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What do To Kill a Mockingbird and Lolita have in common?

Both are books which were challenged this year in an American library or school. A "challenge" is when a library receives an oral or written complaint which challenges the presence and/or appropriateness of a book. In other words, some other American, somewhere, thought you shouldn't be allowed to read these books if you want to.

September 23-30 is Banned Books Week's 25th anniversary. Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), Banned Books Week . . .

celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express oneÂ’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

This year, Google Book Search celebrates Banned Books Week by putting together a wonderful list of banned books you can read online (or download), including the links to access them.

• ALA's Banned Books web site
  
• Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century
• ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
• How to Handle Challenges to Library Materials
• Google Blog on Banned Books Week