This week is Banned Books Week — learn more about three titles that have been banned

This week is Banned Books Week, an annual event in the U.S. that celebrates the freedom to read.

PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number not seen since the red scare era of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Recently, Stephen King, announced that “he is the most banned author in the country” — 87 of his books being pulled off many shelves. This may change his title as the King of Horror to the King of Banned Books.

Some of the most talked about banned books are: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “1984,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Bluest Eye” and “The Kite Runner.” For this week’s column, I thought I would highlight some of the lesser-known titles.

“Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya

This coming-of-age novel by New Mexico’s own Rudolfo Anaya was first published in 1972.

Antonio Márez is a 6-year-old Chicano boy living in Guadalupe in the 1940s. He is a very perceptive boy who has very vivid and sometimes prophetic dreams. His father is a vaquero, and his mother comes from a family of farmers and is a devout Catholic. Both of his parents have different dreams for their son’s future. They take him to Ultima, who is an old curandera, and she and Antonio grow very close. Ultima becomes his closest guide, and she knows his fate.

One day, a friend tells Antonio about the golden carp, a pagan god that lives in the river.

Antonio starts to feel more attached to the Virgin of Guadalupe than to God, who seems harsh and unforgiving. Ultima heals his uncle from a witch’s spell after the priest failed to help him.

The story continues with family dynamics and mystical folktales.

Why this book is banned: Those who advocate for restricting the book charge that it demeans organized religion, advocates occult beliefs, contains offensive language, depicts violence and is sexually explicit.

“The World According to Garp” by John Irving

“The World According to Garp” is John Irving’s fourth novel. It was first published in 1978 and continues to enjoy a wide circulation. Jenny Fields, a nurse, doesn’t want to marry but desperately wants to be a mother. One of her patients is a dying solder who cannot speak. She rapes him to impregnate herself. She ends up giving birth to a baby and named him T.S. Garp.

Garp and his mother have a very close relationship that takes on adventures and struggles on their own.

Why this book is banned: It’s a literary satire of gender dynamics that include discussions on parenthood, death, feminism, manhood and masculinity, marriage and family structures, the influence of literature in a reader’s life, and sexual politics.

“Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak

This children’s book was originally published in 1963. It’s a story of a mischievous boy named Max who gets sent to his room by his mother without dinner. He escapes into a world of imagination, where Max conjures a world of towering trees and vines and sails off to become king of an island of party-loving monsters. He ends up getting lonely and returns home.

Why this book is banned: the book was thought to be too dark and frightening, as well as psychologically damaging to children. It was also said that its unvarnished story of rebellion, fear, punishment and escape was too much for children.

My favorite quote about banned books is from Ray Bradbury, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

Researchers from University College London and the University of Florida examined national data from 2003 to 2023 and found that the share of adults who reported reading for pleasure on a given day fell to 16% in 2023 from a peak of 28% in 2004, which is a 40% drop. These statistics are alarming. It’s my hope that New Mexican’s put their phones down and read for pleasure for a few minutes every day. The support of the freedom to read requires more than just the verbal opposition of books being pulled off the shelves — adults must read books.

Deborah Condit is the owner of Books on the Bosque, 6261 Riverside Plaza Lane, Suite A-2 or at booksonthebosque.com.