Attached Link: The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990

I'm not saying all banned books are automatically great literature and everyone should be forced to read them. That's not the point.

My parents have 1-3 and 5 of the Harry Potter series. I'm going to read them when I finish "Lake Woebegon Summer 1956" by Garrison Kellior(sp, don't have the book with me).

Attached Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/135224851_librarian10.html

The Harry Potter series has been the single most influential children's books for getting kids back to reading, which is no bad thing. What is a little sad is some of the children only want to read Harry Potter and have not discovered other authors. I hope that doesn't continue as a trend. My brother goes to the comic book store to buy my CSI graphic novels and, most recently, he told the owner about the librarian action doll. The owner responded that she wanted to get the dolls in the store because she thought her female clients would be interested and find it a fun idea (I'm not going to go into how horrified some librarians are at this item becoming popular because of the stereotyping involved). It turns out that she has a growing number of older female customers who are seeking out romance novels in the graphic format. Writer/artists, pay attention to trends. There is a growing market here that is outside the comic book superhero kind of thing. I thought it was interesting.

I can't draw, and don't really trust others to render that which I see in my mind. Although graphic novels are indeed a growing trend.

I was thinking more along the lines of what Poser and other 3d software can do, which don't require the ability to draw as much as the ability to create a design. I don't think all novels should be transformed into graphic novels (I prefer to imagine scenes in my head). But I do think there are people on this forum who have strong skills in graphics and in writing that might find this worthwhile to explore. I worked in branch libraries where there were large number of Spanish-speaking patrons, and that was an audience that had a strong tradition of reading novels in comic book form, so this is not something I find particularly new. I think there has been an English-speaking snobbery that has worked against comic books or graphic novels being taken seriously....until relatively recently. I hope to see something interesting come of all this. It won't be from me, I know, but I still find it interesting.

True, true. nods (:

I want a "banned there, dunned that" t-shirt to celebrate Banned Books week :-) I can't believe that "James and the Giant Peach" is on the list. Shanna :-)

It's funny, in a sick way, how books are twisted into meaning things that have nothing to do with the plot or theme of the actual story. I found out that Harry Potter also encourages homosexuality and class warfare besides the obvious Satanism. Sigh

... Some people have truly lost their grip on reality.