It’s hard to believe there was a time when incredible books like Frankenstein, Ulysses, Candide, The Canterbury Tales, and Catcher in the Rye were censored, removed, and banned from libraries, schools, and bookstores across the country.

My pre-teenage years were shaped by Judy Blume; I can vividly remember reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret countless times, the book becoming dog-eared and destroyed from innumerable re-reads. I was Margaret; I had no idea who I was, I had mixed feelings about religion, and I was overly eager for puberty to make an appearance. To think that there was a time when Blume’s books were banned in thousands of libraries, when this ground-breaking author was ostracized and banned, astounds me. Angry parents called Blume a communist; she was sick and twisted for writing about religion, masturbation, menstruation, friendship, relationships, and she absolutely ruined Christmas when characters in Superfudge discovered that Santa was fictional. I’m so glad that Blume became an anti-censorship activist, because otherwise, I never would have been able to experience her wonderful books, books that truly helped me get through those rough middle school years.

Loads of my other favorite authors dealt with censorship at various points in their careers, as well.

It saddens me to know there was time when Faulkner, Twain, Bradbury, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Hawthorne, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, and countless others were banned from libraries and bookstores. I wonder if I still would have fallen in love with literature if I hadn’t experienced Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, and Twelfth Night.

I just cannot imagine what critics, educators, and government officials were so afraid of. Whitman wrote about sex; so what?!  And what’s obscene about Frankenstein, a book about the relentless search for love? And one day I will make my mother very happy and finally read Gone With The Wind, but if it were still banned, I wouldn’t be able to, and my mom never would have been able to enjoy it or recommend it to her daughter.

I’m thankful that our modern society is a bit more accepting of controversial literature. But, let it be known that if Harry Potteris ever banned, this muggle might have to embark on an anti-censorship crusade. Can I join you, Judy Blume?