The 10 Most "Challenged" Books of 2008

I'm sure the authors — Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell — are proud that their award-winning children's book about two male penguins caring for an orphaned egg tops the list for the third year in a row. Why was this book challenged? "For being anti-ethnic and anti-family, for including homosexuality, for having a religious viewpoint," and because it's just generally "unsuitable material for the target age group." Wow. This book really sweeps the charts!

Reasons for being challenged? Its political and religious viewpoints, as well as the amount of violence. (Have they read the Old Testament? Talk about violent!)

Challenged for offensive language, sexually explicit material and being unsuitable to the target age group.

Challenged for including occult/satanism issues, having a religious viewpoint, and promoting violence.

Reasons for being challenged? Occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, its sexually explicit material, and oh yeah... violence.

Reasons for being challenged? Drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit content, "suicide" (unclear whether a character actually commits the act or just contemplates it), and unsuitability for the target age group.

Challenged for offensive language, sexually explicit content, and big surprise — for being unsuitable to the target age group. (I wonder if these people have turned on their television lately?)

Challenged for inclusion of homosexual characters and for being unsuitable to the target age group. (Personally, I'm not sure exactly what age group is appropriate for a story about gay hamsters.)

Wow. This one surprised me. It was challenged for offensive language, being sexually explicit, and for being unsuitable to the target age group. How this book could be unsuitable to the target age group is beyond me — this #1 New York Times best-seller is a novel for adults, marketed to adults, and read primarily by adults.

And finally, this book was challenged for sexually explicit material and, once again, for being unsuitable for the target age group.