First of all, I can't believe I am going to admit this, but until this year I never knew Banned Books Week existed!! Did you? I find it rather interesting and as I was reading Book Journey, one of my regular book blogs recently, I noticed she was looking for a few people to participate in the weeks activities.
I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity and I chose to read a book from the Banned Book List and do a review of the book here on my blog.
The book I chose is Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Also, before this year, I didn't realize this book was even on the Banned Book List.
It has also been a surprise to many that at the age of 40 (!!), this is the FIRST time I am reading this book. I somehow made it through school without having to read it and honestly, I'm thinking that I probably would have connected more with the book at a younger age than I did now.
I am rather obsessed with books which take place in WWII, primarily stories of the Holocaust, so I had really looked forward to reading this book, especially in honor of Banned Books Week. For some reason, however, I really struggled with this book. I had always heard such fantastic things about it and many of my wonderful Goodreads friends have given it 5 stars, so I was quite hopeful that I would feel the same. I did not.
I found a lot of it to be rather repetitive, but I suppose that is typical for a diary. Regardless of my lack of fondness for the book, I still think it should be a required read for educational purposes as it provides a unique perspective of this time in history.
Why was it banned?
It has also been a surprise to many that at the age of 40 (!!), this is the FIRST time I am reading this book. I somehow made it through school without having to read it and honestly, I'm thinking that I probably would have connected more with the book at a younger age than I did now.
I am rather obsessed with books which take place in WWII, primarily stories of the Holocaust, so I had really looked forward to reading this book, especially in honor of Banned Books Week. For some reason, however, I really struggled with this book. I had always heard such fantastic things about it and many of my wonderful Goodreads friends have given it 5 stars, so I was quite hopeful that I would feel the same. I did not.
I found a lot of it to be rather repetitive, but I suppose that is typical for a diary. Regardless of my lack of fondness for the book, I still think it should be a required read for educational purposes as it provides a unique perspective of this time in history.
Why was it banned?
This book was banned for passages that were considered "sexually offensive," as well as for the tragic nature of the book. Various reasons have been used to justify banning Anne Frank's acclaimed diary. In one 1983 incident, four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee called for its removal because it was a "real downer." This claim earned the book a fifth place on ALA's Ten most farfetched reasons to ban a book."
The Washington Post published that Culpeper County public school officials have decided to stop assigning a version of Anne Frank's diary to 8th grade students after a parent complained that the book includes sexually explicit material and homosexual themes
To date, more than twenty-five million copies have been printed in fifty-five languages.
Thank you to Book Journey for this opportunity...I really enjoyed participating!!
