Book Blogger Hop: Fall (and Halloween!) Reading

Question: With Autumn upon us and Halloween drawing near, what books remind you of fall? What ones do you enjoy reading that are about autumn?

Autumn ... and Halloween. Because they go hand-in-hand, right?  Here are a few from BOTH of us (mom and daughter).

1.  The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare -- Mom read this in middle grade and passed her copy down to Daughter.  The story still holds up and the writing is wonderful.

2.   The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder -- Daughter reads this every year. It's a favorite!  Interestingly, it seems this book has made the American Library Association's list of the one hundred most frequently challenged books for 1990-2000, due to the use of witchcraft by the children.

3.  Never Hit a Ghost With a Baseball Bat by Eth Clifford -- this (and the other books in the series) were a HUGE hit with Daughter when she was a tween.  They come with her highest recommendation.

4.  All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn -- this book gave Daughter the shivers...

What are some books you can recommend to YA readers for fall?

Book Blogger Hop: Banned Books

Question: Banned Books Week ends on the 6th. How do you feel about books being challenged to be banned from libraries or schools? Have you read any banned books?

Honestly, I think making something "forbidden" actually makes it more interesting to the general public, and that "banning" books ends up causing the exact opposite result the banner was hoping for.

I looked up a list for banned YA books and found one here on Goodreads.   I've read many of them, and still scratch my head as to why they're banned.

To Kill a Mockingbird?  Really?  That may be the only classic I've read and loved.

And, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret helped me through the difficult years of puberty.

I didn't enjoy The Golden Compass, et al, but think it's relatively harmless as are the Harry Potter Books (oddly, I never though I could actually *become* a witch after reading them).

And many like Forever were banned (I'm guessing) because of the sexual content, but honestly, it certainly wasn't glorified in that book (my heart still breaks a little for the poor heroine).   And it's not as though kids aren't being exposed to it elsewhere anyway.

IMHO, while I may not want my teenaged daughter reading some of these books, I still think they're a great conversation starter.   She and I read The Hunger Games books together and still have talks about it -- we've discussed everything from moral right and wrong, to politics to love.

Should books be banned?  Nope.  But as long as they (whoever "they" is) keep doing it, it's just going to make those books into forbidden fruit, and cause their titles to be more well known than if they'd just kept their mouths shut.

 My .02 FWIW