) literature taught by Banned Books Week read-in speaker Dr. Aronson. In our class, we &hellip; Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Books We Read\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-16T00:58:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-06T15:59:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/248\/2020\/10\/kite-runner-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julie Rossano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julie Rossano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-week-2020-banned-bestsellers\/\",\"name\":\"Banned Books Week 2020: Banned Bestsellers - 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