Banned Books Week 2012 September 30-October 6 The 30th
Anniversary When I was a freshman in high school, I was required
by my teacher to furnish written permission from my parents in
order to write a term paper on J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in
the Rye. If not the very first, it was an early lesson for me on
the concept of censorship. Thankfully I had no problem finding a
copy of the book and literary criticisms on it at the Birmingham
Public Library. I learned right away that it had been challenged
many times by concerned citizens that wanted it removed from
schools and libraries. About ten years later it was cited as
being the most challenged book ever. Ironically as the years
passed it was reported to be the second most taught book in
American schools. In 2005 Time magazine listed it among the 100
best English-language novels written since 1923. It now appears
on many school reading lists. Many young readers are attracted
to the young, rebellious and troubled protagonist, Holden
Caulfield. Maurice Sendak,