Banned Books

Host: Pamela Bailie
Guests: Gabriel Hatch, sophmore at School of the Arts High School, Rochester NY. Cody Miller, Assistant Professor of English Education at SUNY Brockport

Book banning is top of the news today, with many school districts across the US  banning titles in their libraries, often at the request of political groups. The majority of books banned today have Black or brown protagonists, or have LGBTQ themes.  What is history of banned books in the United States, why are books banned, and what books are banned? Today's conversation digs into this: how book banning can threaten democracy, and how the choices to ban specific themes can be hurtful to communities who already have only recently found themselves reflected in stories printed by traditional publishers. We also talk about past actions by high school students to combat book banning, which led to Banned Books Week.

Just a few of the books discussed in this episode:
All Boys Aren't Blue
Felix Ever After
Fahrenheit 451
Last, Last Day of Summer

Interested in books discussed in this episode? Or any other book? Visit us at hipocampochildrensbooks.com for a large collection of books, including almost anything you'd want from a banned books list!