Myracle's 'TTYL' Series Tops ALA's Most Challenged Book List
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By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 04/14/2010
Lauren Myracle’s hugely popular ttyl (Abrams) series—written entirely in IM format—tops the American Library Association’s Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009, with complaints ranging from offensive language to nudity contained in the YA novels.
At the same time, Stephenie Meyer’s“Twilight” series (Little, Brown) and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper (S & S, 2004) made a first appearance ever on the list, while Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War made a comeback after being dropped in 2008.
Seven titles were dropped from the list, including: “His Dark Materials Trilogy” series by Philip Pullman the “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz; Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the “Gossip Girl” series by Cecily von Ziegesar; Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; and Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper.
Also new this year is an updated list of the top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the Decade (2000–2009), with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series topping the list.
For almost two decades, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has collected reports on book challenges, identified as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness.
“Even though not every book will be right for every reader, the ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely are core American values,” says Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s OIF. “Protecting one of our most fundamental rights—the freedom to read—means respecting each other’s differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they and their families read.”
Last year, OIF documented 460 efforts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves. Although the office receives reports of challenges in public libraries, schools, and school libraries from a variety of sources, a majority—75 to 80 percent—of challenges go unreported.
The ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009 are:
1. ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs
2. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit, anti-family, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age group
5. ‘Twilight’ (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
9. The Color Purple Alice Walker
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
