Read Banned Books: Beloved

This novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morison was inspired by an 1856 incident of a cornered refugee killing her young child rather than have her be re-enslaved. The novel does not soften the horrors inflicted by slavery, or by its survivors, and includes disturbing descriptions of violence, including sexual violence. The novel was a finalist for the 1987 National Book Award, and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.

2013 (Virginia): The mother of a high school senior who was reading this book for Advanced Placement English attempted to have this book banned from Fairfax County schools. Her attempt was unsuccessful at the time, but she was later featured in an ad in 2021 by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. Around the same time as the ad aired, Youngkin said 'There’s no place for critical race theory in our school system, and why, on day one, I’m going to ban it'. After winning the governor's race, Youngkin followed up on his promise with an executive order in 2022.

Title:	Beloved
Author:	Toni Morrison
First published:	1987

Read about it at:	Wikipedia \| LibraryThing \| GoodReads
Borrow it from:	Your library \| Another library \| Find a library with it (via WorldCat)
Buy it from:	Bookshop.org \| Amazon \| Barnes & Noble \| Bookfinder.com