Banned & Challenged Books
Our TAC members review some of their favorites

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Review by Molly L.

Bridge to Teribithia, a wonderful tale told by Katherine Paterson, is an amazing children’s story of adventure, love, friendship, and confidence. Yet some critics find this book necessary to be banned. Now think to yourself, books are culture - why would you ban culture? I think you all know why. Many popular books, such as Harry Potter and The Chronicles Of Narnia are on the banned books list every year for the same reason. These kind of books challenge authority; they cause you to think and be opened minded, and to controlling organizations such as conservative churches, schools, or even sometimes the U.S Government, this scares them. So thus each year you have a list of 100 banned books.

There is a joke about banned books that if an author gets their book on the banned list it’s a great accomplishment. So Katherine Paterson should be proud that this year, Bridge to Terabithia has been banned. This book has won many awards over the years, but the most prestigious one was awarded to Paterson in 1978, the John Newberry Medal.

So now knowing all the wonderful things about this book, you probably want to know why it has been banned. Well, I have done some research on www.scholastic.com and I have found the two major reasons for the banning of this marvelous book.

The first reason is the swearing in the book. Critics oppose to children of a young age being exposed to foul language. Paterson defends this remark by saying, “The characters that cuss in the book (Jess and his Father) only talk like people I knew from around the area where the book takes place.” And it is an author’s job to make characters real, which is all Paterson was doing. But the other mainly opposed reason for banning this book is the use of death in the book. Critics feel that children of a young age (8-12) should not read about one of life’s horrors. Paterson defends this remark as well be inquiring, “Yes, death is not appropriate for young children to read about, but death is out there and death is real. Besides most children have lost a loved one by the time they are 8. Yes death is bad but as the adults it is our job to help children face death.”

Now I wonder if you agree with this statement? I know I do. I have read this book many times myself and I have fallen in love with these characters because Paterson made them so real. Just because we ban things like swearing and death doesn’t mean that it will just disappear. The reasons so many books are banned are what in reality makes them worth reading in the first place.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Review by Elshaddai E.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is based on a Johannes Vermeer portrait of a young woman known as the “Dutch Mona Lisa”. Set against the backdrop of 17 th century Holland, it tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-old girl who has been sent to the Vermeer household to work as a maid but her main duty is clean Vermeer’s studio without moving anything. Quickly, a relationship forms between Griet and Vermeer causing a stir among Cornelia one of the five children, Tanneke the other housemaid, and her mistress Catharina. The story explains the workings of her daily chores but even more vividly describes the artistic vision of Vermeer as he gives Griet a glimpse into his world. Vermeer even persuades his wife to temporarily move Griet into the attic where she secretly grounds different stones into different paints. Maria Thins, the older mistress grows to approve of Griet because since she began assisting Vermeer his painting pace as become faster and the household is in need of the money as young mistress is expecting again. In her Protestant home her parents question her intentions for she is quick to defend the Catholic Vermeer. This leads to a discussion with Vermeer in which he explains to her that “A painting in a church is like a candle in a dark room- we use it to see better. It is the bridge between ourselves and God”.

The main conflict in the book is when Cornelia switches Griet’s grandmother’s comb with that of her own and claims it to be missing. Vermeer supports Griet and hides Cornelia’s comb into a shell, making Catharina fear her power. Griet catches the eye of Van Ruijven, Vermeer’s patron and requests that a portrait be made of her. Over the time of the painting, Griet grows more careless and it becomes harder for her to explain her long periods of time in the studio. The ending is very dramatic yet very real, when Catharine finds out about the portrait of Griet, she can no longer restrain her emotions. Griet stands at the eight pointed star in the middle of Delft, with a path to chose for she could not return to the place from which she had been banished. In the epilogue, she is summoned to the house to retrieve the pearls in the painting which had been granted in Vermeer’s will to Griet.

I believe it is important for teens to read Girl with a Pearl Earring because it is a novel filled with meaning and depth for life as an artist from Vermeer’s viewpoint and life as a maid from Griet’s viewpoint in the world of 1660’s Holland. However extraordinary a book, Girl with a Pearl Earring is on the American Library Association’s Banned Books List because the book is banned in Iran after a dramatic rise in censorship that has plunged the countries publishing industry into a crisis.

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