And Tango Makes Three is the ALA's most challenged book for 2006

Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of the books people sought to have removed from a library's collection as part of Banned Books Week. In the latest list, covering 2006, the gay-themed And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell received the most complaints. Tango is based on the true story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo, Silo and Roy, who were a couple. The two had even made a nest and took turns caring for an egg-shaped rock until they were given an actual penguin egg to nurture, eventually leading the the birth of penguin chick Tango.

Tango wasn't the only gay-themed book among the year's most challenged books. The list also included The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Chris Crutcher's Athletic Shorts and the Gossip Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar. Nobel-prize winner Toni Morrison was the only writer who had two books among 2006's ten most challenged titles (for language and sexual content) in The Bluest Eye and Beloved.

Overall, gay themed books are frequently challenged as a way to prevent young readers from better understanding the experiences of gay people. Lists of the past year's most challenged books frequently include a few gay themed titles. Last year's list included Geography Club by Brent Hartinger as well as Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher (who has a different book being challenged on this year's list).

The ALA encourages people to spend Banned Books week educating themselves about intellectual freedom and to getting to know the challenged books to understand them beyond the rhetoric from those seeking to suppress them. This year, they are conducting some online events including book discussions in Second Life as well as a MySpace page dedicated to Banned Books Week. Check out a list of the 100 most challenged books of 1990-2000 -- how many have you read?