Banned Books Club Forming at Local Library

So-called "risky readers" in the Hellertown area have something to cheer about.

A Banned Books Club is forming at the in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of Banned Books Week, which "is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment," according to the American Library Association.

Banned Books Week is always the last week of September, and the HAL's first Banned Books Club meeting will take place shortly thereafter, on Oct. 3 at 6:30pm at the library.

Monthly meetings, when a newly banned or challenged book will be discussed, will be held on the first Wednesday of each month.

"Adults and teens alike are welcome to join," according to information about the new club posted on the HAL's website. "The only requirement is you must maintain an open mind. Some books may contain sensitive subjects, such as racism, sex, violence, and drugs."

To sign up for the Banned Books Club, call the library at 610-838-8381.

The following books have been selected for the club because they have been challenged or banned from schools or libraries within the past decade:

October—The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexi 

November—The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

December—Animal Farm by George Orwell

January—Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

February—Snow Falls on Cedars by David Guterson

March—The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

April—Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

May—What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

June—The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

July—A Time to Kill by John Grisham

August—The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

September—My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier