Last year, the 1988 Coretta Scott King Award-winning book Fallen Angels was challenged for inappropriate language in a middle school 50 miles from Toledo. The book illustrates life during the Vietnam War, with foul language from soldiers and gruesome descriptions of combat.
Fallen Angels isn’t the only book that has been challenged. Last year, 307 challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Help protect the right to read freely by celebrating the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week with The University of Toledo.
Other books that have been banned include popular titles: The Hunger Games, Looking for Alaska, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Kite Runner and To Kill A Mockingbird.
Celebrate and become a “Champion of Freedom of Expression” by donating a challenged book to be handed out at the 17th Annual UT Banned Books Week Vigil Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Carl Joseph Memorial Reading Commons on the fifth floor of Carlson Library.
Those who donate will be honored by having their names appear in front of the titles they purchase and be announced as the novels are given away.
Door prizes and donated books will be given away every half hour from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. the day of the event.
To see a full list of banned books, visit the American Library Association’s website at http://utole.do/bannedbooks.
To donate, visit the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore or contact Colleen Strayer at 419.530.2516 or toledo.@bkstore.com by 9 p.m. Friday, Sept.19. Cash donations also are welcomed.
For more information about the UT Banned Books Week Vigil, contact Dr. Paulette D. Kilmer, UT professor of communication, at paulette.kilmer@utoledo.edu.
