I finally looked up why my favorite kids book got banned in Texas

I was chatting with a librarian at my local spot in Austin last weekend and she mentioned this old book I loved as a kid, "The Giver," was on a banned list in a school district down near Houston. I always knew it had some dark themes but I never really thought about it being censored. So I went home and dug out my worn copy from the basement and reread the whole thing in one afternoon. What hit me was how the book is really about controlling information and memories, which is exactly what banning it does in real life. It made me wonder if the people who ban these books even read them all the way through. Has anyone else gone back to a banned book from childhood and seen it totally different as an adult?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo2362d ago

Wait, they're banning the book that literally warns us about banning stuff? That's some next level irony right there.

jake1913d ago

Wait wait wait, The Giver is banned in Texas??? That honestly blew my mind. I read that book in 5th grade and it was one of the first books that really made me THINK about stuff. The part where Jonas starts seeing color for the first time and realizes everyone else is missing that experience stuck with me for years. Banning a book about hiding memories feels like the most ironic thing I've ever heard.