LINCOLN SQUARE — "And Tango Makes Three," the real life story of two male penguins who fall in love at the Central Park Zoo and hatch a chick, has landed on the list of books most frequently targeted for removal from libraries and schools.
City Lit Theater will read excerpts from "Tango" and the other Top 10 most challenged books during its 10th annual performance of "Books on the Chopping Block," 6:30 p.m. Monday at Budlong Woods Branch Library, 5630 N. Lincoln Ave.
The event is one of dozens scheduled by the Chicago Public Library to celebrate Banned Books Week, which runs through Saturday. City Lit will take its show to a different library each day.
Sponsored by the American Library Association, Banned Books Week promotes the "freedom to read."
Over the years, classics including "The Great Gatsby," "Of Mice and Men" and "The Lord of the Rings" have all been banned or challenged.
The library association's Office of Intellectual Freedom keeps track of all formal complaints lodged against books. In 2014, the office tallied 311 reported requests for books to be removed from America’s libraries.
The vast majority of challenges are initiated by parents who object to books housed in a school's library or are included on a student reading list, according to the association. The most frequently cited concerns are offensive language, sexually explicit content and "unsuited for age group."
The association emphasizes that while it records documented challenges to books, an estimated 85 percent of objections are unreported.
"And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, drew objections for being anti-family, having a political viewpoint and "promoting the homosexual agenda."
Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" nabbed the top spot on the most challenged list, cited for drugs/alcohol/smoking, cultural insensitivity and depictions of bullying.
Click here for the complete list of most challenged books.
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