ALA's Top Challenged Books of 2005

The list is out! We've got a nice selection this year with a couple new additions.

* “It's Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
* “Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
* “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
* “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
* “Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
* “Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
* “What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
* Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
* “Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
* “It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Gone, apparently, are any of the Alice books by Naylor. Gone too are Of Mice and Men and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Adult books in general are gone. Like everything these days, the censors are particularly fond of things new and young. Sure, they're still banning The Chocolate War but who could have predicted Crazy Lady? That one came out of left field.

I've been talking up It's Perfectly Normal in my own branch for quite some time. It's particularly amusing to see two sex-ed books on the list. Apparently kids are supposed to intuit the details. I've never sat down and read It's So Amazing! though. That's the nice thing about the yearly Challenged Books list. There's always something new to read on it.

Now can anyone tell me what the heck Detour For Emmy is?