#ariel krupnik | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

roarformeprettylion · 7 years

Text

List of Banned Books

How Many Have You Read?

Children’s Books:

Allan, Nicholas. Where Willy Went

Allard, Harry. Bumps in the Night

Allard, Harry. The Stupids series

Allington, Richard. Once Upon a Hippo

Ancona, George. Cuban Kids

Avi. The Fighting Ground

Babbitt, Natalie. The Devil’s Storybook

Bailey, Jacqui, and Jan McCafferty. Sex, Puberty, and All That Stuff: A Guide to Growing Up

Bannerman, Helen. Little Black Sambo

Birdseye, Tom. Attack of the Mutant Underwear

Blume, Judy. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret

Blume, Judy. Blubber

Brannen, Sarah S. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding

Brittain, Bill. The Wish Giver

Brown, Laurie Krasny, and Marc Brown. What’s the Big Secret? Talking about Sex with Girls and Boys

Brown, Marc Tolon. Buster’s Sugartime

Butler, Dori Hillestad. My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy

Carle, Eric. Draw Me a Star

Christensen, James, C., Renwick St. James and Alan Dean Foster. Voyage of the Basset

Clutton-Brock, Juliet. Horse (DK)

Cohen, Daniel. Ghostly Warnings

Cohen, Daniel. Phantom Animals

Cole, Babette. Mommy Laid An Egg

Cole, Joanna. Asking About Sex and Growing Up

Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. Jump Ship to Freedom

Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. My Brother Sam is Dead

Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. With Every Drop of Blood

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War

Coupe, Peter. The Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Cartoons

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

Dahl, Roald. James and the Giant Peach

Dahl, Roald. The Witches

de Haan, Linda. King & King

DeClements, Barthe. Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You

Elliot, David. An Alphabet for Rotten Kids

Fierstein, Harvey. The Sissy Duckling

Fogelin, Adrian. My Brother’s Hero

Fox, Mem. Guess What?

Fox, Paula. The Slave Dancer

Garden, Nancy. Holly’s Secret

Geisel, Theodor Seuss. Hop on Pop: The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use

Geisel, Theodor Seuss. If I Ran the Zoo

George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves

Gordon, Sharon. Cuba

Grove, Vicki. The Starplace

Hahn, Mary Downing. The Dead Man in Indian Creek

Hanford, Martin. Where’s Waldo?

Harper, Charise Mericle. Flashcards of My Life

Harper, Kathryn. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Harris, Robie. It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health

Harris, Robie. It’s So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families

Harris, Robie. Who’s In My Family?: All About Families (Let’s Talk About You and Me)

Henkes, Kevin. Olive’s Ocean

Henson, Jim. For Every Child a Better World

Hergé [Georges Remi]. Tintin in America

Hergé [Georges Remi]. Tintin in the Congo

Herthel, Jessica, and Jazz Jennings. I Am Jazz

Hill, Douglas Arthur. Witches and Magic-Makers

Homes, A.M. Jack

Ignatow, Amy. The Popularity Papers

Jukes, Mavis. It’s a Girl Thing: How to Stay Healthy, Safe and in Charge

Kehret, Peg. Stolen Children

Kellogg, Steven. Pinkerton, Behave!

Kilodavis, Cheryl. My Princess Boy: A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up

Kotzwinkle, William, and Glenn Murray. Walter the Farting Dog

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time

Lewis, Richard, comp. There Are Two Lives: Poems by Children of Japan

Lindgren, Astrid. The Runaway Sleigh Ride

Lowry, Lois. Anastasia Krupnik series

Lowry, Lois. The Giver.

Madaras, Linda. What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons

Madaras, Linda. What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters

Martin, Michael. Kurt Cobain

Mayle, Peter. Where Did I Come From?

