What Our Members Are Reading:
Kathryn's Picks
(Archaeology, MA)
Alyna's Picks
(Cultural Anthropology, MA)
Banned Books:
With Florida currently leading the country in books banned in public schools (Meehan, Friedman, Magnusson, and Baêta, 2023), here are some of our favorite banned books for the month of October.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Banned in Santa Rosa County
"Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront."
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Banned in Duval, Collier, and Escambia Counties, and Highlands Schools
"Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Bon Temps, Louisiana. She's quiet, doesn't get out much, and tends to mind her own business—except when it comes to her “disability.” Sookie can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. Then along comes Bill Compton. He’s tall, dark, handsome—and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life...
But Bill has a disability of his own: he’s a vampire with a bad reputation. And when a string of murders hits Bon Temps—along with a gang of truly nasty bloodsuckers looking for Bill—Sookie starts to wonder if having a vampire for a boyfriend is such a bright idea."
Bury the Dead: Tombs, Corpses, Mummies, Skeletons, and Rituals by Christopher Sloan
Banned in Gilchrist County
"In Bury the Dead, National Geographic senior editor Christopher Sloan conducts a fascinating - and sometimes hair-raising - investigation of how societies around the globe have handled their dead."
Available for free with Audible and Barnes & Noble Audiobook subscriptions!
October Is More Than Halloween!
Besides its association with Halloween, October is also Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th-October 15th) and LGBTQIA+ History Month! Yet, Florida students are limited in their ability to learn about these topics as most of book bans go after stories that feature characters of color and LGBTQIA+ representation (Meehan, Friedman, Magnusson, and Baêta, 2023).
While we have included a few titles below, we encourage you to review Pen America's study on banned books in the USA to learn more about ongoing censorship and attacks on representation within public education.
PRIDE: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders
Banned in Palm Beach County
"In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginnings in 1978 with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today's world. Award-winning author Rob Sanders's stirring text, and acclaimed illustrator Steven Salerno's evocative images, combine to tell this remarkable - and undertold - story. A story of love, hope, equality, and pride."
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Banned in Escambia, Clay, Martin, and Volusia County Schools
"Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.
But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.
Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?"
Sources:
All bios come from the book's own descriptions. Information on county bans are from July 2022 to June 2023 from the PEN American report, itemized by the Miami New Times.
DeLuca, Alex. 2023. "Updated List: Every Florida School District Book Ban in the 2022-23
School Year." Miami New Times website. Accessed October 6, 2023: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/more-than-350-books-banned-in-florida-schools-since-last-july-16817328
Meehan, Kasey, Friedman, Jonatha, Magnusson, Tasslyn, and Sabrina Baêta. 2023.
"Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools." Pen America website. Accessed October 6, 2023: https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/
