Intellectual Freedom:
A Starter List
The mind is its own place, and
in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
(Milton, Paradise Lost)
Books about intellectual
freedom
Avi. Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel.
Orchard Books, 1991.
Bess, Clayton. The
Mayday Rampage. Lookout Press, 1993.
What Jess and Molly set out to record is a
case of censorship: high school administration objects to their "frank
articles about AIDS" in The Rampage. Their investigative reporting
reveals a deeper tragedy. Written in 1988, this book failed to find a
publisher; an epilogue traces the fates of Jess, Molly, and AIDS from 1988 to
1993, when Bess self-published the book.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. 40th anniversary
ed. Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Hentoff, Nat. The Day They Came to Arrest the Book.
Delacorte, 1982.
Philbrick, Rodman. The Last Book in the Universe.
Blue Sky Press, 2000.
Books about users of
intellectual freedom
Nonfiction:
Katz, Jon. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet
out of Idaho. Villard, 2000.
Nelson, Marilyn. Carver: A Life in Poems. Front
Street, 2001.
Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. Charles Darwin: The Life of
a Revolutionary Thinker. Holiday House, 2001.
Fiction:
Billingsley, Franny. The Folk Keeper. Atheneum,
1999.
Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen. Philomel,
2002.
Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control. Farrar
Straus Giroux, 2000.
Lester, Julius. When Dad Killed Mom. Harcourt,
2001.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.
HarperCollins, 1997.
A fairy, sentimental and not too bright, gave
Ella the "gift" of obedience. It's hard enough to elude direct
commands; it's harder when her wicked stepsisters discover and exploit the
curse. Before she can even consider marrying her prince, Ella needs the key to
her own mind.
Lisle, Janet Taylor. The
Art of Keeping Cool. Atheneum, 2000.
Robert's cousin Elliot draws better than
anyone, but hides it from their grandfather. When he finds a reclusive German
artist to teach him, Elliot becomes even more secretive: Abel Hoffman is a
refugee from the Nazis, but jumpy New Englanders suspect him of spying. Family
secrets and wartime paranoia combine to challenge clear perceptions.
Moriarty, Jaclyn. Feeling Sorry for Celia. St.
Martin's Press, 2001.
Napoli, Donna Jo. Daughter
of Venice. Wendy Lamb/Random House, 2002.
It's 1592. Space in Venice is limited, and
the aristocracy limits its ranks: only the eldest son and daughter of a noble
family can expect to marry. Donata knows she will have to be a nun - but if
she sneaks out of the palazzo disguised as a poor boy, can't she see a
bit of the world first?
Thurber, James. The Great
Quillow. Harcourt, c. 1944, 1972.
In the best tradition of tricksters around the
world, toymaker Quillow outwits the hypochondriac giant Hunder.
Books to challenge
readers
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Farrar Straus
Giroux, 1999.
Hesse, Karen. Witness. Scholastic, 2001.
Lemony
Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. HarperCollins, 2002.
Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins, 2000.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Big Mouth & Ugly Girl.
HarperTempest, 2002.
Porter, Connie. Imani All Mine. Houghton Mifflin,
1999.
Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn't Know. Simon
& Schuster, 2001.
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