Mercado, Nancy E., ed. Tripping Over the Lunch Lady and Other Short Stories

Merriam, Eve. Halloween ABC

Merriam, Eve. The Inner City Mother Goose

Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us

Nelson, O.T. The Girl Who Owned a City

Newman, Leslea. Heather Has Two Mommies

Okimoto, Jean Davies, and Elaine M. Aoki. The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption

Opie, Iona. I Saw Esau

Orgel, Doris. The Devil in Vienna

Pardi, Francesca, and Tullio F. Altan. Little Egg (Piccolo uovo)

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones (

Parr, Todd. The Family Book

Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia

Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins

Perritano, John. Amityville

Peters, Lisa Westberg. Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story

Pilkey, Dav. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel

Pilkey, Dav. Captain Underpants series

Pittman, Gayle E. This Day in June

Polacco, Patricia. In Our Mothers’ House

Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials series

Quinlan, Patricia. Tiger Flowers

Reavin, Sam. The Hunters Are Coming

Richardson, Justin, and Peter Parnell. And Tango Makes Three

Rodgers, Mary. Freaky Friday

Rosen, Lucy. I Am Bane

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter series

Ruby, Laura. Lily’s Ghosts

Sachar, Louis. The Boy Who Lost His Face

Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?

Schniedewind, Nancy. Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity

Schreier, Alta. Vamos a Cuba ( A Vist to Cuba)

Schwartz, Alvin. And the Green Grass Grew All Around

Schwartz, Alvin. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat

Schwartz, Alvin. Ghosts! Ghost Stories in Folklore

Schwartz, Alvin. Scary Stories series

Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen

Sherman, Josepha, and T.K.F. Weisskopf. Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts

Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic

Smith, Jeff. Bone series

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The Egypt Game

Speare, Elizabeth George. The Sign of the Beaver

Steer, Dugald. Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin

Stine, R.L. Goosebumps series

Stroud, Jonathan. The Amulet of Samarkand

Stroud, Jonathan. The Golem’s Eye

Stroud, Jonathan. Ptolemy’s Gate

Tamaki, Mariko, and Jillian Tamaki. This One Summer

Taylor, Mildred D. The Land

Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Telgemeier, Raina. Drama

Texier, Ophélie. Jean Has Two Moms (Jean a deux mamans)

Toriyama, Akira. Dragon Ball: The Monkey King

Willhoite, Michael. Daddy’s Roommate

Winter, Jeanette. The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq

Winter, Jeanette. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan

Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings

Young Adult Books:

Adler, C.S. The Shell Lady’s Daughter

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alva0rez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies

Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Twisted

Anderson, M.T. Feed

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Anonymous. Go Ask Alice

Asher, Jay. Thirteen Reasons Why

Atkins, Catherine. Alt Ed

Atkins, Catherine. When Jeff Comes Home

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale

Barnes, Derrick. The Making of Dr. Truelove

Barron, T.A. The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy

Baskin, Julia, Lindsey Newman, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, and Courtney Toombs. The Notebook Girls: Four Friends, One Diary, Real Life

Bauer, Marion Dane. On My Honor

Bauer, Marion Dane, ed. Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence

Benioff, David. City of Thieves

Block, Francesca Lia. Baby Be-Bop

Block, Francesca Lia. Girl Goddess

Block, Francesca Lia. I Was a Teenage Fairy

Block, Francesca Lia. The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold

Block, Francesca Lia. Witch Baby

Blume, Judy. Deenie

Blume, Judy. Forever

Blume, Judy. Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson

Blume, Judy. Tiger Eyes

Bode, Janet, and Stan Mack. Heartbreak and Roses: Real Life Stories of Troubled Love

Bower, Bert, and Jim Lobdell. History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond

Boyle, T. Coraghessan. The Tortilla Curtain

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451

Brashares, Ann. Forever in Blue, the Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

