Fifty Shades of Grey Not the Most Controversial Library Book, Adventures of Captain Underparts Is
According to the Hollywood Reporter, despite all the erotic scenes depicted in the romance book Fifty Shades of Grey, which involves explicit descriptions of bondage, sadism and masochism, the book is still not the most challenged library book for 2013. Rather, the most troublesome literary content in 2013 can be found in the Adventures of Captain Underpants. A children's book, the book's language, including words such as pee-pee, poopy, wedgie and Dr. Diaper is 2013's Most Challenged Library work. Considering how Fifty Shades of Grey library book was found to contain traces of herpes and cocaine, this is a significant feat for the children's book.
These are just some of the most favorite words of children, which can be found in the Adventures of Captain Underpants. The book has also been named as the most challenged library book for the second consecutive year by the American Library Association. Who would have thought the book can best the erotic romance under this category? If there is a book that can be considered controversial, why a children book? And for two consecutive years, too.
The book centers on a hero who do not wear underpants. The book promises "action, thrills and laffs," but it became controversial when the book was criticized for using offensive language and depicting violence. It has also been criticized for not being suitable for its target age group as well. Considering it took the top spot, the book is certainly worth looking at.
Fifty Shades did not even take the second spot. Rather, the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie took the second and third spots because the books both have offensive language and depicted scenes of sexual explicitness and drugs. Fifty Shades took the fourth spot. Included in the top ten list are Looking for Alaska (John Green), the Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), the Perks of being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky) and Bone (Jeff Smith). They were all there for various of reasons, some for being sexually explicit, some for showing violence and racism, and some for providing a controversial religious viewpoint. The list is derived based on the number of written complaints that a book get. For this particular tally, the ALA had considered 307 formal written complaints.
The list can do wonders for a book's sales. Most people are more likely to pick up a book that is controversial after all.