Challenged Books - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Book Club for Kids

We continue our series of episodes about books that have been banned or challenged around the country. This time, it’s the Newbery Award winning novel by Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time.

According to the Carnegie Mellon Banned Books Project, the book was challenged in 1985 by parents in Florida who said the book “opposes Christian beliefs and teaches occult practices. The school principal did not remove the book from 4th grade curriculum.

In 1990, a parent in Alabama asked to have the book removed because it “sends a mixed signal to children about good and evil.” The school board and superintendent voted unanimously to deny the request.

Six years later, the book was challenged in North Carolina for undermining religious beliefs.The school board denied the request.

Madeline L’Engle herself told the New York Times in 2001 that “it seems people are willing to damn the book without reading it.”

We read it with a group of young readers and this is what they have to say about A Wrinkle in Time.

This week, we tackle a classic – the 1963 winner of the Newbery Award “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle. Our readers are 5th graders from the British International School in Washington, DC. Our celebrity reader is public radio journalist Stephanie O’Neill. Madeline L’Engle passed away in 2007, but we're joined by her granddaughters Charlotte Jones Volklis and Lena Roy. They've written a biography of their grandmother based on her journals called “Becoming Madeleine.” Kitty Felde is host.

FAVORITE BOOKS FROM BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL:

Panda-monium - Stuart Gibbs

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

The Tiger Rising - Kate DiCamillo

Space Case - Stuart Gibbs

FAVORITE BOOKS FROM CHARLOTTE JONES VOIKLIS AND LENA ROY

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle

A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles

STEPHANIE O’NEILL’S FAVORITE BOOK:

Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White