Burgess, Melvin. Doing It

Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game

Cart, Michael. My Father’s Scar

Cast, P.C., and Kristin Cast. House of Night series

Chambers, Aidan. Dance on My Grave: A Life and Death in Four Parts

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts

Clerc, Charles, and Louis Leiter, comp. Seven Contemporary Short Novels

Cohen, Susan, and Daniel Cohen. When Someone You Know is Gay

Clinton, Cathryn. A Stone in My Hand

Colasanti, Susane. When It Happens

Cole, Brock. The Facts Speak for Themselves

Cole, Brock. The Goats

Colfer, Eoin. The Supernaturalist

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games Trilogy

Conly, Jane. Crazy Lady

Cooney, Caroline. The Face on the Milk Carton

Cooney, Caroline. The Terrorist

Cormier, Robert. After the First Death

Cormier, Robert. Beyond the Chocolate War

Cormier, Robert. Fade

Cormier, Robert. Heroes

Cormier, Robert. I Am the Cheese

Cormier, Robert. Tenderness

Cormier, Robert. We All Fall Down

Coville, Bruce. Am I Blue?

Cox, Elizabeth. Night Talk

Crawford, Brent. Carter Finally Gets It

Cruse, Howard. Stuck Rubber Baby

Crutcher, Chris. Athletic Shorts

Crutcher, Chris. Chinese Handcuffs

Crutcher, Chris. Deadline

Crutcher, Chris. In the Time I Get

Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk

Daldry, Jeremy. The Teenage Guy’s Survival Guide

Dandicat, Edwidge. Krik! Krak!

Danforth, Emily M. The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Davis, Deborah. My Brother Has AIDS

Davis, Jenny. Sex Education

Dawe, Ted. Into the River

Dawson, James. This Book is Gay

Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen

Deuker, Carl. On the Devil’s Court

Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother

Dorfman, Ariel. Death and the Maiden

Dorris, Michael. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water

Draper, Sharon M., and Adam Lowenbein. Romiette and Julio

Drill, Esther. Deal With It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL

Duncan, Lois. Daughters of Eve

Duncan, Lois. Killing Mr. Griffin

Eleveld, Mark, ed. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation

Elish, Dan. Born Too Short: The Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor, and Anthony Esler. World History

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man

Erlbach, Arlene. The Middle School Survival Guide

Ferris, Jean. Eight Seconds

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby

Forman, Gayle. Just One Day

Franco, Betsy. You Hear Me? Poems and Writings by Teenage Boys

Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Frank, E.R. America: A Novel

Frank, E.R. Life is Funny

Freedom Writers. The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them

Freymann-Weyr, Garret. My Heartbeat

Friend, Natasha. Lush

Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere

Gaines, Ernest. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Garden, Nancy. Annie on My Mind

Garden, Nancy. Good Moon Rising

Gardner, John. Grendel

Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass

Glenn, Mel. Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?

Going, K.L. Fat Kid Rules the World

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies

Gould, Steven. Jumper

Gray, Heather M., and Samantha Phillips. Real Girl/Real World: Tools for Finding Your True Self

Green, John. An Abundance of Katherines

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars

Green, John. Looking for Alaska

Green, John. Paper Towns

Greene, Bette. The Drowning of Stephan Jones

Greene, Bette. Summer of My German Solidier

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey

Halpern, Julie. Get Well Soon

Hartinger, Brent. Geography Club

Hautzig, Deborah. Hey Dollface

Heller, Joseph. Catch-22

Hernandez, Gilbert. Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories

Heron, Ann. Two Teenagers in Twenty

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders

Hinton, S.E. Taming the Star Runner

Hinton, S.E. Tex

Hinton, S.E. That Was Then, This is Now

Holliday, Laurel. Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries

Holmes, Melisa, and Trish Hutchison. Hang-ups, Hook-ups, and Holding Out: Stuff You Need to Know about Your Body, Sex, and Dating

Hopkins, Ellen. Crank

Hopkins, Ellen. Identical

Horowitz, Anthony. Snakehead

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner

Howe, James. Totally Joe

Huegel, Kelly. GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurwin, Davida. Time for Dancing

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World

Hwa, Kim Dong. The Color of Earth series

Jahn-Clough, Lisa. Me, Penelope

Johnson, Maureen. The Bermudez Triangle

Jukes, Mavis. The Guy Book: An Owner’s Manual

Kehret, Peg. Abduction!

