Banned Books Week is September 29 through October 6. You can find an online catalogue of banned and challenged books at The Forbidden Library, either arranged by title or by author.

Or you can head over to your own public library. My city library has a display devoting several shelves to banned and challenged books. The Partner and I stopped in on Saturday, not knowing it was Banned Book Week at all, and I came across the display on our way to the counter.

I picked up Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (1982). According to Wikipedia, in 1993 this book was banned by the Kansas City school system and was burned in protests. Students filed a First Amendment lawsuit, and the book was returned to the shelves in 1995.

I started the book that Saturday, only reading about 20 pages. I picked it up again this afternoon and have just finished it. It is the story of Liza and Annie, two 17-year-old gals who fall in love, told through the point-of-view of Liza.

Chad kept kidding me that I was in love, and asking with whom, and then Sally and Walt did, too, and after a while I didn’t even mind, because even if they had the wrong idea about it, they were right. Soon it wasn’t hard any more to say it—to myself, I mean, as well as over and over again to Annie—and to accept her saying it to me. We touched each other more easily—just kissed or held hands or hugged each other, though—nothing more than that. We didn’t really talk much about being gay; most of the time we just talked about ourselves. We were what seemed important then, not some label. (p. 118-9; emphasis in original).

It is an extremely moving story which brought me to tears many times.

I went downstairs to Dad’s encyclopedia and looked up HOMOSEXUALITY, but that didn’t tell me much about any of the things I felt. What struck me most, though, was that, in that whole long article, the word “love” wasn’t used even once. That made me mad; it was as if whoever wrote the article didn’t know that gay people actually love each other. The encyclopedia writers ought to talk to me, I thought as I went back to bed; I could tell them something about love. (p. 143).

Although listed in Young Adult, this book should be read by everybody, and I am extremely disappointed I didn’t learn of it years ago.

And in case you’re like me and usually out of the loop, on September 19th San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican, held a press conference in which he stood in solidarity and spoke out in support for gay marriage, a complete turn-around for him.

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