Exercise Your Rights:
Read Banned Books
James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl
I was surprised to learn this book has been challenged. Yes, it has scarry things, but so does life. In the end, James finally finds the home he deserves. I read it years ago.
James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He’s very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. . . At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects – all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH, and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand in their way? There’s only one way to find out . . .
James and the Giant Peach is not permanently “banned” but has been frequently challenged and temporarily restricted in various schools and libraries due to its depiction of scary scenes (like the death of the aunts), references to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, vulgar language (such as “ass”), and themes of disobedience and mystical elements. These challenges stem from concerns that the book promotes unsuitable behavior, contains offensive language, or is too frightening for the intended audience.
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