A couple weeks ago, I relayed a story from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund website about a city in Japan that was banning the classic anti-war manga BAREFOOT GEN from its schools. Well, never let it be said that America can't out-do the Japanese.
This week the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom posted their annual list of the ten most-challenged books, and coming in at #10 was a book I would not have expected.
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The book is BONE, a graphic novel compilation of a comic book series created by an artist named Jeff Smith. It's a fantasy about a trio of cartoony wanderers who come to a strange valley full of hidden magic. They encounter dragons and ancient legends and stupid, stupid rat creatures. The story is at times whimsical, at times scary, at times beautiful, without ever losing its sense of fun. So why would anyone want to ban it? Jeff Smith wondered the same thing:
Bone author and CBLDF Board Member Jeff Smith was stunned by the book’s inclusion on the top ten. “I learned this weekend that Bone has been challenged on the basis of ‘political viewpoint, racism and violence.’ I have no idea what book these people read,” said Smith. “After fielding these and other charges for a while now, I’m starting to think such outrageous accusations (really, racism?) say more about the people who make them than about the books themselves.”
Bone Named Among 10 Most Banned Books of 2013 from the CBLDF website