{"id":53537,"date":"2024-09-23T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=53537"},"modified":"2024-08-20T11:19:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T16:19:09","slug":"banned-books-week-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/banned-books-week-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned Books Week 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banned Books Week 2024<\/a> is here! Banned Books Week was started in 1982 as a response to a surge in challenges to books across the country. This week brings attention to efforts to remove or restrict access to books by drawing people’s attention to the harms of censorship and restricting! The American Library Association values free and open access to information, so Banned Books Week allows us to share our love of the right to read and the freedom that can be found in books. The theme for Banned Books Week 2024, running from September 22 through September 18th, is “Freed Between the Lines”.<\/p>\n

Curious what you can do to fight censorship? The ALA has a great list of resources<\/a> available on their website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.\u201d<\/em>
\n– Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA\u2019s Office for Intellectual Freedom<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of the record 4,240 unique titles targeted for censorship, the most challenged books of 2023<\/a> are listed below.<\/span>\u00a0Descriptions of the books have been provided by the publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Gender Queer: A Memoir<\/i><\/strong><\/a> by Maia Kobabe<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a>In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e\/em\/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia\u2019s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity\u2014what it means and how to think about it\u2014for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.<\/em> – Oni Press<\/p>\n

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    2. All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/i> by George M. Johnson<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.<\/em><\/p>\n

    From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. (Johnson used he\/him pronouns at the time of publication.)<\/em> – Farrar, Straus and Giroux<\/p>\n

    This title is also available as a CD audiobook.<\/p>\n

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    3. This Book is Gay<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/i> by Juno Dawson<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender!<\/em><\/p>\n

    Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who’s ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU.<\/em><\/p>\n

    This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Inside this revised and updated edition, you’ll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask, with topics like:<\/em><\/p>\n