Kenan, Randall. James Baldwin

Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon

King, Stephen. Carrie

King, Stephen. Christine

Klause, Annette Curtis. Blood and Chocolate

Klein, Norma. Beginners’ Love

Klein, Norma. Family Secrets

Klein, Norma. Just Friends

Kleinbaum, N.H. Dead Poet’s Society

Knowles, Jo (Johanna Beth). Lessons from a Dead Girl

Koertge, Ron. Arizona Kid

Koertge, Ron. The Brimstone Journals

Koerge, Ron. Where the Kissing Never Stopped

Korman, Gordon. Jake Reinvented

Kuklin, Susan. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out

LaCour, Nina. Hold Still

Larson, Rodger. What I Know Now

Lebert, Benjamin. Crazy: A Novel

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird

Lester, Julius. When Dad Killed Mom

Levenkron, Steven. The Best Little Girl in the World

Levithan, David. Two Boys Kissing

Lipsyte, Robert. One Fat Summer

Locker, Sari. Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to School

Lockhart, E. The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

London, Jack. The Call of the Wild

Lopez, Tiffany Ana. Growing Up Chicana/o

Loux, Matthew. SideScrollers

Lyga, Barry. I Hunt Killers

Lynch, Chris. Extreme Elvin

Lynch, Chris. The Iceman

Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things

Mackler, Carolyn. Love and Other Four Letter Words

Mackler, Carolyn. Tangled

Mackler, Carolyn. Vegan Virgin Valentine

Martin, W.K. Marlene Dietrich

Martinac, Paula. k.d. lang

Mazer, Harry. The Last Mission

McBain, Ed. Alice in Jeopardy

McCormick, Patricia. Cut

McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding

McKissack, Fredrick, Jr. Shooting Star

McNally, John, ed. When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today’s Top Writers

Mead, Richelle. Vampire Academy series

Meyer, Michael, ed. Bedford Introduction to Literature

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight series

Morrison, Toni. Beloved

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye

Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon

Mungo, Raymond. Liberace

Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels

Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops

Myracle, Lauren. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r series

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Alice series

Nix, Garth. Shade’s Children

Nixon, Joan Lowery. Whispers from the Dead

Nunokawa, Jeff. Oscar Wilde

O’Brien, Sharon. Willa Cather

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried

Oates, Joyce Carol. Sexy

Ockler, Sarah. Twenty Boy Summer

Oh, Minya. Bling: Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels

Orwell, George. 1984

Parish, James Robert. Whoopi Goldberg: Her Journey from Poverty to Mega-Stardom

Park, Barbara. Mick Harte Was Here

Parks, Gordon. The Learning Tree

Paulsen, Gary. Harris and Me

Peck, Robert Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die

Pelzer, Dave. A Child Called It

Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes

Pike, Christopher. Bury Me Deep

Pike, Christopher. Chain Letter 2

Pike, Christopher. Die Softly

Pike, Christopher. Last Act

Pike, Christopher. The Listeners

Pike, Christopher. The Lost Mind

Pike, Christopher. The Midnight Club

Pike, Christopher. Remember Me 3

Pike, Christopher. The Star Group

Pike, Christopher. Witch

Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Body of Christopher Creed

Pomeroy, Wardell. Boys and Sex

Pomeroy, Wardell. Girls and Sex

Rapp, Adam. The Buffalo Tree

Reiss, Johanna. The Upstairs Room

Rennison, Louise. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging

Rennison, Louise. Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas

Rennison, Louise. On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God: Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

Reynolds, Marilyn. Detour for Emmy

Riley, Andy. The Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don’t Want to Live Anymore

Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Devour Him

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye

Sanchez, Alex. Rainbow Boys

Santiago, Esmeralda. When I Was Puerto Rican

Sapphire [Ramona Lofton]. Push

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Schouweiler, Thomas. The Devil: Opposing Viewpoints

Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl

Selzer, Adam. How to Get Suspended and Influence People

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare)

Shusterman, Neal. Unwind

Sidhwa, Bapsi. Cracking India

Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Smith, Lee. Fair and Tender Ladies

Smith, Patrick. A Land Remembered

Snyder, Jane McIntosh. Sappho

Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Moher Dies

Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn’t Know

Sonnie, Amy, ed. Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology

Speare, Elizabeth George. The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Spies, Karen Bornemann. Everything You Need to Know About Incest

St. Stephen’s Community House. The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men

Stine, R.L. Double Date

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Eighteenth to Twenty-First Century Art, Third Edition

Stone, Tanya Lee. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

Srasser, Todd. Give a Boy a Gun

Summers, Courtney. Some Girls Are

Tarbox, Katherine. A Girl’s Life Online

Taylor, Mildred D. Mississippi Bridge

Touchette, Charleen. It Stops With Me: Memoir of a Canuck Girl

Trueman, Terry. Stuck in Neutral

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

von Ziegesar, Cecily. Gossip Girl series

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple

Walker, Kate. Peter

Watkins, Yoko. So Far From the Bamboo Grove

Wersba, Barbara. Whistle Me Home

Williams-Garcia, Rita. Like Sisters on the Homefront

Wittlinger, Ellen. Sandpiper

Wolfe, Daniel. T.E. Lawrence

Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life: A Memoir

Wood, Maryrose. Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love

Wright, Richard. Native Son

WritersCorps. Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems

Zindel, Paul. The Pigman

Zwerman, Gilda. Martina Navratilova

Classics:

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Ulysses, by James Joyce

Beloved, by Toni Morrison

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

1984, by George Orwell

Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Animal Farm, by George Orwell

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

Native Son, by Richard Wright

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey

Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence

Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence

The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer

Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller

An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser

Rabbit, Run, by John Updike

Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks

#banned books #banned books week #ala #american library association #children's books #young adult books #classics #my post or my face

6 notes · View notes

cosplayinamerica · 6 years

Photo

Rey from Star Wars : RethinkCosplay

I'm one of the biggest Star Wars fans out there. There are times when the outfit should be as big as my obsession. Every year since The Force Awakens came out I thought to tackle something huge from each of the new films in the Skywalker saga. When I saw Snoke for the first time, it was love. I knew it had to be him, and not only him, but his huge throne. That was my 2016 cosplay.

When Last Jedi came out I asked myself "now what is the hardest thing to replicate in this one?", but it be a luxury to think I could convince friends to pay for a ticket to stand in a line, so the next best thing was getting the cut outs. I'm not an attractive or meticulous cosplayer, but I am a clever one. You're allowed to be more better at constructing, you're allowed to be more popular, more attractive, but not creative. That is my absolute shit. I suck at make up and needlework, but not in ingenuity. I like working with illusions, the performance art realm. I wouldn't go to someone else's domain and try to be the best there, rather I play to my own strengths. I find that theres an air of female cosplayers take off a lot to be noticed, and men put on a lot of armor to stand out, kinda thing. But once you know what the lines are, you can break them.

You can crossplay, be off the wall, and thrive in the grey area; tapping into some unique cosplay without all the trappings of what a cosplay has to be. I knew at some point I wanted to do a gender-swap cosplay. I never done one. I think I ended up looking more like a soy wax candle, but lo and behold, Rey, nonetheless.

Photo: tascena

The response at #NYCC was spectacular and reminded me why I do this. I don't make my outfits for me, I do it for them. Cosplayers, Comic Con attendees are my people. I don't do this in the hopes to be popular or anything, it be nice, but I don't want to get lost in creating for that. I like making people laugh. I like seeing the laughter that I believe I had when I thought of the idea. I very much enjoy reading and seeing what everyone has to say online.

