Let Freedom Read! Banned Books Week 2023

The American Library Association's Banned Book Week is taking place October 1-7, 2023, and it's more important than ever that we resist censorship. In 2003, ALA tracked 305 titles challenged. In 2022, the number of challenged titles was 2,571! This increase in censorship is unparalleled.

The majority of challenged titles are about Black and LGBT+ lives, but Jewish books have been challenged too. A discussion within the Facebook group Jewish Kidlit Mavens produced a list of Jewish books for young people that have faced challenges [see below], whether for queer content, supposed sexual content (often a specious argument), the presence of immigrant characters, or the inclusion of Muslim characters. Some of the challenged titles have appeared on The Book of Life, including Never Say a Mean Word Again, I Dissent, A Place at the Table, Ana on the Edge and Ellen Outside the Lines, The City Beautiful, and When the Angels Left the Old Country. At this point, we haven't seen any explicitly antisemitic book challenges, but in the current atmosphere, it may be only a matter of time before this happens.

In June 2022, I interviewed Deborah Caldwell-Stone of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom about censorship and the Unite Against Book Bans campaign. If you haven't heard it yet (or even if you have) I urge you to LISTEN HERE.

BannedBooksWeek.org has lots of suggestions for action, including tasks that take anywhere from 5 minutes to over an hour - something to suit everyone! They've named October 7 "Let Freedom Read Day" but you can do any of these action items at any time. Please check it out and take part in these acts of tikkun olam.

 

LIST OF CHALLENGED JEWISH YOUTH LITERATURE

Compiled by the members of Jewish Kidlit Mavens. Titles are linked to articles about the challenges.

• Chik Chak Shabbat by Mara Rockliff
• The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy
• Maus by Art Spiegelman 
• The Purim Superhero by Elisabeth Kushner
• Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation adapted by Ari Folman
• Never Say a Mean Word Again by Jacqueline Jules
• A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan 
• White Bird by R.J. Palacio
• Ana on the Edge and Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass
  
• I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy
• Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow
• Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
• Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli
• A Million Quiet Revolutions by Robin Gow
• This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke
• The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
• When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb