My freshman year I read, Suzanne Collins’ iconic dystopian novel, The Hunger Games, and felt a deep connection to the fearless main character, Katniss Everdeen.
Soon after I finished reading the first book in the series, I fell down an online rabbit hole leading me to stumble across an article that was led something along the lines of Why The Hunger Games is Banned in These Countries. I didn’t even know what that meant. How could a book – someone’s hard work and creation be banned and withheld from people’s experience?
Thailand and Vietnam and was especially intrigued by the main reason being its use of a three-finger-solute as a symbol of protest against the corrupt government. Thailand saw it as a representation of “rejection of government actions” and similarly Vietnam had an issue with the book’s political themes, viewing it as a risk against their own government.
It was only then that I was introduced to other books (some I had heard of, others I had not) that were also banned and challenged, and they were the first thing that came to mind when my AP Language and Composition teacher introduced our year-long Passion Project. The concept was to use the project as an outlet to dedicate the entire year to something you’re passionate about. For my project I combined my passion of reading and writing to create a platform where I could advocate for some of my favorite titles. As a result, it is my pleasure to introduce: Battle of the Banned.
Home 