Gay Book Tops Banned List

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Remember all those American ideals we were taught growing up? Not surprisingly, our favorite was always freedom of expression. Now that we’re adults, and the childish illusions of freedom and equality have been shattered by a cold, decidedly hypocritical society, we’d like to draw your attention to a press release we just received concerning Banned Book Week: the annual celebration of books censored around the country.

While classics such as, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Giver by Lois Lowry and Zamyatin’s We call the list home, there’s also a lesser known book that holds special distinction: The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger, a book for teens.

So, why such banishment? It’s gay-themed, of course. We can’t expect the youth of America to be assailed by faggotry in literary form, now can we? We need to make sure they’re completely homophobic so they will mesh seamlessly into the military.

The complete press release, after the jump.

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Brent Hartinger, [email protected], (253) 272-8425
Lisa Moraleda, HarperCollins Publicity, phone: (212) 261-6793,
fax: (212) 261-6895, [email protected]

Gay-themed teen novel, Geography Club, named # 2 banned book

Geography Club, a 2003 gay teen novel by Brent Hartinger, has come in at number two on this year’s Banned Books Book Sense Top Ten Picks, an annual list of “favorite” banned books voted on by members of the American Booksellers Association. The release of the list precedes Banned Books Week, starting Sunday, September 24th, a national celebration of “the freedom to read” and an effort to call attention to efforts at censorship and intellectual suppression.

“Geography Club came in just after To Kill a Mockingbird, but above Harry Potter,” Hartinger said. “How ridiculous is that?”

“In all seriousness,” the author continued, “my book has been challenged frequently all over the country, and is occasionally banned outright. I’m thrilled, honored, and humbled to be named to this list of great books.”

Other books on the list include The Giver by Lois Lowry, Forever by Judy Blume, and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Geography Club is the only gay-themed work.

“People don’t like to think that censorship is happening right now in America because the very act of censorship is so un-American,” Hartinger said. “But it is happening, and gay books are very frequently the ones being challenged.”

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, an advocacy group founded in 1982 by the 1200+ bookstore members of the American Booksellers Assocation.

Hartinger’s latest novel is Grand & Humble, a teen thriller. A sequel to Geography Club called The Order of the Poison Oak is now out in paperback.

For more information, visit the author’s website, at Brent’s Brain.

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