Baby Boomer Stories Shared at MyRetrospect

This Week’s Prompt: Banned Books Start Writing

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Banned Books

You may have read them, or maybe your children did, but they are now banned in many parts of the country for today’s young readers: To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, The Handmaid’s Tale, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn — the list goes on and on. Think back … what banned books have you read and how did they affect you? Why is book banning so prevalent? What is its impact on society? Share your Banned Books stories forward.

Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte

by Marian

In the Midwest, the voice of a wise, sweet spider as been silenced. Charlotte's Web is a banned book. Who would have thought?

Take It To The Limit

by Suzy

I'm not sure I've ever encountered any banned books, but if I had, I would have made a point of reading them.

Don’t Obey in Advance

by Khati Hendry

I felt uncomfortable packing the book and uncomfortable leaving it behind.

by Laurie Levy

On May 10, 1933, university students burned more than 25,000 “un-German” books in Berlin’s Opera Square (pictured below). [...]

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Betsy Pfau

I was a voracious reader in my day and read many books that had been banned at one some point. I read most of them just for [...]

by Dana Susan Lehrman

I read banned books – to protest their banning of course, but also because they’re invariably such good reads! As you [...]

1984: The “Groundhog Day” of Banned Books*

by John Shutkin

When I retired from my firm at the end of 2019, a lawyer with whom I had worked closely for many years gave me as a [...]

Past Stories You May Have Missed

Coming Out to Esther, by Mark Leno

by Retrospect Team

To come out was to announce to the world that one was a mentally ill outlaw. No wonder this was challenging to my parents.

Prompted By Being Different

November 20, 2017

Jackson’s Third Birthday

by John Zussman

We know your passion for trucks, and so / We come to the park bearing trucks.

Prompted By Toys & Games

March 22, 2017

Banned Books

You may have read them, or maybe your children did, but they are now banned in many parts of the country for today’s young readers: To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, The Handmaid’s Tale, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn — the list goes on and on. Think back … what banned books have you read and how did they affect you? Why is book banning so prevalent? What is its impact on society? Share your Banned Books stories forward.