The first banned book that I read was What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones.
This is a book written for teenage girls that tells the story of Sophie, a smart gifted teenage artist, who completely respects herself and her body, and discovers what it means to love someone in that innocent teenage sort of way.
The book is obviously banned because this is definitely the sort of thing we don't want our kids reading. Yes it talks about how she likes making out with boys (what 15 year old girl doesn't) and sneaks off sometimes to do it, but she respects herself enough to never let it go any further than that (good for her). Apparently the part that offends the most people is the following section:
Ice Capades
Sometimes
on chilly nights
I stand close to my bedroom window,
unbutton my nightgown
and press my breasts
against the cold glass
just so I can see
the amazing trick
that my nipples can do.
Really, you are going to ban a book for that. What girl hasn't done that.....ok, I admit I've never done that, but I probably would have if I read this book when I was a teenager, and do you know what, it would have been pretty awesome. I'm sure I would have still turned out just fine.
The book is pretty short, it only takes an hour or so to read, but I found myself feeling a bit like a teenage girl again when I read it.
