A Literary Sport: Banned Books Answers

The game is for everyone to play, enjoy and perhaps learn a trivia fact or two.  

Each question answered correctly counts as one point.

This past week's winner is Carol T.!

1.       Which of the following authors has never had his or her books banned?

·         Judy Blume

·         Walt Whitman

·         James Joyce

·         Richard Adams

Judy Blume's young adult novels 'Forever', 'Tiger Eyes', and 'Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret' was banned on charges of sexuality. 'Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret' was said to be 'built around two themes: sex and anti-Christian behavior.' Why, I have no idea. Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' and James Joyce's 'Ulysses' were banned on sexual grounds.

2.        Which book was banned because it portrayed humans and animals on the same level?

·         Watership Down

·         Rabbit, Run

·         Animal Farm

·         Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Eh, only in China….but still!

3.        Which book was banned in Germany following WWI?

·         The Diary of Anne Frank

·         All Quiet on the Western Front

·         The Communist Manifesto

·         The Bible

The Bible has been banned in various schools for being a religious text, and 'The Communist Manifesto' was banned for political reasons. 'All Quiet on the Western Front' (originally written in German) was banned by the Nazis as it might give Germans the wrong idea about war. Apparently it worked. The Diary of Anne Frank was not written until after WWII ~ and in my original question there was a huge typo! I put WWII rather than WWI and did not catch it until today, so everyone who played gets this point!

4.       Which famous novel by Ray Bradbury has both been challenged and banned numerous times?

·         Farenheit 451

·         1984

·         The Giver

·         Brave New World

Not only was a book about banning and censoring books banned, it was also censored! Publishers removed 'four letter' words before printing-without informing Bradbury of the changes. However, these editions were removed from library shelves and replaced with uncensored copies when a very annoyed Bradbury got wind of them.

5.       Which of these books was banned by one school district because it was a “real downer?”

·         Night

·         The Color Purple

·         The Diary of Anne Frank

·         The Bluest Eye

Though all of these books are 'real downers', 'The Diary of Anne Frank' is the only book I know to have been banned as such. 'The Color Purple' was banned on religious and sexual charges, and 'The Bluest Eye' was banned on sexual grounds.

6.       Which of these books has not been banned?

·         I Am the Cheese

·         The Three Musketeers

·         Go Ask Alice

·         The Color Purple

'I Am The Cheese' has repeatedly been suppressed on political grounds, and, in one school district, on sexual grounds: the offending word was 'breasts'. 'Go Ask Alice' and 'The Color Purple' were both banned on sexual grounds.

7.       Which book was challenged in 2010 because "it simply causes kids to think even more of things sexual?"

·         The Hunger Games

·         Betrayed

·         The Diary of Anne Frank

·         The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Challenged in an Alaska school district’s high school library (2010-2011) because, “It simply causes kids to think even more of things sexual.”

8.       What award-winning book includes two male Emperor Penguins hatching and parenting a baby chick at New York's Central Park Zoo?

·         Ttyl

·         And Tango Makes Three

·         Penguins of Madagascar

·         Busy Penguins

Once again (April, 2011) the award-winning children's book, And Tango Makes Three, tops the American Library Assn.'s list of most frequently challenged books. The book recounts the true story of two emperor penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo who hatched and parented a baby chick. The reason for getting it banned? The emperor penguins are both male. 

9.       "Satanic Verses" was banned throughout many countries in the Middle East, has been blamed for injuries and death to its translators and its Norwegian publisher was shot and seriously injured. Who wrote "Satanic Verses?"

·         Truman Capote

·         Salmon Rushdie

·         Kurt Vonnegut

·         James Baldwin

Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Numerous killings, attempted killings, and bombings resulted from Muslim anger over the novel.

10.   What was the number one banned book for 2010?

·         The Hunger Games

·         Ttyl

·         And Tango Makes Three

·         Nickel and Dimed

Myracle's series of books for young adults, about the dramas of three high school friends, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela, are written entirely in the style of instant messaging. "These books deal realistically with young adult lives – the ickyness, the weirdness of adolescence and the difficult situations lots of teens face," said Angela Maycock of the ALA's office for intellectual freedom. And Tango Makes Three dropped to Number 2 with the release of the ttyl series.

Reasons given: Nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs.

11.  Of the "10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010" which one is your favorite?

Twilight			14%
Revolutionary Voices			0%
Nickel and Dimed			0%
What My Mother Doesn't Know			0%
Lush			0%
The Hunger Games			43%
Crank			0%
Brave New World			14%
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian			29%
And Tango Makes Three			0%

So there ya have it. Some surprises in there? 

Have you read all of the above banned books? What do you think? 

Should these books be banned or no?

Happy Sporting!