Burning through the list

I cleared my library fine ($36!) and am starting to work my way through the ALA list of most challenged books. I have recently added:

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

I have three more in transit:

In the Night Kitchen
Julie of the Wolves
Mommy Laid an Egg!

I have found, quite by accident, that juvenile fiction is about the only thing I can read right now because it's easy, short, and uncomplicated enough for me to remember what's going on. So the ALA list is the perfect fit for me, since much of it is juvenile fiction. Which makes sense, because I imagine most books are challenged because of what they might do to the children (won't someone think of the children?).

On that line, I don't know why the three books I read were so subversive. James and the Giant Peach? Are we afraid of the scary aunts that are mean to them? Are You There God? Ooh, we find out sometimes friends aren't as good as we though they were, and that 12-year-olds get their periods and wish for breasts. It was a revelation.

I can see why parents might have issues with Go Ask Alice, I thought it was pretty graphic too. But in the end, it's a pretty good tale of why you shouldn't do drugs. I would never even consider banning books, but this one is the closest I would come to thinking an age limit would be appropriate, like PG-13 movies. I still believe that's a parent's job, though, and I fully intend to know what my kids are reading.

[Note to self in 12 years - you will surely be eating these words, just one of many statements that you were so sure of but which were not practical in reality. Your children will not always tell you what they are reading, especially when it's dangerous material written by the heretic Judy Blume. Nice try.]