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Rock Banned Book Club: "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

PGCMLS and PGCOHR host a monthly book club to explore the top 10 challenged books of 2022. This month's discussion features "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison.

About the Book

The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of language and boldness of vision. Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America. In the autumn of 1941, the year the marigolds in the Breedloves' garden do not bloom. Pecola's life does change—in painful, devastating ways.

What its vivid evocation of the fear and loneliness at the heart of a child's yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment. The Bluest Eye remains one of Toni Morrisons's most powerful, unforgettable novels- and a significant work of American fiction. (Source: The Publisher)

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About Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford) was an American author, editor, and professor who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature for being an author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality."

Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African American characters; among the best known are her novels "The Bluest Eye," "Song of Solomon," and "Beloved," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. In 2001 she was named one of "The 30 Most Powerful Women in America" by Ladies' Home Journal.

Upcoming programs

March 13, 2024 - "A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas
April 10, 2024 - "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse Andrews
May 8, 2024 - "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
June 12, 2024 - "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson