The Right to Read
Have you read a banned book lately?
Rachel Dunifon (PhD99) helped celebrate freedom of expression during a read-a-thon featuring excerpts from banned or challenged books. Dunifon, dean of Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology, researches how policies, programs, and family settings influence the development of less- advantaged children.
Over the past year, the number of challenged library books has surged across the United States to the highest levels ever documented by the American Library Association. The most recent numbers show efforts to censor 4,240 titles in schools and libraries, topping the previous high of 2,571 in 2022.
Dunifon chose a section from the classic Judy Blume novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Challenged almost immediately after it was published in 1970, the novel details the anxieties of an adolescent girl, including over bras, periods, boys, and religion.
What did the book mean to you as a child?
Judy Blume was one of my favorite authors. Unlike most other writers, she knows how to convey how weird and awkward it can be to be a kid, developing characters who are real, flawed, funny, confused, and evolving in a way that resonates with children. As a child, reading her books made me feel like I wasn’t alone and helped me realize that everyone experiences hard, fun, strange things as they grow through childhood.
Which excerpt did you pick and why?
I chose the first two chapters, when Margaret is introducing herself to the reader and has just moved to New Jersey from New York City. I moved a lot growing up, and that part of the book resonated with me—how hard it can be to move to a new place, meet new kids, start a new school.
How did the read-a-thon go?
It was fun to reconnect with a book that I haven’t read for a long time (although I did recently see the movie, which was excellent). I enjoyed seeing people’s reactions as I channeled my inner 12-year-old while reading Margaret’s thoughts and words. It was also great to see what my colleagues chose to read and to hear them talk about what those readings meant to them—a nice opportunity to learn more about my colleagues in a new way.
We asked members of the SESP community whether they have a favorite banned book. Here are a few of their replies:
And Tango Makes Three
“I have very fond memories of reading this story with my children about two daddy penguins who so lovingly raised their family. They picked it up because they liked penguins. I was surprised that it has been so frequently banned."
--Rebekah Stathakis, curriculum and assessment coordinator and instructor in the teaching, learning, and education program
Catch-22
“While Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 on the surface is a novel about war, it really exposes the beauty and horror of life, both mundane and at its extremes, through the lens of absurdity. Books that are good for the soul do not need to be heavy or convention- ally serious.”
--Colin Sheaff, senior developer, FUSE program
Train
“My own book, which came out of my doctoral research at SESP, has been challenged by teachers, school districts, and parents and removed from lesson plans. I’ve even received a request from a group of high school teachers to send them a version with the gay characters taken out.”
--Danny M. Cohen (PhD11), associate professor of instruction
The 57 Bus and The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“I love reading banned books. I let students discover them without first labeling them as banned, but the ones I assigned this year could easily fall onto a banned books list based on their themes: racism, drugs, and police acting badly.”
--Brian Lynch (WCAS95, MS23), English teacher at Chicago’s Taft High School