There are times where I could be feeling down, and I can pull up a picture and read a caption that brings me back to life. Seeing security and people you'd never expect to take your photo, take your photo. There is a beautiful magic that comes down from the air on days like those, fills the room and gets concentrated. The energy is beautiful. I don't think I'd ever like anything as much as I do the people. To be a fan of this stuff is already a mark of intelligence. And Con people, although snippy at times, have great taste.

Rey almost didn't happen at all. Like it was not going to make it inside the building or anywhere near the con. Security had stopped me, their advisors had stopped me. Said it was the longest outfit they ever had. No one wanted to risk bringing this into the convention, which is a miracle it even did. Ive always felt I had the right temperament to be a cosplayer cause I don't get mad if things go awry, my brain just re-calibrates the destination.

Photo : lykeleia

My friends Citizen Chris and Hye Young had to argue with security for an hour. We brought it in disassembled to make the transport of it easier, and I guess the look of these long grey rods startled them. We were allowed to assemble them inside, but was told I couldn't go in. Once it was all put together, and every superstar supervisor had been shown pictures of my work from previous years were they convinced I could be let in, provided I don't go all the way, and have two people making sure no one gets smacked in the face. I have days where I go in with a smoother cosplay to see the show floor and other days where I know I wont be able to. You have to choose wisely which. But every time I see a picture of my Rey now, I just think to myself "that almost didn't happen". Which, in and of itself, is a big compliment; the fact that you can make an outfit so wide for even Comic Con.

I started building in June. June kicks off Con season for me. Being its 4 days, I try not to aggravate myself with putting everything together the month before. I designate a month to each day. It was worn Friday so that would put us in July. I started building in July.

The construction is very simple actually. Once you get past the "awe", you'll see shower curtain hooks and aluminum tape. I don't use measurements. I rely on a "crude magic" to see me through. At some point if you are getting all caught up in the rigid dictatorship of everything needs to come out a certain way, thats not fun. It is a more delicate life form than a baby at times, but still. This is Cosplay. Even the makings of it should be fun. Some of it is like discovery, finding a new world. It should excite you to learn things in the makings of, for some of those things may inform how others could be built down the line.

As with anything, I feel like we all each make our cosplay three times or so before we get it right. I took two plastic rods that had some earth to them, dense enough to attach something weighty and not enough to weigh me down. Drilled holes in the appropriate areas, zip tied the hooks in and taped them down. Took shelving parts to make the shoulder holders, and painted everything grey Rey. Slid yarn through the cut outs so all I had to do was tie them to the hooks. Aluminum tape, zip ties, and galvanized wire make the Ariel Krupnik story. I've made it through a lot of miserable nights constructing with friends like that. I like my cosplays to be held together strong enough that I could go play basketball in them if I wanted. Peeing would have been genius though.

Photo: upaausedshimmy

Cosplay has saved my life on multiple occasions. It almost feels like every year is just me trying to get through the months until I can make it to Comic Con. It confirmed my beliefs that people do care about the work I produce. That there is an audience for it.

Cosplay is another art form that should be respected, and we are in a time period where I think its getting that close. It also saves other people as well. Its made the most of me, and given me the power to make someones day. There are people who travel to these cons, see you and say "that did it for me". I have seen and heard this first hand. Ive seen people cry.

As artists, as cosplayers are, we can get so caught up wondering whether all of this matters; that we feel it doesn't if it doesn't reach the attention of the one or two people we want it to matter to, but don't overlook the many people it does. Its had a profound effect on me. Its an art form that I don't have to rely on myself to come up with characters, ideas yes, but to rely on an industry that will give me things I can rework for everyone, forever. Technically one could cosplay forever if movies, comics, etc are always being released. I wish Comic Con was 361 days a year and we had 4 days of normalcy.

#rey #rey cosplay #star wars #star wars cosplay #nycc

36 notes · View notes