Source: http://necessarychocolate.typepad.com/necessary_chocolate/images/1stamendposters2_copy.jpg

Updated: This post updated to reflect information shared by Doug Johnson in the comments. Be sure to read it!

Betty Bunhead shares this list:

I just received the list of books vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin tried to ban when she was mayor in Wasilla, Alaska. The list originated from a colleague who received it from a colleague who received from a colleague at the University of Windsor. You may or may not have heard or read about it but you can get some background here, and here.

I was surprised to see some of my favorite titles on this list of books someone wanted it to appear that Sarah Palin had wanted to ban or make it appear that she did…I’ve read all of these and found them to stimulate my thinking in ways that I’d be very disappointed to not have access to. This book banning list and approach isn’t the worldview I subscribe to!

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Forever by Judy Blume
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
• Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
• My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
• Night Chills by Dean Koontz
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• The Bastard by John Jakes
• The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I wasn’t surprised to see these and oppose banning them from public libraries:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• All the Stephen King books

Betty Bunhead asks if it’s quite a list, and yes, it is. Who is anyone to determine what we think and read and reflect on? More importantly, how can we remain vigilant that such hoaxes aren’t perpetuated? (aside from having Doug Johnson point them out)

Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net