Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they must be incinerated. The novel appeared 70 years ago, in the aftermath of Nazi book burnings and amid McCarthyism and Soviet ideological repression. But the urge to ban books has resurged with a vengeance, with the American Library Association (ALA) recording a doubling of censorship attempts in 2022, to 1,269 across 32 states: the highest rate for decades. Pen America, which champions freedom of expression, tallied more than 2,500 cases in the last school year.These attempts are not merely more numerous but are also broadening and deepening. The decisions of school boards and districts take place in the context of politicians grasping electoral advantage and punitive yet often vaguely worded state laws on education – such as the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis’s, Stop-Woke Act. At least 10 states have passed legislation increasing parental power over library stock, or limiting students’ access. In place of spontaneous challenges to single titles come challenges to multiple titles, organised by campaign groups such as Moms for Liberty. The ALA says that 40% of attempts last year targeted 100 books or more. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
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Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
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Almost a third of school-age children are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. But they will still struggle to find characters who resemble themselvesBooks can show us the world both as it is, and as it could be – “mirrors and windows”, as the author Malorie Blackman notes. For... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The failure of a recent bid to merge two large publishing companies shines a light on a central issue of cultural powerDespite a rise in self-publishing, commercial publishers are still the main gatekeepers of what arrives on our bookshelves. As such, they have great cultural and – if a book... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-11-04 18:25:28 UTC ]
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A government proposal to ease restrictions on the sale of imported cultural works risks harming a world-class industryThe hoopla around the release of Sally Rooney’s new novel on Tuesday – with bookshops opening early, and queues of shoppers eager to lay their hands on Beautiful World, Where Are... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-07 18:00:33 UTC ]
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Many publishers are enjoying record sales – but not all. We must take care that those with the biggest names and deepest pockets are not the only beneficiariesAs the weather turns and the days shorten, as trees bend low with fruit and blackberries darken the hedges, bookshops are bracing for a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-23 17:25:02 UTC ]
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It may not prove easy to marry British and Japanese journalistic cultures. But in a global media world this deal makes senseThe Financial Times is one of the best newspapers in the world, not just in Britain. It is quick without being rash, accurate without leaden pedantry, thoughtful without... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN's new report shows that book bans continue to rise and continue to target books by or about queer people and people of color. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-04-16 12:05:00 UTC ]
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Censorship attempts and book bans are at an all time high, but even a handful of people in a book club can make a difference. Here's how. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-12-15 11:35:00 UTC ]
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Amid a historic surge in book challenges in schools and school libraries, the Fight Book Bans Act would offer federal funding to support school districts fighting challenges to books and educational materials. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Through his businesses, Rupert Murdoch pushed a world view with the pursuit of money at its heartThere are not many chairmanships of companies that would so fascinate writers, and television producers, that they would make four series about them. Rupert Murdoch’s long tenure at Fox and News Corp... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-09-22 17:40:41 UTC ]
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Alice Oseman’s tale of queer romance is a global success story built on fans who want to feel good about themselves in tough timesAfter boy met boy in a crowdfunded graphic novel set in a British grammar school in 2018, hearts began to flutter and tills started to ring around the world. This... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-03 17:41:27 UTC ]
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The Harry Potter publisher ascribes its record profits to a hunger for affordable diversion. That’s the magic of booksIn the gloom of a UK economy teetering on the edge of recession, a glittering puff of smoke wafted up last week from the publisher that will for ever be associated with Harry... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-04 17:25:05 UTC ]
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Freedom to read advocates are applauding a federal consent decree that could help blunt the surge of book bans in schools. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Shirts, pins, and stickers promoting banned books and fighting censorship are a great way to keep book bans in the public consciousness.- Rachel Brittain Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-05-03 10:33:00 UTC ]
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“As a leading publisher of progressive education books, our response to Ron DeSantis and the College Board will be to bring attention to this chilling, racist, and cynical moment,” New Press publisher Ellen Adler told PW. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The world’s richest man promises more than he has delivered. His social network purchase is likely to go the same wayElon Musk is a fan of the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. When his spacecraft company SpaceX successfully sent its Falcon Heavy rocket payload into orbit around the sun in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-11-01 18:50:19 UTC ]
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The social media platform is revolutionising bookshops and galvanising publishers. Enjoy it while it lastsThe bestselling book in the UK last week, and of the year so far, is an American novel that was published in 2016. If that sentence sounds implausible, the odds are you have not yet caught... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-09-04 17:25:02 UTC ]
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The organized assault on the freedom to read has highlighted core values taught in library schools. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit may not catch onIn the 1992 sci-fi dystopia Snow Crash, the author Neal Stephenson imagined a bleak 21st century where the collapse of the global economy had seen governments fall and their... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-02-07 19:11:48 UTC ]
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The L.A. Times Book Club dove into stories across the world and close to home in 2021. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-12-16 15:00:17 UTC ]
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