Twilight One of the “Most Challenged” Books in 2009

The American Library Association (ALA) has recently come out with a report that shows that the books in the Twilight series were fifth on the list of those that schools and public libraries were asked to have removed from their shelves in 2009. Simply put, there are a lot of parents in the U.S. that think that Twilight is not appropriate for their kids to be reading, and they want it gone! The article that I picked the info up from compares Twilight a good deal to the YA series, ttyl, which apparently, writes the entire series in text language, which just sounds simply exhausting if you ask me. I’ve never read ttyl but asking to remove Twilight from any library shelves is just plain rubbish if you ask me. From Reuters,

“The best-selling vampire themed “Twilight” book series has entered the top 10 list of books that U.S. schools and public libraries were asked to remove from their shelves in 2009.

The ALA said Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, which have been turned into a blockbuster film franchise, were fifth on the 2009 list — their first year in the annual compilation. The books were challenged for being sexually explicit, religious views and being unsuitable for their age group.

The “ttyl” series, which came top of the 2009 list, was challenged for nudity, offensive language and drugs.

The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom defines a challenge as a formal written complaint filed with a library or a school requesting that material be removed from bookshelves or a school curriculum. It received 460 such reports in 2009 and they come from a variety of sources. Few are successful.”

There are so many things wrong with this. Firstly, *gasp!* censorship! That’s harsh. Secondly, it’s Twilight for cryin out loud. There’s no real harm that’s done in the book and in fact, although the book may be about vampires, they center around vampires of the very best kind. Those who want to protect the innocent and help the weak. And yes, granted, Bella and Edward do the unthinkable in Breaking Dawn and have sex. But, they are after all married. And they were on their honeymoon. And if the case really wants to be argued, I think Stephenie Meyer showed that sex can have some very serious consequences.

I have two daughters. And while they are not yet of the age where they can appreciate Twilight, I would never have a problem with them reading it. And I’ll probably even just give them the copies of my books. Twilight, at the end of the day, may be about vampires. But it’s also about a love story that defies all odds, and overcomes any challenge that’s thrown at it. It’s about two (three actually) characters, who in friendship and in love, will do anything for each other. And those are all lessons that I wouldn’t mind my kids having in today’s day and age.

Take it off the shelves! I’ve never heard such garbage! The good news is, that the study seems to really just a be a release of an opinion poll, and that no one will be banned from reading about the Cullens and Bella Swan anytime too soon.

– Kate

3 comments

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  3. why on earth would they want to get rid of twilight?! i agree with Kate that is complete garbage! i, pursonally, didnt think twlight was that interesting until after i read the books. it is a very good book and has many life lessons people can learn from. i only think younger children shouldnt read breaking dawn until they reach a mature age when they learn how to handle something like that (pretty much talking around may 10-12 years old or so at least)they are good, honest books that can teach children about things parents and teachers cannt

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