Freedom to Read Week

February 20-26 is Freedom to Read Week, "an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms". (freedomtoread.ca)

I talked a bit about Freedom to Read during Banned Books Week in September here, but if you're keen to know more, pop over to freedomtoread.ca.

What can you do to raise awareness about censorship in Canada? Free a challenged book!

You probably have a challenged book sitting on your shelf right now! (for a list of challenged book, check here). Here are a few examples:

• J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
• Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
• John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
• Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
• J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter
• Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn
• Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
• and on and on and on..

Take one of your books (or buy a book), put in a free label, and register it at bookcrossing.com. Leave it somewhere for someone to find, maybe in your school or on a bus or in a mall or anywhere lots of people hang out (even a library). Log onto bookcrossing.com and see where your book has traveled and what people have thought of it.

Cool, right?

Think for Yourself - Read a Banned Book

September 25 - October 2 is Banned Books Week
While Banned Books Week is a week observed in the United States (we have Freedom to Read week here in February), I thought it was still worth talking about.

The point of Banned Books Week is to celebrate intellectual freedom and the freedom to read what you want. Some books aren't for everyone, but that doesn't mean that someone has the right to tell you that you can't read Catcher in the Rye or Twilight or To Kill a Mockingbird or any of the other top banned titles.

Take a look at that list I just linked. Have you read a banned or challenged book? Chances are you've read one in school because teachers and librarians and booksellers fight for your right to read good books, even if they have unpopular viewpoints.
I think it's really important to read books that make us think about the world we live in, even if it makes us uncomfortable sometimes. Of course sometimes books make us uncomfortable because we're not ready for them yet - I read Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was 12, which wasn't a great idea. Freedom to read is also about the freedom to put a book down, to admit that maybe you should save it for later.

Celebrate Banned Book Week - read a challenged or banned book today! (Or even better, recommend one in the comments!)